Dr David Strain is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School, an honorary consultant in medicine for the older adult, Head of the academic department for healthcare for older adults and the co-chair of the British Medical Association’s medical academic staff committee. Clinically, he runs a community diabetes service for the older adult, works as an in-patient stroke consultant, and participates in the chronic fatigue service. Prior to this, Dr Strain studied at Liverpool University before completing his Doctorate in Medicine on ‘Ethnic differences in the vascular responses to insulin resistance’ at the International Centre for Cardiovascular Health, Imperial College, London. His main research focus is the health of older adults with diabetes; ensuring the right patient gets the right treatment. This includes research across the spectrum from mechanistic studies in the biologically young to pragmatic trials in the frail elderly population. He has an expertise in exploring the mechanism that some medications give benefits for people with diabetes beyond their effect on sugar and blood pressure, to determine if we can better select the medication for each patient. He has performed the only study to date demonstrating the feasibility of individualizing targets for older adults across Europe. This has informed the new UK guidance document for the management of older adults with diabetes and frailty, of which he was lead author. Within this remit, he engages in multidisciplinary research portfolio, supervising renal physicians, cardiologists, radiographers, basic scientists as well as geriatricians.