Akhtar Hussain MD, MPhil, MPH, PhD, DSc

Prof. Akhtar Hussain is the President-Elect of the International Diabetes Federation (2020-2021). He previously served on the IDF Board as a Vice-President between 2013 and 2017. Prof. Hussain originates from Bangladesh and immigrated to Norway in 1984. He graduated in Medicine from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and subsequently received post-graduate and doctoral diplomas in Boston (USA) and Bergen and Oslo (Norway).

Prof. Hussain has been working actively in diabetes over the last 25 years. He is currently Professor at Nord University (Norway) focusing on diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and previously served as Professor of Global Health at the University of Oslo (2006-17). Other positions he performed include office head of the Clinical Cancer Research and Epidemiology, National University Hospital (Norway) and Senior Advisor for Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo.

Prof. Hussain has been involved with a multitude of diabetes research programmes and organisations in numerous countries around the world. He initiated the Primary Diabetes Prevention Programme in Bangladesh and Pakistan and other programmes related to type 1 diabetes and gestational diabetes. Prof. Hussain is a life member of the Diabetes Association of Bangladesh and a member of the Norwegian Diabetes Association, where he served as an executive member of its Medical Advisory Board for six years. Prof. Hussain has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles published in international journals.