Oxford Medicine June 2011

Oxford Medicine THE NEWSLETTER OF THE OXFORD MEDICAL ALUMNI OXFORD MEDICINE . JULY 2011

Oxford Medicine and the Early Royal Society Between c. 1649 and 1670 Oxford was one of the leading European centres for experimental science, and it was in Oxford, and by Oxonians and friends in Gresham College, London, that the Royal Society was founded in late November 1660.

Experimental physiology, chemistry, and astronomy in particular were advanced by these men. Yet none of this original research had any formal association with the institutional University, but was the product of a private group of friends: resident dons, Puritan-evicted Royalist High Church dons, scientifically-minded clergymen, brilliant young graduate students, and friends who had come to live as private gentlemen in Oxford. For all of these men – Robert Boyle, Thomas Willis, Richard Lower, John Locke, [Sir] Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, Seth Ward, and several others – became members of the informal Oxford ‘Experimental Club’ hosted by the Revd Dr John Wilkins in his Warden’s Lodgings in Wadham.

Indeed, they came together in equal Fellowship, to try or report experiments, discuss discoveries made abroad, and enjoy each other’s company in much the same way as Oxford men of that time met together to pray or to make music.

Of course, one reason why science was so topical by the 1650s lay in the speed of its advancement. First came the great discoveries in global geography. Then telescopes and microscopes after 1609 revealed a hithertounsuspected universe of the vast and the minute.

Moreover, magnetic needles, the barometer, the airpump, and other instruments by the 1650s further added to the flood of new knowledge, as their perception-enhancing power opened up realms of knowledge of which the revered ancient Greeks could never have dreamt. Could modern doctors really know more than Hippocrates, and astronomers more than Ptolemy? It appeared so, for the men of 1650 had research tools unimagined in ancient Athens, and it now seemed that instrument-based forensic inquisition into nature yielded incomparably more fruits than did philosophical systems.

Post-Galenic comparative anatomy had been pioneered by Vesalius in Padua in the 1540s, but it

Painting by Rita Greer depicting Boyle and Hooke's laboratory in the High circa 1660. Allan Chapman is portrayed as the assistant carrying the bowl.

was that painstaking sequence of experiments undertaken by William Harvey, and published in 1628 in De Motu Cordis, that created a whole new agenda for physiology. For Harvey, a Cambridge man and adopted Oxonian through his Wardenship of Merton, 1645-6, had effectively ‘re-plumbed’ the living body. Instead of moving in a one-way direction from the furnace-like heart to the extremities through the veins, the blood was now seen to move first into the lungs and arteries (always puzzling to Greek anatomists), and then into the veins under the mechanical action of the heart, in a ceaseless circulation. Harvey had many critics, but when Marcello Malphigi in Bologna in 1661 discovered the capillaries with the new microscope, the circulation theory received a huge boost.

The Oxford medics within Wilkins’s Wadham Club were all circulationists. Yet what was the blood’s relationship with the lungs and respiratory process? For the ancients appeared to have got it wrong. Working at his lodgings in Deep Hall on the High, in the house of the apothecary John

Contents Letter from the President . .3 A Profile of John Ledingham . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Frith photography prize 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 People in the News . . . . .6 “Oxford University Hospitals” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Obituaries

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Mentorship Programme 14 Alumni weekend

. . . . . . . .15

Forthcoming Events . . . . .16

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Crosse, the Hon. Robert Boyle (D.M. 1665) and his assistant Robert Hooke (M.A. 1662, M.D. Lambeth 1691) had come to realise by 1660 that the classical element ‘Air’ was not a homogeneous medium.

Depending on levels of compression or attenuation obtained by the new Boyle-Hooke airpump, it seemed that the air contained a vital property which came to be termed ‘aerial nitre’, without which neither combustion nor respiration could take place. And when a pot of fresh slaughterhouse blood was placed in the airpump and the air evacuated, the blood spontaneously frothed and ‘boiled’ as the ambient air within it escaped into the vacuum. So did the lungs bond some part of the air into the blood under mechanical pressure, and was the colour difference between venous and arterial blood caused by the presence or absence of this ‘aerial nitre’? And did this nitre cleanse, enrich, or evacuate the body as it circulated, and constantly need replenishment in the lungs? By the early 1670s a late Wadham protégé, Dr John Mayow, constructed a sequence of brilliant experiments which quantified the volume percentage of this ‘aerial nitre’ in a given body of air. And in 1667, Robert Hooke, now in London, published an account of a ghastly vivisection experiment performed on a living dog, in which he demonstrated that respiration was not occasioned by mechanical action of the lungs, but by the ingestion of air and blood into them: for when the dog’s windpipe was artificially sealed, the poor animal could be kept alive for an hour by using bellows to blow air into the lungs. Stop the bellows, and the heart went into spasm: resume blowing, and it normalised.

Respiration, it seemed, depended upon some kind of relationship between the air and the blood. Hooke, who was a kindly man, hated vivisection experiments, and only agreed to re-perform it after an eminent London surgeon had fruitlessly mangled another dog before the Royal Society.

Once Harveian circulation had made its revolutionary impact upon physiology, and experiments increasingly confirmed its correctness, the question next arose whether it could be used as a mode of administering drugs. In 1656 Christopher Wren and others employed a syringe to inject wine and opium into the opened vein of a dog. The animal quickly fell into a stupor, far more so than if it had merely drunk the drugged wine. Was this because the blood conveyed the opium directly to the dog’s brain? Not wishing it to die, however, we are told that the doctors chased the comatose animal around the [Wadham?] garden until it recovered!

Indeed, once the idea of the circulation had sunk into European medical thinking, all sorts of experiments were tried, and at the 23 November 1667 London meeting of the Royal Society, in the wake of prior experiments in Paris, one Arthur Coga, a ‘debauched’ Cambridge man, was injected with 8 ounces of warm sheep’s blood. Not only did Coga survive, but three weeks later happily underwent the same procedure, now receiving 14 ounces, after which he told the Society, in Latin, that he felt very well! Dr Lower was quite adamant that the blood really had flowed into Coga, and we are still mystified as to how he could possibly have survived! Such injections were seen as having a psychiatric potential: sheep, being very passive, had ideal blood to inject into madmen. This led Samuel Pepys, F.R.S., to speculate what would happen if one injected an Archbishop with the blood of a Quaker!

But without doubt, the greatest Oxford medical scientist of c. 1660 was Thomas Willis of Christ Church. Lodging with Canon Isles in Tom Quad as an undergraduate, Willis, it was said, was inspired to become a doctor when assisting Mrs Isles compound her medicines for the poor. (Many clerical wives were skilled and often well-educated ‘unofficial’ medical practitioners, and from the 1670s Elizabeth

Sir Christopher Wren's 1664 drawing of the base of the brain showing the Circle of Willis.

(With thanks to Tim Kirtley Librarian of Wadham College)

Tillotson, wife of Hooke’s Archbishop friend John, often successfully dosed Hooke on his visits first to the St Paul’s Deanery, and then Lambeth Palace.)

Cutting his teeth by selling his medical skills on Abingdon Market as a young practitioner, Willis rapidly became a clinician of genius.

Brought back into the University fold as Sedleian Professor at the Restoration in 1660, Willis (a High Church Royalist who detested Puritanism and had married the Dean of Christ Church’s daughter) laid the foundations of modern neural anatomy. Tracing the nervous appendages of the brain, he argued that different zones of the cortex controlled different functions: not only muscular action, but even traits such as musicality. Then in 1664, he first described that great artery at the base of the brain which immortalised his name: the Circle of Willis.

His friend Christopher Wren drew it, for yes, the great architect of the new St Paul’s was also a keen anatomical dissector and medical draughtsman, as well as being Oxford’s Savilian Professor of Astronomy.

With the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 much of national life came to be focussed on London, including science, for the new King, Charles II, though pleasure-seeking, had a first-rate intellect and enjoyed the company of clever men. Approaches were made to His Majesty, as a result of which Wilkins’s Oxford Club and their Gresham College friends in London became incorporated as The Royal Society.

Yet while the Society enjoyed a Royal title, it got no money, and was obliged to pay its own way, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it thereby secured its own intellectual freedom. And while now London-based, many men of science who became Fellows still lived and worked in Oxford, such as Boyle, Willis, and Mayow. In 1683 the Ashmolean Museum and Laboratory on Broad Street became the University’s first formal science institution, with its anatomical collections, dissecting room and laboratory. The building now houses the Museum of the History of Science.

So let us not forget the fundamental researches that were conducted in 17th-century Oxford, nor the role they played in helping to establish the Royal Society.

