Professor Mark McCarthy tells us how genomics helps us understand diabetes. Diabetes is a major challenge for global healthcare, with social, health and economic costs projected to exceed trillions of dollars over the next 50 years. Professor Mark McCarthy, the Robert Turner Professor of Diabetes, leads a multidisciplinary research team including clinicians, nurses and lab-based research staff. Professor McCarthy's research focusses on translating gene identification and genetic information into advances in the functional understanding, and clinical management of this disease. Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/