A Special Honour

e Association of Medical and Dental Graduates, RCSI recognises a medical or dental graduate who has made an outstanding contribution to healthcare, education, research, humanitarian aid and patient care

■ AUBREY MORRISON, MBBS, MACP, FASN, Professor Emeritus, Division of Nephrology, John T Milliken Department of Medicine at the University of Washington, St Louis, was bestowed with the 2021 Distinguished Graduate Award by the Association of Medical and Dental Graduates.

Every year the Association of Medical and Dental Graduates (AMDG), RCSI presents the Distinguished Graduate Award to a medical or dental graduate who has made an outstanding contribution to healthcare, education, research, humanitarian aid and patient care. e award was established in 1988. Professor Aubrey R Morrison (Class of 1970) is the 17th awardee of the medal. Founded in 1932, the AMDG promotes social and professional connections between fellow RCSI graduates throughout the world. All graduates from the School of Medicine and former School of Dentistry become life members automatically upon graduation and are invited to attend and get involved with the annual programme of events and awards. e 2021 award presentation, made last August as part of the Alumni

Gathering 2021, was once again a virtual ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was broadcast via the RCSI Alumni YouTube channel.

President of the Association, Dr Patrick Troy led the ceremony, and a citation given by fellow Guyanese and personal friend, Dr Pamela Mangal (Class of 1971), detailed Professor Morrison’s distinguished accomplishments and described the trajectory of his career. Following the citation, Professor

Morrison expressed his pleasure at receiving the award: “I am deeply and extremely honoured to be awarded and presented with this prestigious award from my alma mater.” Professor Aubrey Rohan Morrison was born in Georgetown, Guyana, South America and came to Dublin in 1964 to commence his studies in Medicine at RCSI. He described his arrival at RCSI as “eye-opening”. “I rubbed shoulders with students from all over the world who had di erent customs and spoke different primary languages. It made an indelible impression on me. The

Graduation experience coloured my view of the world from RCSI. and enriched my life.”

As a student Professor Morrison excelled. He was awarded the Norman Rae Memorial Gold Medal in Biochemistry in 1966, the Evart Memorial Medal in Anatomy in 1966, the Stoney Memorial Gold Medal in Anatomy in 1967 and the Dominic Corrigan Prize in Medicine in 1970 (Jervis Street Hospital). Professor Morrison cited the impact of the many “wonderful and committed teachers and lecturers at RCSI” on the trajectory of his career, giving special mention to a previous recipient of the Association’s Distinguished Graduate Award, Professor Moira O’Brien “who exhorted me to raise the bar”, and to Professor William O’Dwyer “who kindled in me an interest in nephrology”.

L-R: Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1995 was conferred on Professor Morrison by the President of the Royal College of Physicians, Dr Stanley Roberts; Professor Morrison with Professor Moira O'Brien, recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award in 2020; Professor Morrison received the Washington University Alumni Faculty Achievement Award in 2016 from David H Perlmutter, Executive Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs.

Professor Morrison graduated from RCSI in 1970, and also did the external examination with the University of London the same year, gaining his MBBS. He started his postgraduate training at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University, in St Louis, Missouri, USA. He completed his residency and fellowships in nephrology in 1975 and in pharmacology in 1978. He was involved in research related to chronic renal disease and also the response to in ammation and the understanding of the role of COX-2.

In 1982, Professor Morrison was elected to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the rst black physicianscientist in the US to achieve this honour. He was the rst black faculty member at the School of Medicine to achieve a full professorship. He held numerous academic positions and published numerous papers. In recognition of his academic accomplishments, he received many honours and awards throughout his career.

During his training in internal medicine he overcame many hurdles which could have derailed his educational

HE WAS THE FIRST BLACK FACULTY MEMBER AT THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE TO ACHIEVE A FULL PROFESSORSHIP.

trajectory. He was one of the rst black house o cers in the training programme in medicine, in a city which had a strong history of racial segregation. He was to encounter racial discrimination of varying degrees throughout his career. Dr Mangal said: “Professor Morrison contributed a lot to solving the problems of racism and, thereby, helped to build and maintain a culture for inclusion for all.”

Professor Morrison has been a member of many National Institutes study sections and a Member of the Board of Scienti c Counsellors of the National Institutes of Health. He is also very proud of his association with the Nations Advisory Committee of the Harold Amos Minority Faculty Award Program, which identi es promising under-represented minorities in the United States, and awards four-year grants to launch their careers in academic medicine as physicianscientists and outcome researchers.

He published his experiences of racial discrimination in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (January 2021). is article set out steps to deal with the solution to the problem of racism which was evident in society.

Professor Morrison was made a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in 1976. In 1995, he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and in 2012, Master of the American College of Physicians. e same year he received the Harriet P Dustan Award from the American College of Physicians for Outstanding Work in Science as Related to Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association. In 2016, he was awarded the Washington School of Medicine Alumni Association Award in honour of his distinguished service and his contributions to understanding and treatment of renal disease.

When he retired from Washington University's Division of Nephrology in October 2020, Professor Morrison had been at Barnes-Jewish Hospital for over 45 years. In 2021 he was awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Professor Morrison reiterated how delighted he was to be recognised by the Association: “I am thrilled to be awarded this honour. If my mother was alive, she would be extremely proud of her son. I shall place it in my home where it will serve as a reminder to my children and grandchildren of the great times I had in Dublin and at RCSI.”

Dr Patrick Troy, President of the Association of Medical and Dental Graduates, said, “ e medal is in safekeeping here in the College and awaits your return to your alma mater, hopefully next year!” ■

FORMER RECIPIENTS

OF THE ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL & DENTAL GRADUATES DISTINGUISHED GRADUATE AWARD

1988

Dr Pat O’Callaghan

1989

Dr Harry O’Flanagan

1990

Dr Victoria Coffey

1991

Mr John McAuliffe Curtin FRCSI

1992

Dr Fergal Nally

1994

Mr Desmond Kneafsey FRCS

1995

Dr Jack Preger

1996

Professor William MacGowan FRCSI

2002

Dr J Vincent Coyle

2006

Mr Hy Browne FRCSI

2008

Professor Eoin T O’Brien

2009

Professor Lord Ara Darzi FRCS

2010

Mr Peter McLean FRCSI (Posthumously)

2018

Dr Helen Towers

2019

Dr Kate Coleman

2020

Professor Moira O'Brien