Dr Allan Chapman Wadham College, Oxford

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Letter from the President Weatherall Lecture Meeting in April, OMA celebrated inauguration of the Weatherall lecture, in which Professor Sir David Weatherall spoke about his experiences of beginning, encouraging and developing Oxford’s major contribution to the study of medicine in the tropics, differentiating this from the conventional British view of Tropical Medicine. His examples, explanations and often humorous anecdotes illustrated how a combination of serendipity together with opportunities seen and taken have set Oxford at the front of the field, whether in the understanding of infectious diseases such as malaria, TB and HIV or through direct interaction with patients and trainees, in the clinic or at the bedside. This has played to the strengths of Oxford in valuing the best in both important research subjects and in attracting excellent protagonists, from student level onwards. A large and mixed audience of alumni and guests appreciated his contribution enormously. We look forward to next year’s lecture, which we hope will be delivered by alumnus — and pupil of DJW — Professor Nick White, who is based in Thailand and makes regular visits to work in Oxford each May. The plan is also to showcase some of the best student elective presentations, which remain a highlight in the final year of the Oxford clinical course.

OMA admin support We are delighted that Jayne Todd has been joined by Deanna Edsall who will give administrative support on two mornings each week.

Deanna has already begun to meet alumni, from seniors who meet in Osler House at the monthly lunchtime Oxford Medical Lecture Club, to a Saturday reunion of ten-year qualifiers from 2000 and 2011, and graduands at the Finalists dinner. With her help we hope to net in more young members, to establish firm links with year groups at each decade reunion events and to keep our large database up to scratch, particularly through email and internet social networks. A reminder that if you wish to remain on our email list for Oxford Medicine we will need to know if you change email address; if you prefer a paper copy, we ask you to become a subscriber which, still at £30 per year, is cost-effective particularly if you plan to come to our annual events, as the cost for subscribers is lower.

Re union for 2000 and 2001 Qualifiers I recently went to a very successful decade reunion, for qualifiers from 2000 and 2001.

It was a great pleasure not only to see faces which still seem very familiar from when I became Deputy Director of Clinical Studies, but also to meet spouses and to see the Osler House garden at teatime full of lively and happy children. There must be an interesting

sociological study of the waves of pairings and births in the years after medical graduation. I have also been very sad to hear of Seymour Spencer’s death — he was my consultant in Psychiatry at the Highfield Adolescent unit, for my medical student attachment, that is! And so the connections between alumni continue across the years.

Australian reunion Spring 2012 Roger Bodley, Peter Teddy and Peter Morris are collaborating to organise a reunion for alumni in Australia. This is to be held at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania over the weekend of 2nd to 4th March 2012. There is already keen interest and details appear on the back page of this edition.

Netw orking eve nts OMA has been involved in a number of networking events in London, including one for Oxford alumni considering a mid-career change. The afternoon brought a number of enquiries, in particular from alumni looking for an alternative to working in the financial sector. The second was held in London at the Oxford and Cambridge Club on 9 June 2011, and attracted nearly one hundred alumni to hear Eric Sidebottom expertly review the history of medicine in a few minutes, and then Nick Edwards and Alastair Buchan discuss the role or entrepreneurship in medicine today. This was followed by stimulating debate which carried on into the reception afterwards.

Oxford Me dicine going ele ctronic As mentioned in the previous edition, the cost of distributing 10,000 paper copies of Oxford Medicine to alumni worldwide has become too high and so we have decided to distribute most copies electronically. If you do wish to continue to receive Oxford Medicine in its printed form then you must subscribe. You can do this online at www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/oma/oxmed/how-to-receive-oxford-medicine

Most importantly — please do keep us up to date if you change your email address.

We realise we risk losing contact with some alumni, but plan to build up our electronic contacts progressively through reunions and events.

Your interest and support is of great importance to us and is what motivates us to grow OMA’s activities, and we very much enjoy meeting alumni in person.

Peggy Frith June 2011

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Profile of John Ledingham My father was the son of a Banffshire headmaster (dominie) and followed his older brother into medical school at the University of Aberdeen. After junior posts there he arrived at the "BROMPTON HOSPITAL FOR CONSUMPTION and DISEASES OF THE CHEST" in 1923, where he met my mother, recently graduated from the Royal Free School of Medicine for Women. Both wanted a career in hospital medicine, but as father's income was £100 per annum and mother had only free board, lodging and laundry, one of the two had to earn.

Father bought (as you had to in those days) a general practice in Notting Hill borrowing the money from thyroid surgeon Cecil Joll for whom mother had worked as a house officer. She went on to become a consultant physician at the Royal Free in 1931, albeit unpaid for her hospital work (again as was the norm) until the start of the NHS in 1947.

My mother was the daughter of the editor of the Observer and her two sisters were also in journalism, both having read English at Somerville in the 1920s, so I was born in1929 into a family of doctors and journalists. At school I tended to favour a career in journalism and so spent most of my time at Latin and Greek and learned no science.

National Service took me to Hong Kong as a 2nd Lt in the Royal Artillery just before the Korean war. There was time to contemplate and I decided to turn to medicine. I read textbooks on physics, chemistry and biology in my tent in the new territories. On return to England in April 1950 I found New College would accept me as a medical student (!) and was recommended to attend a cram school in Eccleston Square in London in order to pass the preliminary examination in the natural sciences (including botany) before the end of Hilary Term of 1951. That completed there was time, among other things to indulge in sport. My hockey had improved greatly on the baked mud pitches in Hong Kong, and sporting prowess was seen as an advantage in a career in medicine at that time. So the Blue in 1954 gave particular pleasure and seemed more useful in seeking later jobs than did a first in Animal Physiology. Final Honour Schools at that time was dominated by neurophysiology (Hodgkin, Huxley and Katz, the nerve impulse and the squid axon) and respiratory physiology (Haldane, Douglas, Lloyd and Cunningham), but I became fascinated

by Homer Smith's "Comparative Physiology of the Mammalian Kidney" and was allowed to spend much of my time on that subject.

Most of us went to London for clinical work and I went to the Middlesex Hospital Medical School. On my first surgical firm, Sir Gordon Gordon Taylor (G squared Taylor) advised me to abandon medicine for the law — "don't you know, my boy, that the profession is now in the hands of politicians; sooner or later they will destroy it.”

But I enjoyed it hugely. It is extraordinary now to think back to medical students in three dark suits caring for patients kept in for four weeks or more of bed rest after a myocardial infarct or inserting nasogastric

tubes for a milk drip for the many patients with peptic ulcer- or cutting down to insert resharpened steel needles to tie into a vein for intravenous fluids delivered by rubber tubes. I was seduced by neurology, working for Michael Kremer, Roger Gilliatt and Valentine Logue (son of the "King's Speech" Logue). After a registrar post in neurology and neurosurgery (with a tuberculous meningitis unit) at the Whittington, I returned to general medicine, endocrinology and diabetes with John Nabarro at the Middlesex and Dick Bayliss at the Westminster. Nephrology was just beginning then and I was able to be involved in it in both jobs. In those days it was essential to gain ones BTA ('Been to America') and I joined John Laragh's team at Presbyterian Hospital in New York, working on the roles of reninangiotensin system and aldosterone in hypertension.

My appointment as a physician to the United Oxford Hospitals in 1966 was in response to an advertisement for a post combining general medicine, endocrinology, diabetes, metabolic medicine and nephrology! Those were the days before rampant specialisation. It was a time of change in Oxford and within a few weeks there were three new surgeons, Robert Duthie, Malcolm Gough and Joe Smith and three new physicians, Peter Sleight, Derek Hockaday and Ledingham.

George Pickering, then Regius, persuaded the five NHS consultants all to accept A+B appointments, taking research sessions and a lectureship in the university in lieu of private practice. Pickering wanted to blunt any differences between NHS and university staff and he did so. It was a stimulating time. When we arrived there were less than 40 members of Osler House in toto, but soon the competition to get into the clinical school became fierce with more and more coming from Cambridge as well as those with an intercalated BSc from other schools. Richard Doll became Regius and soon to be appointed to Nuffield chairs were David Weatherall, Peter Morris, and Alec Turnbull.

The clinical school was really flourishing.

In 1974 I was lucky enough to be appointed May Reader to join David Weatherall in the NDM. We were together for nearly 20 splendid years. It was in 1977 that I first became Director of Clinical Studies and became the Hon. Sec. of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland. So I was particularly busy when, in the same year, I was approached by OUP to edit a new textbook of medicine to replace the 12th (1966) edition of Price's "Textbook of the Practice of Medicine." It had been edited by one of the Physicians to the Queen and had had the brief review — “This book has been edited by the physician to the Queen. God save her Majesty." Initially I was reluctant but when David Weatherall and I were asked to lunch to suggest who might otherwise do it, he was enthused and we took it on, soon to be joined by David Warrell. OTM was five years in gestation, so the editors were more than pleased by its reception.

Over the five years of my first time as DCS, the talent in Osler House was remarkable. It included both the current Regius and the Head of the Medical Sciences Board, among many others of similar distinction, many of whom are still in Oxford. It was the time too of the arrival of Green College with all the attendant difficulties in its relationship with Osler House. I was much occupied with persuading the bursars of the older colleges that they should still (reluctantly) pay a sum to Osler House for their clinical students, despite the arrival of this new "medical "college. Facing them en masse in the Codrington Library of All Souls was an experience. Not only that but Osler Boat Club had climbed from the bottom to near Head of the River, so threatening the college clubs that they asked OUBC to have Osler thrown off the river.

