I qualified in medicine (MB,BS with honours) in 1972 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where I also undertook physician training. I also had two periods of work in Africa (Zambia 1975 - 1978, and South Africa 1981-1982), as well as obtaining the Liverpool DTM&H in 1975, and an MD degree in 1980 based on work at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM). In 1985 I became a consultant physician in Merseyside (initially Wirral, moving to Liverpool in 1990). During this period I was also an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the LSTM.
In 1996 I became a tenured academic member of staff at the LSTM – initially Senior Lecturer, later Reader, and from 2006 Professor of International Medicine. I retired in 2012, and became Honorary Professor. I have had a major interest in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in tropical environments, with associated research projects in South Africa and Ethiopia. This research has particularly concerned the long-term outcome of type 1 diabetes in Soweto, optimal care delivery for type 2 diabetes in rural South Africa (KwaZulu Natal), and the immunological characteristics of putative malnutrition-related diabetes in rural Ethiopia.
In addition, I have been an honorary NHS Consultant Physician at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool, and my academic appointment was held jointly with the University of Liverpool, where I now also hold an honorary appointment and Emeritus Chair. UK-based research has included characterising extreme-duration (over 50 years) type 1 diabetes (the national “Golden Years Project”), and demonstrating the association between nocturnal hypoglycaemia and cardiac arrhythmias in type I diabetes (the so-called “Dead-in Bed Syndrome”).
At the LSTM I have for many years been involved with research into and clinical care of former Far East prisoners of war (POWs). In recent years I have led medical history enquiries into Far East imprisonment, resulting in two recent books – Captive Memories (by M Parkes & G V Gill) in 2015, and Burma Railway Medicine (by G V Gill & M Parkes) in 2017.
Current affiliations
- Emeritus Professor and Honorary Research Fellow, University of Liverpool.
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
- Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London.
- Editor of the African Journal of Diabetes Medicine.
- Secretary of the International Insulin Foundation.
Research/Teaching
- Regular lecturer on tropical NCDs on the LSTM DTM&H course.
- Lecturer on diabetes on the London School DTM&H course.
- Examiner for the DTM&H of the Royal College of Physicians of London.
- Lead the NCD module on the LSTM Master’s programme.
- Co- supervise PhD student Fareed Almaleki with Professor Luis Cuevas.
- Link with Professor Cuevas on research in Brazil concerned with the identification of insulin resistance and pre-diabetes in urban adolescents.
- Member of Steering Group for NHIR grant (PI Professor Shabbar Jaffar) on care delivery for patients with HIV infection and associated NCDs (diabetes and hypertension) sited in Uganda and Tanzania.
- Lead the LSTM Far East prisoner-of-war (POW) programme, currently investigating medical history of the Far East POW experience. The book Burma Railway Medicine (by G V Gill & M Parkes) was published in 2017, and a display of contemporary POW art work (much of tropical medical relevance) is scheduled for 2019-2020 at the Victoria Gallery and Museum, Liverpool.