Professor Larkins is one of Australia's most eminent medical researchers of his generation and a highly respected national and international leader in medical research policy, clinical medicine and university administration. He has served with distinction as Chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council, President of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Chair of Universities Australia. He has played a seminal role in promulgation of the practical benefits of medical science through authorship of several widely-used texts on clinical medicine. He is very highly regarded, both in Australia and internationally, in his own specialised fields of endocrinology and diabetes and in broader medical science, education, science and technology policy and business development.