As senior member for Osler I got involved and with the help of Tom Cadoux-Hudson, Osler remained on the river and flourished.

Not all things went quite so well. In 1980 I was approached for a place in the clinical school by a man who came to my office, resplendently garbed in a St Catherine's College blazer, immaculate grey flannels and polished shoes. He almost clicked his heels. He brought with him a certificate of his graduation from the medical school of Jena and Halle in East Germany (a degree not recognised in the UK) and a letter of recommendation, purporting to have come from Sir Hans Krebs. We took him on, but in the introductory course David Grahame-Smith commented that he had never before seen percussion of the chest undertaken with a wristy swish of a patellar hammer. Alarm bells did not ring loud enough. He opted for the conjoint examination rather than BM and passed. He was only discovered to have forged his documents when he later applied for a post, I think in Leicestershire. Since then the university has demanded originals and not copies of any important documents.

I undertook a second period as DCS before retirement in 1995 and this was just as rewarding as had been the earlier stint. I saw the job

as largely one of pastoral care of the students, with only the very occasional need for any disciplinary action. I enjoyed both stints enormously.

Now, approaching the age of 82, I scarcely recognise the current medical scene. Mine was a very different era. I look back at it all with great pleasure and our generation are often to be heard to say that we had had the best years. But my father said the same to me of his career when I began in 1950. It is, of course, the usual habit of the elderly to look back to the good old days. We all do it.

Editor’s note: Professor Ledingham’s long and distinguished association with Medical Sciences at Oxford has extended far past his retirement from his University post as Director of Clinical Studies; a vibrant and engaged body of over 9,000 alumni. He has been a guiding force behind the creation of the Oxford Medical Alumni association (OMA). In addition, he has been instrumental in securing important donations to Medical Sciences, in particular one that resulted in the substantial renovation of Osler House, home to 500 clinical students at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

OMA is delighted that John Ledingham has this year been made a recipient of the Distinguished Friend of Oxford Award which was initiated in 1997 as a means of recognising individuals who have acted as exceptional volunteers for the benefit of the University or its colleges and departments.

Frith Photography Prize 2011 The Oxford Medical School Gazette (OMSG) is proud to announce that the annual Frith Photography Prize will be held in association with the prestigious University Alumni Weekend at the Said Business School this coming September.

The theme this year will be a “Portrait in Medicine”. You may have a particular interest in capturing portraits of doctors — whether they are currently working in Oxford, have moved to work elsewhere, or have retired. This might be a distinguished clinician or scientist — perhaps someone the photographer aspires to meet and portray because of a notable achievement — but a portrait might also be of someone significant to the photographer in other, perhaps more personal, ways.

Of course, medical portraits may also extend further, to include patients or colleagues other than doctors, so this title has no tight boundaries and is to be interpreted freely. Each photograph should be associated with a caption, which describes why the portrait was taken.

The medium of photography is very appropriate to the medical ambience, as it is pragmatic, practical, inexpensive, flexible, reflective and inventive. We hope entries will come from a wide spectrum of those working in the medical field, and beyond. The more entries we have, the broader a view we will capture.

Submission Submit to frithprize@omsg-online.com by Thursday 12th August 2011 Please attach a descriptive caption to your submissions.

Any correspondence on this matter must be sent to the Gazette Editors and not to Oxford Medical Alumni.

The Editors OMSG

2010 Winners

1st Place 2010: The doctor will see you now...

Anna Tochlin

2nd Place 2010: ‘Hands’ Matt Smith

3rd Place 2010: ‘Seed pod skeleton’ Anne-Marie Hewitt

Rachel Armstrong

OXFORD MEDICINE . DECEMBER 2009 / 5

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People in the News In the New Year Honours 2011...

Professor Rory Edw ards Collins, Codirector of the Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit and Fellow of Green Templeton College, received a Knighthood for services to Science. Co-director of the CTSU since 1985, since 2005 he has also acted as the Principal Investigator and Chief Executive of the UK Biobank prospective study of 500,000 British men and women aged 40-69. His work has been in the establishment of large-scale epidemiological studies of the causes, prevention and treatment of heart attacks, other vascular disease, and cancer.

Professor Dav id Mant, Emeritus Professor of General Practice and Emeritus Fellow of Kellogg College, was made an OBE for services to medicine.

Oxford appoints new Pro-Vice-Chancellors Professor William James, Professor of Virology, Fellow of Brasenose College and James Martin Fellow, is to become Oxford University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resources), in August. In the role Professor James will be responsible for institutional and strategic planning, and resource allocation. William James came to Oxford from Birmingham University in 1981, and completed a DPhil in bacterial genetics under Joel Mandelstam. He has held academic appointments in Oxford since 1984 at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, in conjunction with, sequentially, Linacre College, St Edmund Hall, Christ Church, Exeter College, Magdalen College and Brasenose College. He is a Medical Tutor at Brasenose, and lectures on virology to medical students. Professor James’s research focuses on the interaction of HIV, the AIDS virus, with cells called macrophages, which the virus uniquely subverts in order to establish infection in the body. In developing stem cells as a research tool for these studies, he founded the Oxford Stem Cell Facility, which is generously supported by the James Martin School, and this now supports researchers around Oxford and abroad working on diseases such as Parkinson’s and Chronic Granulomatous Diseases, as well as HIV/AIDS. Dr Stephen Goss took up the position of Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Personnel & Equality ), on an interim and half-time basis in January 2011. As Pro-ViceChancellor Dr Goss is responsible for overseeing the development and evolution of the University’s Human Resources Strategy; and taking a lead on equality and diversity issues across the University. Stephen Goss is a Fellow and Tutor in Medicine at Wadham College, lecturer at the Dunn School of Pathology, and Director of the Oxford Learning Institute. From 1997 to 2005 he was Director of Pre-Clinical Studies

where he was closely involved with the expansion of the Medical School and revising the curriculum. In his scientific work he established the radiation hybrid technique 'Goss-Harris method' for human gene mapping, and went on to study the growth and differentiation of hepatomas.

Four researchers made Fellows of Academy of Medical Sciences Professors Paul Bolam, Frances Platt, Andrew King and Doug Altman, were elected Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences in May 2011.

Paul Bolam is associate director of the MRC Anatomical Neuropharmacology Unit in Oxford and professor of anatomical neuropharmacology in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford. His current research on Parkinson’s disease looks to understand how the functions of part of the brain called the basal ganglia are altered in Parkinson’s, and why some dopamineproducing neurons are more susceptible than others. A former chair of the research advisory panel for Parkinson’s UK, he currently serves on the neuroscience and mental health board of the Medical Research Council.

Professor Frances Platt focuses on a set of rare neurodegenerative conditions called lysosomal storage diseases in her work at the Department of Pharmacology in Oxford. Her research, in collaboration with Dr Terry Butters, on a new approach to treat several of these disorders led to the development of a new drug called miglustat (Zavesca). In 2002 miglustat was approved for clinical use in the commonest of these diseases, type 1 Gaucher disease, and more recently in Europe for treating some cases of Niemann-Pick disease type C. Andrew King is a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow and professor of neurophysiology in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics. His research combines a range of methods to investigate the neural basis of how we hear and process sounds. This work has revealed a remarkable capacity for the brain to adapt at different ages and over different timescales to changes in its sensory inputs. While focussing on the fundamental question of how information about the auditory world is represented in the brain, his research could also lead to advances in the treatment and rehabilitation of those whose hearing is impaired.

Professor Doug Altman has directed the Centre for Statistics in Medicine in Oxford since its inception in 1995.

He has published over 400 peer reviewed articles, many aimed at clarifying statistical ideas for medical researchers. Professor Altman is actively involved in developing guidelines for reporting medical research, and in 2006 founded a network which seeks to improve the quality of scientific publications by promoting transparent and accurate reporting of health research.

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The Royal Society has elected as new Fellows Professor Fiona Powrie and Professor Angela Vincent Professor Angela Vincent is Emeritus Professor of Neuroimmunology in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neuroscience and an Emeritus Fellow of Somerville College. Her research, conducted mainly at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, has focussed on diseases of the nervous system caused by autoantibodies to ion channels, receptors and associated proteins. These autoantibodies can cause muscle weakness, loss of memory, seizures, psychiatric or other neurological disturbance. As a result of her work on the discovery of autoantibodies and how they cause disease, patients can be diagnosed appropriately and given treatments that reduce the levels of the autoantibodies resulting usually in substantial clinical improvement.

Professor Fiona Powrie is Sidney Truelove Professor of Gastroenterology in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine and Fellow of Green Templeton College. Her work focuses on characterisation of immune system bacterial interactions in the intestine and how this normally beneficial relationship breaks down in inflammatory bowel disease. These studies have been instrumental in showing that intestinal homeostasis is a delicate balance between effector T cells which drive inflammatory processes and regulatory T cells which can suppress them opening up new avenues for treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.

