Peter Shepherd gained a PhD in Chemistry at Massey University . He undertook post doctoral studies at Harvard University before moving to a research fellowship at Cambridge University. He was next appointed as faculty at University College London where his research focussed on understanding the signalling networks inside cells and how defects in these contribute to diseases like diabetes and cancer. He moved back to a personal chair at Auckland University where his research focus includes cell signalling , metabolic disease genetics and beta-cell function. He is a member of the Asia-Pacific Diabetes and Obesity network, former editor in chief of the UK based Biochemical Journal and a fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.