Professor Fiona Powrie is also a recipient of a Wellcome Senior Inv estigator Aw ard. This award will enable her to continue her work into the huge number of microbes that play an important role in our health. In inflammatory bowel disease, the beneficial relationship we have with these bacteria breaks down, resulting in chronic and painful intestinal inflammation. Professor Powrie will investigate how the 'dialogue' between the intestinal immune system and intestinal bacteria breaks down and why this leads to disease.

Professor Angela McLean has been awarded the Gabor Medal in recognition of her pivotal work on the mathematical population biology of immunity. The Gabor Medal was created in memory of Denis Gabor FRS – the inventor of holography. It is awarded biennially and is given for acknowledged distinction of interdisciplinary work between the life sciences with other disciplines.

Professor McLean will give the 2011 Osler lecture on 17 September 2011. See page 16 for more information and details on how to book.

issues in stroke prevention, including how best to diagnose and treat high blood pressure and whether taking a daily aspirin reduces the risk of cancer as well as heart attacks and strokes.

Professor Adrian Hill Adrian Hill’s work as a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator will focus on developing new vaccines that induce protective immune cell responses to some of the world’s most pressing disease.

His research programme has already demonstrated the feasibility of inducing protective cellular immunity to malaria in clinical trials, and the award will build on this work towards development of a highly effective malaria vaccine suitable for preventing disease and death in children living in areas where malaria is endemic.

Professor Peter Donnelly As director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics and professor of statistical science, Professor Donnelly has led some of the largest studies to date on the genetic basis of common human diseases. The Senior Investigator Award will allow him to continue his work in understanding the genetic basis of human diseases, through the development and application of statistical methods for analysing DNA sequence data in health and disease, and in direct studies of the development and spread of antibiotic resistance in human bacterial pathogens, particularly E. coli. It will also allow him to pursue his groundbreaking research, with colleagues in Oxford, into the nature and control of recombination, the fundamental biological mechanism responsible for shuffling genetic material as it passes from generation to generation.

Professor Patrik Rorsman Patrik Rorsman is professor of diabetic medicine in the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism. Professor Rorsman has been at the forefront of research on hormone-secreting cells in the pancreas for more than 20 years, work that is highly relevant to understanding the causes and treatment of type 2 diabetes. The Wellcome Trust award will allow him to study further the metabolic and hormonal regulation of hormone secretion in the pancreas.

2011 Lifetime Achievement Award for Professor Sir Richard Peto

The Wellcome Trust made awards to Professor Peter Rothwell and Professor Adrian Hill, Professor Peter Donnelly and Professor Patrik Rorsman.

The award by readers of the BMJ seeks to recognise a unique and substantial contribution to improving health.

His work has contributed to reduced death rates in many areas of the world by demonstrating the effectiveness of some widely practicable treatments, the hazards of smoking and, in particular, the benefits of stopping smoking.

Professor Peter Rothwell A physician and epidemiologist in the Department of Clinical Neurology, Professor Rothwell will address the most important – but, he believes, tractable –

Professor Peto, an epidemiologist and statistician, is codirector with Sir Rory Collins of the Clinical Trial Service Unit (CTSU) at Oxford, which conducts large studies of the causes and treatment of disease worldwide.

Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Awards 2011

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In collaboration with Professor Sir Richard Doll, Professor Peto demonstrated the extraordinary hazards of persistent cigarette smoking, which exceed those from all the other known causes of cancer put together. He also showed the substantial benefits of stopping smoking, directly influencing public policy in many countries. Professor Peto has worked in close collaboration with Professor Sir Rory Collins on large scale randomised evidence since the 1980s. In particular, they showed that the importance of blood pressure and blood cholesterol concentrations in heart disease had been underestimated.

He founded the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group in 1985, which in bringing together the best evidence on treatments has helped decrease breast cancer mortality since the 1980s. This decrease is now steep in many countries but is steepest in the UK. Professor Peto said: ‘The BMJ Group call it a lifetime achievement award, but actually it's an inter-generational award, given for studies over more than 60 years of the causes and the treatment of chronic disease. These studies were started by Richard Doll, who brought me with him to Oxford 40 years ago, continued by me and are now being carried forward in new ways by Rory Collins and others in the CTSU. At the UK death rates of 40 years ago just over one in 3 would die before age 70, but at current UK death rates just under 1 in 6 will do so. The main reasons that the risk of death before old age has gone down by more than half in the UK over the past 40 years is that lots of people have stopped smoking, and nowadays people at risk of vascular disease are taking drugs that work.’

Dr Ann McPherson of the Department of Primary Health Care at Oxford named as the Communicator of the Year by the BMJ. Dr Ann McPherson has instigated a number of successful health information projects with communication at their heart. She was praised for the imaginative way in which she conveys the complexities and technical details of medicine to a wider audience and helps to change the way people think about important issues. ‘If you’re a good doctor, you have to be able to communicate,’ she says.

‘Communication is the essence of being a good doctor.’

Dr McPherson was profiled in Oxford Medicine in July 2010 when she wrote about Healthtalkonline.org a patient website which allows people with different health conditions to benefit from the experiences of others who have been in the same position. Ten years after it was first set up; the site now covers 60 different illnesses and health issues and receives two million hits every month. Based on research carried out at Oxford University, the enterprise has now resulted in a research group dedicated to patient experiences. The Diary of a Teenage Health Freak, written with Aidan Macfarlane, provides adolescents with facts and advice while making them smile, and Women’s Health is a leading handbook for GPs which Dr McPherson edited with Dr Deborah Waller.

It’s clear that all these efforts have been born of a desire to give the patient the best information possible and enabling them to be involved in their own treatment. ‘It’s about putting the patients at the centre of their own healthcare,’ she says. Most recently, Dr McPherson created the group Healthcare Professionals for Assisted Dying (HPAD) which campaigns for greater patient choice at the end of life, including the option of assisted dying subject to legal safeguards.

Dr McPherson is herself reaching the end of her life. Her pancreatic cancer is at a terminal stage and she was unable to attend the BMJ Group’s award ceremony. Yet she still recorded a video message that was

shown at the event. On being informed she had won the award, she says she was delighted but stressed that the award should also recognise all the others involved in these projects. ‘They were all very much team efforts. Collaboration is vital. No one does these things on their own.’

It is with great sadness that we note that Ann McPherson lost her struggle with pancreatic cancer in June 2011.

Kathryn Wright who graduated BM BCh in 2011 has been awarded the Meakins McClaran Medal 2011 for outstanding overall performance in the final year of her studies at the Oxford Medical School.

Professor Derek Jewell Professor Derek Jewell receiving his International Membership from President Novellino following his election to the National Academy of Medicine in Rio de Janeiro

Congratulations to all of the current cohort of students who have qualified BM BCh in 2011. They celebrated their last times together in Oxford with a wonderful evening at the Ashmolean (photos below).

We look forward to seeing them all again at their first reunion in 2021.

OXFORD MEDICINE . JULY 2011 / 9

”Oxford University Hospitals” Professor Alastair Buchan Head, Medical Sciences Division On May 30th 2011, Council of the University of Oxford approved a proposal from the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals that they would be renamed Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. Once the merger has taken place with the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC), the NOC and ORH will be joined as a breakthrough which creates this new university hospital name. It also leads to a new Joint Working Agreement which puts the Partnership Board — our Joint Executive — to blend processes which will support research, education and the use of estates under one administration. While the University’s Medical Sciences Division will continue to report as a Board through to the University Council and the Directors of the Trust’s Clinical Centres will continue to report to what will be the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust Board, the Partnership Board will take responsibility for ensuring that education, clinical research, and clinical innovation are joined. A Joint Research Office will facilitate research governance and the process of leading on clinical research, and it will bring the University’s experience and capability into a single research endeavour.

The Trust has restructured its old three Divisions into six new Divisions — or Clinical Centres — with the NOC becoming a seventh. We have concentrated the University Clinical Departments so that they map onto these Centres with the Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics aligned with the NOC, the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences with the West Wing in the John Radcliffe Hospital, the Nuffield Department of Surgery and Department of Oncology with the Cancer Centre, the Nuffield Department of Medicine with the Churchill Hospital, and the new Nuffield Department of Experimental Medicine — including Cardiovascular Medicine — with the John Radcliffe Hospital. We are bringing Obstetrics and Paediatrics together under one structure for the Trust, and the two Departments will work in concert in what purports to be a new development for women and children with developmental sciences. Therefore the seven University Clinical Departments will map onto the Trust’s seven Clinical Centres and we will continue to develop Psychiatry at the Warneford Hospital, a new Department of Primary Healthcare Science in a new building on the Radcliffe Infirmary site, with plans to rebuild a Department of Public Health in the Richard Doll Building already underway.

Major developments in education see the growth of the Oxford University Clinical Academic Graduate School, and opportunities with new legislation to bring the Deanery under the joined-up structure of the University and the Oxford University Hospitals to support a Deanery for post-graduate medical education, with strong outreach to our affiliated hospitals in the regions. We are increasingly worried by the changes in the fee structure and the concern that the NHS, who have yet to commit to the current bursary system; it is becoming increasingly unlikely that government will increase bursarial support to the clinical students in the light of the new fee structure of £9000 a year. This is particularly challenging for a six-year medical school and is a particular worry with respect to a graduate entry school which has been so successful.

Research goes from strength to strength and 2010-2011 sees research income of more than £210 million, with a total budget for the Medical Sciences Division of around £360 million; this accounts for about half the expenditure of the University of Oxford. Renewal of the Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre’s Biomedical Research Unit (BRU) and a new BRU for the Warneford Hospital are anticipated, with interviews in July. This spring has seen five new fellows in the Academy of Medical Sciences: Andy King from Physiology, Doug Altman from Statistics, Paul Bolam from Pharmacology (MRC ANU), Fran Platt from Pharmacology and Chris Tang who has been recently recruited from Imperial’s Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection. We are pleased to hear that Angela Vincent and Fiona Powrie have been elected to Fellowships of the Royal Society. We were successful in obtaining five Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Awards; namely, Peter Rothwell, Patrik Rorsman, Fiona Powrie, Peter Donnelly, and Adrian Hill. Major new recruitments include David Clark and Anke Ehlers from Kings to Experimental Psychology, Chris Tang — from Imperial — and Richard Hobbs — from Birmingham — to the Chair of the new Department of Primary Care Healthscience.

The Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology Trust, currently based at Imperial College London, has entered into a collaborative agreement for Oxford University and the Kennedy Trust to build a new rheumatology research institute at Oxford. A new Kennedy Research Institute will be provided on the University’s Old Road Campus adjacent to the UK’s largest musculoskeletal clinical centre at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre. The University has identified research into the inflammatory mechanisms of joint disease as a major strategic priority, that aligns well with the substantial clinical presence in this field at the NOC and the strong immunology and inflammation research programmes elsewhere in the University. The Old Road Campus in Oxford will place the new Institute in close proximity with both the NOC and facilities that support a range of biomedical research activities, including structural biology, genomics, proteomics, cell biology, clinical trials and epidemiology. The trustees of the Trust and the University are determined to make the new Institute a world leader in research into rheumatology, autoimmune and inflammatory disease.

I am pleased to report that the Division goes from strength to strength and most importantly, through the leadership of Tim Lancaster and his team, the Medical School is still rated the best medical school in the country by all the leading league tables.

2011 will therefore see the creation of Oxford University Hospitals for the tricentenary of John Radcliffe’s death in 1714, immortalised through the activities of his charitable trust which includes buildings such as the Radcliffe Infirmary, the Radcliffe Observatory, and the Radcliffe Camera.

Oxford Medical School Tops the Leagues — again On 17 May 2011 the Guardian reported that Oxford Medicine was again at the top of the University league table with a score of 100 out of 100.

10 / OXFORD MEDICINE . JULY 2011

A message from the Honorary treasurer of OMA It was with considerable trepidation that I agreed last year to be put forward for the post of Honorary Treasurer of OMA to replace Richard Maxwell. Retirement after more than 40 years in clinical academic medicine in London and Glasgow was to be a break from committees, budgets and politics!

Derek Jewell, the then President, and Peggy Frith, the incoming one, reassured me that my Scottish background both ethnic and professional made me well qualified for this new role. What they did not say was that after the last 10 years when OMA was established and grew to fill an important role in medicine in Oxford , we were heading into a period of austerity with pressure to tighten our financial belts and control costs.

OMA had grown to provide not only a forum and infrastructure for Oxford trained clinical students and staff but also a widely available window on Medicine at Oxford. In addition to the Annual Spring Meeting with a programme of talks on current medical research and education topics and a formal dinner, OMA also participates in the Oxford University Alumni weekend in September with the Osler Lecture and lunch. OMA has also taken an active role in other International Alumni activities including the North American gatherings. OMA has emerged as a welcome link for those clinical alumni who wish to have a forum to compliment the well established College Gaudies. Such meetings develop friendships, celebrate achievements (and survival!). OMA through its staff and data base can facilitate such events and more informal interactions. Such support is particularly appreciated by Alumni from the earlier decades (1940s – 1960s) when clinical student numbers were much smaller than now and easy electronic contact was not available.

In the 50 years since I was a student at Oxford (Magdalen 1961–7 and at Osler House 1965–7), there have been enormous changes both in numbers of clinical students, the location of preclinical and clinical teaching and the content of the curriculum.

Many of the recent years with intakes of larger student numbers have established formal and informal arrangements for gatherings. OMA is currently coordinating an outline timetable for such events and will assist with contacts. However some of the earlier years with smaller student numbers (20–30 each year) have not met since graduation.

My own group who were clinical students in the mid 1960s had our first “get together” in September 1970. Over one third of the

clinical students in intakes from 1965–7 contacted through the OMA database attended including 4 from North America. There was unanimous support for a further reunion in 2–5 years with extra efforts to try to track down the “lost sheep” and encourage even more to attend!

The publication of Oxford Medicine has been one of the major achievements of OMA which provides a vehicle to make widely available information on the past, current and future contributions of Oxford to Clinical Medicine as well as an opportunity to interact with Alumni and friends.

Oxford Medicine will continue to be the “front window” of medicine in Oxford and will continue to be available to all who are interested. Unfortunately as reported in the previous issue (December 2010) neither OMA nor its generous financial supporter OU Medical Sciences Division are able in the present financial climate to cover the costs of maintaining the Alumni database and all our other activities as well as meeting the escalating costs of printing and mailing Oxford Medicine to ALL on the database regardless of whether they are subscribing members of OMA or not.

Oxford Medicine will continue to be sent by mail to all subscribers.

Oxford Medicine will continue to be available free to all others (non subscribers) in an electronic form if we have an e mail address for contact. Please ensure that OMA administrator Jayne Todd has an up to date email address.

Some Alumni (non members) have expressed their unhappiness with this arrangement. The simplest solution is for them to join us as OMA members and they will then receive the paper version!

For those either in severe financial hardship, disability or those who are unable (for whatever reason) to have internet connection, please contact the OMA administrator who will try to assist. We will do all that we can to ensure that those who want to receive Oxford Medicine receive it.

The costs of printing and mailing the complimentary (free) copies of Oxford Medicine to non subscribers has risen to over 25% of OMAs annual budget. This cost which is projected to rise further next year seriously threatens many of the other OMA activities and is unsustainable in the current financial climate. Perhaps you can spare a thought for the new Treasurer whose first actions have been to pursue unpopular financial prudence.

John Reid

Obituaries BARRUCH SAMUEL BLUMBERG (1925–2011) Barruch Samuel Blumberg, known to everyone as Barry, was born in 1925 and died shortly after giving a major lecture at NASA’s Ames Research institute in 2011 at the age of 85.

It is hard to describe his extraordinarily colourful and varied career in a relatively few words, but his wide ranging interests, not only in medicine but in genetics and anthropology and indeed in natural philosophy in its broadest sense, together with his bubbly personality, endeared him to all.

He was most famous for his discovery of Australia antigen in a time when he was studying jaundice and this antigen proved to be the

surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus, the cause of serum hepatitis.

He discovered this antigen in the blood of an aboriginal Australian using serum from a haemophiliac patient, as part of his wide ranging genetic studies into why people from different ethnic groups had a different susceptibility to a variety of diseases. The Australia antigen was the basis for the development of the vaccine against hepatitis B which he promulgated throughout the world, particularly in developing countries once he had persuaded Merck to produce the vaccine. His group also developed a screening test for hepatitis B which in turn led to the virtual abolition of serum hepatitis in the developed world. He was also one of the first to associate hepatitis B with hepatic cancer of the liver and the vaccination against hepatitis B in countries where there is a very high prevalence of hepatic cancer has resulted in a marked decrease in the incidence of this cancer.

In 1976 he was awarded the Nobel prize together with Careton

OXFORD MEDICINE . JULY 2011 / 11

Gajdusek for their work on the origin and spread of infectious viral disease: Blumberg for his discovery of hepatitis B and Gajdusek for his discovery of the viral origin of the neurological disease, Kuru, in the highlands of New Guinea.

Blumberg was born in Brooklyn New York and went to a Jewish Elementary school where he became fluent in Hebrew and was able to study the bible and the Jewish text in their original language. He then attended the Far Rockaway High School in the early 40’s that had also produced other Nobel Laureates. In 1943 he joined the US Navy and served in the Navy as a Deck Officer on landing ships, finishing up as the Commanding Officer of one of these ships in 1946. On discharge he went to college to take a degree in Physics and then began graduate studies in Mathematics at Colombia University, but switched to medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1951. While a medical student he spent several months in Surinam in a remote mining town. There were imported labourers from many ethnic origins working here, and he noted that their response to infectious diseases was very different. This triggered his interest in later years in inherited susceptibility to disease.

The next 4 years he spent as an intern and resident at the Bellevue hospital which served an underprivileged population in New York, but a hospital in which many famous physicians and surgeons had learnt their trade. At the end of his time as resident he came to Oxford as a graduate student at Balliol, working in the department of biochemistry supervised by Sandy Ogston who was a renowned teacher at Balliol even then. He was awarded his DPhil in 1957.

He then returned to the USA, to NIH where he headed its geographic medicine and genetic section until 1964. He then joined the Fox Chase Cancer Centre in Philadelphia as Associate Director for Clinical Research and Vice President for population oncology. It was during that period that he identified the Australia antigen as mentioned above.

He returned to Oxford for a year in 1983 as the Eastman Visiting Professor, again at Balliol College, and then a few years later was to be elected as the Master of Balliol College, a position he held from 1989 to 1994. He was the first scientist and American to be appointed Master of Balliol College in it’s 750 year history! In 1999 he became director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at the Ames Research

Centre in California, a position he held until 2002.

In 2005 he was chosen as the new President of the American Philosophical Society to which he had been elected in 1986. This prestigious society was founded in 1743 for the purpose of “promoting useful knowledge” by Benjamin Franklin on his return from England. He had served as President of Society with great distinction and sadly his sudden death in California was only weeks before he was to chair his final meeting as President.

Outside his widespread interest in everything medical, scientific and indeed even philosophical, he loved running and bicycling. At Balliol it was not unusual to see him heading off for a jog in his running kit or more often wrapped up for all types of weather riding off on his mountain bike into the Oxfordshire countryside. He often took some of the students, both undergraduate and graduate and even an occasional Fellow with him and it is rumoured that they had to work hard to keep up with him. He was also an enthusiastic supporter of rowing at Balliol and during preparation for the bumps could be seen on his bike whistling up and down the tow path on the Thames roaring out encouragement for the Balliol boat.

His wife, Jean, is an artist and there are four children (Jane, Anne, George and Noah) and nine grandchildren. They are a marvellous family and they certainly tried their hardest to keep Barry under control, but probably an impossible task I would imagine.

I had known Barry firstly from the time he spent as an Eastman Professor and obviously very well when he was Master of Balliol, but also saw a lot of him during his Presidency of the American Philosophical Society which I too attended fairly regularly. Barry was a lateral thinker and always fun to be with.

He was undoubtedly an outstanding scientist whose contributions with the discovery of hepatitis B and the development of a vaccine for Hepatitis B have resulted in saving millions of lives. But in addition he was an extraordinary kind and well rounded character with no pretensions and will be remembered as such by many just as much as for his scientific achievements.

Born: Brooklyn, New York, July 28th 1925 Died: Moffet Field, California, April 5th 2011

Peter J Morris AC, FRS

ALISON F. BRADING (1939–2011) For more than four decades, Alison Brading was an influential part of Oxford medical science. As a pre-clinical medical tutor, and active researcher and teacher in the Department of Pharmacology her contributions were many and varied. She taught generations of Lady Margaret Hall students in medicine, physiology and psychology and supervised graduate students in her department and advised those in other departments. In particular she introduced clinical postdoctoral fellows to the ways of basic research, and welcomed overseas students and researchers into her laboratory.

Alison followed on from her thesis work in Bristol with Peter Caldwell on Ascaris smooth muscle, to make fundamental contributions to the relatively little-studied membrane properties of mammalian smooth muscle. Her work in cell physiology emphasized the role of calcium channels and sodium:calcium exchange in the function of the smooth muscle controlling intestine, urinogenital tract and airways. Her role in the Oxford group of Edith Bülbring, including co-workers such as Tadao Tomita and Tom Bolton established Oxford Pharmacology Department as a world leader in this important area. Although initially her contributions were basic physiology published in the Journal of Physiology she was increasingly involved in the pharmacology of smooth muscle, which led her to translational research in the control of continence with clinical

colleagues. The availability of more effective drugs acting on the autonomic nervous system and smooth muscle, including treatment with Botox, allowed her research to produce scientific evidence for more effective remedies for common but unfashionable complaints. Her collaborations in Oxford and further afield (Sweden, Taiwan, U.S.A.) with urologists and colorectal surgeons led to national and international recognition of her knowledge and talent in this area Alison was dedicated to excellence in all areas. She overcame her physical disability (the polio which excluded her from the medical student place she was originally destined for) and the not always straightforward path for women scientists in medicine to succeed in a difficult environment. She did not suffer fools gladly, but was willing to make an enormous effort to get the best out of students and colleagues. She had a genuine scientific curiosity and would puzzle over unexpected results until the answer was resolved or at least an experiment had been designed to test a hypothesis further.

Her friends will remember many special moments – trips on her narrowboat, lunch at the pub in Thrupp, terrifying drives in her car to scientific meetings, late-night phone calls with scientific questions, all of which made Alison special and sorely missed.

Clive Ellory

12 / OXFORD MEDICINE . JULY 2011

ROBERT JOHN ORIEL DAVIES (1961–2010) Consultant and professor of respiratory medicine Churchill Hospital and University of Oxford (b 1961; q Southampton 1985; DM, FRCP), d 19 November 2010.

After graduating with honours and clinical distinction from Southampton, and completing junior posts in Wessex and Nottingham, Robert John Oriel Davies (“Rob”) moved to Oxford for higher postgraduate training. It was during these posts that he developed a research interest in sleep apnoea (the subject of his DM), and later in pleural diseases. He was passionate in wanting to develop and promote evidence based care for patients with respiratory disease, setting up a successful Respiratory Clinical Trials Unit at Churchill Hospital. From here he coordinated several multicentre studies looking at empyema, malignant pleural effusions, and sleep medicine.

His enthusiasm and drive generated a successful network of

collaborating departments throughout the UK, and he was instrumental in the production of highly influential guidelines for the management of pleural disease from the British Thoracic Society, further contributing to his international reputation. This enthusiasm rubbed off on his juniors and inspired many of them to a higher research degree.

Having learnt piano and clarinet at school, Rob continued music and was an accomplished jazz saxophonist. His untimely death is a great loss, not only to his family and colleagues but also to the international respiratory community.

He leaves a wife, Penny, and two children, Philli and Alex.

BMJ 2011;342:d1026

John Stradling, Colin Mumford

ANGUS DONALD MA, MSC, MRCGP (1937 – 2010) Engineer and medical practitioner. Died in Cambridge on 26 March 2010. After Cholmeley House and Highgate and Exeter Schools, he read electrical engineering at Aston C.A.T. (now University) and then worked for GEC for six years. A strong vocational call then led him to study medicine at Oxford where he was a member of Keble College. He trained at the Radcliffe Infirmary, at Vellore, India, and then worked at the Radcliffe and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospitals, Oxford before continuing his career at The Royal London and Stoke Mandeville Hospitals.

After a year as a GP trainee in Swindon and a period working in practices in Durham and South Shields he became established as a single-handed practitioner in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, where he followed a virtual all-hours regime for 24 years.

There he immediately set about recording detailed family histories and was among GPs who pioneered the summarising of all medical records. He introduced regular routine medical checks, which he called 5,000 mile services, for all patients as a means of preventative medicine. These are now accepted nationally as ‘MOTs’. His specialist medical interests included coronary heart disease, diabetes, asthma, child health, palliative care and the care of the elderly. He felt privileged that, within Bedfordshire, he had the largest percentage of elderly

patients registered at his practice and he included in his team a specialist nurse to care for them and make regular home visits. His approach was holistic and he believed that his patients gave him much in return for his care and interest.

He loved life and enjoyed a wide range of activities. These included a continuing interest in engineering, woodwork, gardening, hill walking, wind surfing, astronomy, music and a care and respect for all forms of life. He was a dedicated and much loved husband and family man; he was nearly always accompanied by his golden retriever.

He prided himself on being a Family Doctor and many people have commented on his gentle smile and twinkling eyes which radiated love and kindness. The majority of his patients have referred to him as their ‘doctor and friend’, a most fitting epitaph for one who dedicated his life to the care of others.

The loving, all-encompassing support of his wife Sylvia, with whom he shared a strong Christian faith, reinforced the social and professional aspects of his practice of which she was the manager.

After a thanksgiving service in Dunstable he was buried at Whimple, Devon, his wife’s family home. His family, friends and patients have presented three drugs trolleys dedicated to his name to Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

R. Thomson

PAUL WADSWORTH (1919–2010) Former consultant ear, nose, and throat surgeon Brighton and Haywards Heath Hospitals (b 1919; q Oxford 1944; MA (Oxon), FRCS), d 24 October 2010.

Paul Wadsworth, consultant ear, nose, and throat surgeon, was appointed to Brighton and Haywards Heath Hospitals in 1954 and retired in 1985. He died suddenly and unexpectedly at the Royal Sussex County Hospital on the 24 October 2010, aged 90.

Paul was born in Yorkshire. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School and won an open exhibition to study medicine at St Peter’s College, Oxford. He excelled at cricket and rugby and was awarded a Blue for representing Oxford University at rugby. He became a member of Vincent’s Club and subsequently was captain of Radcliffe Hospital rugby team.

Paul was a keen sportsman and later in life enjoyed walking, potholing, tennis, and golf. He enjoyed music, especially opera and classical music, and he was a talented pianist.

Having qualified in 1944, he joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve between 1944 and 1946, when he served on HMS Cossack,

being one of the first officers to visit Hiroshima after the atomic bomb.

He undertook his ENT training as a registrar in Oxford, gaining his ENT fellowship in 1951, and then became a senior registrar in Edinburgh before being appointed to Brighton. He took a great interest in management and became chairman of the hospital management committee at Mid Sussex Hospitals between 1964 and 1974. He was chairman of the ENT division at the Royal Sussex County Hospital between 1969 and 1976.

Paul was chairman of the BMA for Brighton and Mid Sussex from 1976 onwards, president of the South-East Otolaryngology Association, and in 1981 was elected president of the Brighton and Sussex Med Chi Society.

He instigated the opening of the Nuffield Private Hospital in Hove with some of his medical and influential non-medical friends in Brighton. He was secretary of the section of laryngology and otology at the Royal Society of Medicine, organising the summer meeting in Brighton in 1978. Although he was offered the position of president of the section of laryngology and otology, he refused as it was about the time of his retirement, stating he thought that a younger ENT surgeon

OXFORD MEDICINE . JULY 2011 / 13

should occupy that position. He was also a leading member of the executive committee of the academic conference in ENT between 1971 and 1983.

Professionally, he was responsible for the development of the ENT unit in Brighton. He started the ENT library, which to this day is very comprehensive, and he organised teaching sessions for junior doctors and regular interdisciplinary meetings with neurologists, radiologists, and pathologists. He created one of the first posts for an audiological scientist in the country. A major achievement was to obtain a senior registrar post on rotation from his Professor Sir Donald Harrison, his friend and colleague, at the Institute of Laryngology. Paul’s last senior registrar was David Howard, who subsequently replaced Professor Sir Donald Harrison.

Paul specialised in otology, undertaking over 3000 stapedectomies, and he wrote a paper on the controversial subject of second ear

stapedectomy. He also undertook pioneering work in ear homographs during the late 1960s and ’70s.

He looked after children with cerebral palsy at Chailey Heritage and took a specific interest in developing the submandibular duct transposition operation for the treatment of sialorrhoea.

For 40 years, he was principal laryngologist to the Glyndebourne Opera Company.

Paul was very popular with his patients and staff and even management. His personality, humour, and professionalism were held in high esteem.

He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; three daughters, Jill, Jo, and Sue; seven grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

BMJ 2011;342:d485

Bob Tranter

With sadness…

Edw ards Barry Adams Casson b. 2 January 1918; q Witwatersrand, South Africa, 1944; BSc (Oxford), MRCP, FRCP, MD (Witwatersrand), d.18 November 2010 the precipitating cause of death was a fracture of the femur. Edward Barry Adams (“Barry”), emeritus professor of medicine at the Nelson R Mandela Medical School of the University of Natal, Durban, was a highly esteemed clinician and teacher best remembered for instilling in his students an enduring recognition that acquisition of skills in eliciting and interpreting signs and symptoms was fundamental to good clinical practice. His declared interest was haematology which began in Oxford and he excelled as a clinician, a teacher and as a colleague.

John Edw ard Blackwell b. 19 March 1923 matric. 1942 d. 2 November 2010, aged 87.

Bernard Brooks b 29 March 1931; q Westminster Hospital, London, 1954; MRCGP, FRCGP, d. 28 October 2010. Former general practitioner Ewell, Surrey.

Francis Caird, matric. New College 1946, BM BCh 1953, d. 26th June 2011, aged 82. A full obituary will follow.

Constance Lenore Englander née Simpson, Somerville b. 1920 BM BCh died January 16, 2011, aged 91.

Hugh L Freeman d. June 2011 m. St Johns DM FRPsych. A full obituary will follow.

Adolf M Joekes d. 19th June 2010 matric. St Johns 1933.

Brian Benyon Lloy d d. 28 June 2010 Magdalen College, CBE, 28 June 2010; Fellow by Examination 1948–52; Fellow by special election and Lecturer in Physiology 1952–70; Senior Tutor 1963–64; Vice-President 1967–68; Emeritus fellow 1970, aged 89.

Alastair Maclean d. 4th June 2010 MB ChB 1947 Glasgow. Doris and Alastair lived in Appleton from 1964 to 1988 in The Gables, Oaksmere and for many years he was the Chief Medical Officer at Pressed Steel in Cowley. His funeral took place at the Oxford Crematorium on Thursday 17th June 2010 with a packed chapel.

Alastair had spent the last year of his life at Vale House — The Botley Alzheimers Home. He leaves a widow, Doris and Morag and Gordon.

Ann McPherson d. 28 May 2011. See page 8.

Bertram Maurice Mandelbrote died 25 November 2010, matric.

Merton 1946, aged 87. A full obituary will follow in the next issue.

Robert Humphrey Marten matric. Trinity 1939 q BM BCh 1944 d.

13 October 2010, aged 89.

Ian Colin Stuart Normand b.18 Feb 1928 d.19 Jan 2011, matric.

1946, q. BM BCh 1952, MRCP, FRCP. Dean of medicine and foundation professor of child health at Southampton University.

Gillian Sleigh b. 1938; q Royal Free Hospital, London 1963; FRCP, FRCPCH, MSc, d. 31 October 2010. Former consultant paediatrician Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. Gillian moved to Oxford in 1973, where she first joined the research team led by Margaret Ounsted. She helped set up Oxfordshire’s Child Development Centre (HEPAC) before she was appointed as consultant paediatrician to the Cardiff Royal Infirmary in 1988. In 1991 she moved to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, and remained there until retirement from clinical work in 2002. In 1997 Gillian embarked, part-time, on an MSc in evidence based healthcare at Kellogg College, Oxford, and subsequently continued her research through an attachment to the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit. Gillian was a gifted artist.

Sey mour Jamie Gerald Spencer b. 4 May 1920 matric. Corpus Christi 1938 q. 1943, MA, DM, d. 27 May 2011, aged 91.

Hubert ‘Hughie’ Webb b. 1927 matric. 1945 q. BM BCh 1951 St Thomas’ Hospital, MA, DM, DSc, FRCP, FRCPath, d. 8 November 2010. Professor emeritus of neurovirology . Whilst at Oxford Hughie Webb gained four blues, in golf, rackets, squash, and cricket scoring 145 not out in the Varsity match. After qualifying, he became interested in viruses affecting the central nervous system. In 1960 he set up and ran a research unit at St. Thomas’ Hospital to study viruses affecting the central nervous system and their involvement with multiple sclerosis. His department attracted scientists from all over the world, and he lectured world wide. In 1988 he was appointed professor of neurovirology, and in 1990 the University of London awarded him a doctor of science, a rare accolade for a physician. ' Erratum. Many apologies for attributing the photograph of Norman Heatley to that of Howard Florey on the front page of the Dec 2010.

Many thanks for the sharp-eyed Alumni who rapidly informed us of the blunder. DPJ, Editor.

14 / OXFORD MEDICINE . JULY 2011

Mentorship Programme Last year clinical students in Oxford responded to a survey to say that they would be interested in participating in a mentorship programme.

Currently, each final year student selects a local educational supervisor, but there is no similar form of mentorship for students in other years, or for those wanting to contact someone outside of Oxford. Over the coming months we will pilot a mentorship programme, which we hope will prove both useful and enjoyable to students and mentors alike.

We are now looking for OMA members who are interested in spending around an hour every couple of months either on the phone or in person with a current clinical student. We envisage that the discussions would be on a variety of topics, decided between the mentee and the mentor – in our survey students indicated they were interested in talking about clinical specialisations, academic pathways, working abroad, and how to balance medicine with a family life! We hope that mentees will gain considerably from this experience, but also that the mentors will too. In other industries one commonly encounters contentions that mentoring is a way of creating a legacy, developing interpersonal skills and self-improvement through enhancing talent in other people. We will just say for now that in our experience it is a rewarding experience in itself, full of variety, and low commitment.

Anyone interested in participating in the scheme as a mentor should contact:

We aim for most of our mentors to be Oxford Medical Alumni members, with the added benefit that this will help strengthen ties between past and current students, or indeed current and future alumni. The shared experience of studying medicine at Oxford should provide a common starting point for conversation, but also a departure point for learning about the different paths that alumni have taken since graduation.

Jayne Todd Oxford Medical Alumni Medical Sciences Division Office, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU +44 (0)1865 221690

THE CAREERS SERVICE

THE CAREERS SERVICE

OXFORD CAREERS NETWORK (OCN)

OXFORD UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME (OUIIP) Would you like to help?

The OCN is brought to you by the Oxford University Careers Service to give you a way to legitimately connect with Oxford students to help inform their career choices and action they need to take to prepare for life beyond their degree.

Every volunteer on the Oxford Careers Network was once a student at Oxford.

By providing some basic information about their current role and career path they provide current students with valuable insights into their company or occupation.

Most volunteers also go a step further and allow email contact from students, creating fantastic networking opportunities. Students and graduates really value reading the case studies and contacting volunteers for more advice and information.

One of the challenges of educating students in the 21st century is connecting them with the global workplace. The International Internship Programme was created to provide our students with an international experience, and as a bridge between their studies and the start of their career.

90% of the OUIIP internships are offered by Oxford alumni, and we are currently looking for more opportunities for our students for the summer of 2012. Although every intern will have a unique experience, the internships offered should comprise the following common elements: r )XOO WLPH ZRUN IRU ZHHNV EHWZHHQ WKH HQG RI -XQH DQG WKH EHJLQQLQJ of October 2012

Volunteers represent a broad range of occupations, from jurisprudence to journalism and from medicine to music.

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We are always keen to welcome more alumni to join this highly-valued resource. To find out how to become a volunteer please visit:

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A stipend to cover the student’s expenses for the duration RI WKH LQWHUQVKLS ZKHQ LQ D IRU SURILW RUJDQLVDWLRQ If you would like to participate in the programme offering our students an internship place, SOHDVH FRQWDFW )LRQD :KLWHKRXVH DW

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OMA would like to draw to the attention of our members that they are entitled to life-long support from the Careers Service, and that anyone in need of careers advice can either email or call us for an appointment.

University of Oxford Alumni Weekend 16 to 18 September 2011 The 2011 Oxford Alumni Weekend continues to feature medical issues prominently in its fascinating programme of more than 120 tours, talks and walks. The Oxford Osler Lecture, to be given by Professor Angela McLean, and the Osler Lunch for medical alumni which follows will take place at the Said Business School on Saturday 17 September.

ALUMNI WEEKEND MEDICAL SCIENCES PROGRAMME Friday 16 September

2pm to 2.45pm An Aspirin a Day, Professor Peter Rothwell Director of the Stroke Prevention Research Unit and Professor of Clinical Neurology.

4pm to 5.15pm Tour of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter led by Guy Graham, Director PDCM Ltd. Meet at the entrance to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter site on Woodstock Road. The Radcliffe Observatory Quarter is one of the most significant development projects that the University has undertaken for more than a century. This ten acre site is the last remaining large plot of land remaining available for development in the historic heart of the city. Plans include the refurbishment of the Radcliffe Infirmary and St Luke’s Chapel, the remodelling and refurbishment of the Outpatients department, a new Humanities building and library, and a Mathematical Institute building. New accommodation for Somerville College has already been completed.

Reunion Dinner for those qualifying in 1984 and 1985 6.30pm for 7.30pm Corpus Christi College. A celebratory reunion dinner for those qualifying BM BCh through the Oxford Medical School will take place. More information and online booking is available through the OMA web site. OMA is grateful to Nick Edwards and Patrick Davey for all their assistance with this reunion.

Saturday 17 September 11.30am to 12.45pm The Osler Lecture 2011 Emerging Infectious Disease Professor Angela Mclean FRS, CoDirector Institute for Emerging Infections, Oxford Martin School. Venue: lecture Theatre 4, Said Business School. Emerging infectious diseases are often in the news. Is that just because they make great copy, or are there really more of them? Using examples from the last few years and decades this lecture will explore how emerging infections invade human populations, how new pathogens adapt to become efficient infections of humans and how we can learn from experience when we try to predict what might happen next.

12.45pm to 2pm Oxford Osler Lunch Venue: Dining Room, Said Business School Medical alumni and friends are warmly invited to join the lecturer, members of the medical sciences division, members of the current student body, and former tutors and staff for this enjoyable occasion.

Venue: Meet at the Porters Lodge, Green Templeton College. This lecture will look at recent Oxford research into the risks and benefits of daily aspirin. Professor Rothwell will focus in particular on the recently recognised on risks of cancer and other non-vascular conditions. How does aspirin reduce deaths due to cancer? Should all adults take it? Which groups are likely to benefit most? What are the risks?

4pm to 5.15pm New cells for old members, Professor Francis Szele, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics. Venue: The Divinity School, Bodleian Library.

Stem cells give rise to all other cells in the embryo and are a potential source for repairing damaged organs.

The adult brain was thought to be static but we have now found stem cells and the new nerve stem cells they make in this most important of organs. This seminar will retrace exciting recent pathways that led to the discovery of adult brain stem cells, explain their normal behaviours and critically appraise their role in repairing brain disease and injuries.

4pm to 5.30pm Oxford medicine: A walk through nine centuries, Dr Eric Sidebottom. Meet at the entrance to the Botanic Garden opposite to Magdalen College. This walking tour focuses on Oxford Medicine and passes many of the sites where Oxford’s medical and scientific ‘greats’ such as Bacon, Tingewick, Linacre, Sydenham, Boyle, Hooke, Harvey, Willis, Wren, Radcliffe, Acland, Osler, Florey and many others made their discoveries. The tour will start outside the Botanic Garden under which are the remains of the 12th century hospital of St John the Baptist and ends at the Sir William Dunn School – site of the greatest medical advance of the 20th century – the introduction of penicillin into clinical practice.

Sunday 18 September 11.30am to 12.45pm Vaccines for Global health, Professor Adrian Hill Director of the Jenner Institute and Co-Director Institute for Vaccine design. Venue, Lecture Theatre 5, Said Business School.Vaccines have proved to be the most cost effective healthcare intervention ever deployed. However over 10million deaths each year could be avoided in the developing world if we had new improved vaccines. The University has leading vaccines in clinical development for many major infections diseases including tuberculosis, malaria, HIV, pandemic influenza and hepatitis. This session will review the translational infrastructure and overseas collaborations that underpin these programmes, outline how fundamental molecular insights can rapidly impact on vaccine design, and assess the prospects for new vaccine deployment against theses major killers in the next ten years.

BOOKING IS NOW OPEN FOR THE ALUMNI WEEKEND AT www.alumniweekend.ox.ac.uk SUSBCRIBING MEMBERS of OMA can book online to attend the Osler Lecture FREE of charge at www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/oma/events If you wish to receive more information about any of these events please call 01865 221690 or email oma@medsci.ox.ac.uk

Contacting OMA Address: Oxford Medical Alumni Medical Sciences Office John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford OX3 9DU Email: jayne.todd@medsci.ox.ac.uk Website: www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/oma Enquiries: 01865 221690 Fax: 01865 750750

2012 Australia Meeting — 2nd to 4th March Roger Bodley, Peter Morris and Peter Teddy are convening a reunion from 2nd to 4th March 2012 for anyone who has studied or taught medicine at Oxford and who is now living or working in Australia and New Zealand. We would encourage as many of you as possible to come.

This reunion is to be held at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania over the weekend of 2nd to 4th March 2012 at the Cradle Mountain Lodge.

Please bring your family and friends to what will be a very special occasion for Oxford Medical Alumni. If you want to contact us about the reunion, or are able to help with the organisation, please contact oma@medsci.ox.ac.uk

OMA Spring Meeting 12 May 2012 At the Medical Sciences Teaching Centre, Oxford and afterwards at the Divinity School for the Oxford Medicine Dinner.

Professor Nick White w ill give the 2012 Weatherall Lecture on 12 May 2012 Professor White is Chairman of the Wellcome Trust South East Asian Research Units, Professor of Tropical Medicine at Oxford and at Mahidol University, Bangkok, and Consultant physician at the John Radcliffe Hospital. His diverse interests include the epidemiology, pathophysiology and management of uncomplicated and severe malaria, meliodosis, enteric fever, tetanus, dengue haemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis and tuberculosis.

The full programme of speakers and other activities will be available in September 2011.

The 2012 Spring Reunion Dinner will take place in the Divinity School. All alumni are welcome to come to dinner in this lovely building, one of the oldest and most spectacular settings in Oxford.

REUNIONS 2012

Invitations will be sent to those qualifying BM BCh in 1962, 1972, 1977, 1987 and 2002 12 May 2012 Reunion for those w ho qualified BM BCh in 1987 • There will be an informal tea party at the newly refurbished Osler House for the cohort of 1987, in the afternoon.

More information on Oxford University alumni events can be found at www.alumni.ox.ac.uk

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• In the evening there will be a formal reunion dinner in Oxford for those who qualified BM BCh in 1987.

2 June 2012 Reunion for those w ho qualified BM BCh in 2001 and 2002 • There will be a family tea party at the newly refurbished Osler House for the cohorts of 2001 and 2002, and their families, in the afternoon.

• In the evening there will be a formal reunion dinner in Oxford for those who qualified BM BCh in 2001 and in 2002.

14 September 2012 Reunion for those w ho qualified BM BCh 1977 • In the evening of 14 September 2012 there will be a formal reunion dinner in Oxford.

15 September 2012 Reunion for those w ho qualified BM BCh in 1972 • In the evening there will be a formal reunion dinner in Oxford.

16 September 2012 Reunion for those w ho qualified BM BCh in 1962 The reunion will take place as part of the Osler Lunch from12.45pm to 2pm in the Dining Room at the Said Business School. Medical alumni and friends are warmly invited to join the lecturer, members of the medical sciences division, members of the current student body, and former tutors and staff for this enjoyable occasion. Book online at www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/oma/events

Oxford Medicine is produced by the Medical Informatics Unit, NDCLS, University of Oxford. Telephone +44 (0)1865 222746.

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