OXFORD MEDICINE . DECEMBER 2011

Oxford MedicineT H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E O X F O R D M E D I C A L A L U M N I

Vast numbers of school leavers and graduatesaspire to become doctors, and many of thoseaspire to study at Oxford. The numbers of schoolleavers applying for the 150 places on ourstandard medical course has doubled from about750 in 2001 to more than 1500 in 2011; thenumber of applicants for the 30 places on ourgraduate-entry medical course is also about tenapplicants per place (342 in 2011). More thanthat, given the desirability of the Oxford medicalschool, these applicants are already self- andschool- selected as some of the highest achieversof their generation. Given this wealth ofapplicants, how should Oxford go about choosingthose to whom we offer a place?

We should first ask “What does any medicalschool want from the doctors it trains?” For anydoctor this should be the ability to interacteffectively and ethically with patients and withother professionals; competence over theincreasingly broad area of medicine coupled withthe ability to develop specialist skills demanded bytheir chosen area of work; the ability to think frombasic principles and to solve problems; and —considering the pace of medical progress — andability for self-directed learning and adaptation.Both medical courses at Oxford have always beenupfront about the fact that, given we have some ofthe very best qualified applicants, we hope toselect those who will be prominent among themovers and shakers of medicine in the future. Buthow should we do this, and what tools should weuse? What is the evidence base for what we do?Increasingly we are also asked to demonstrate thatour admissions procedures take into account theadvantage or disadvantage of the candidates’background, and that it is clear and transparent.

Oxford has always been clear that the future ofmedicine requires a strong science base and ourcourses reflect this. Straight academic ability istherefore one criterion, but some evidencesuggests that previous academic achievementpredicts less than a third1 of the variance in successin medical school, and much less thereafter.Problem solving clearly has links with academicability, but other abilities like team working,empathy and communication skills are also clearlyimportant. Some of the latter develop more slowlyand there are few agreed ways of assessing them.

While there are some personality traits one wouldarguably wish to exclude as unsuitable formedicine, a moment’s thought about the range ofdifferent jobs within medicine shows that there canbe no one personality profile that would beoptimum. Medical schools have devised a varietyof different admissions processes and increasinglyare evaluating them. Some rely largely on previousacademic record; some use observed simulatedtutorials, some — given the concerns aboutinterviewer variance in single interviews — usemultiple mini-interviews. A number use some formof aptitude test. What procedure has Oxford, withthe added complication of its historic collegiatestructure, devised to address these manyconsiderations?

Evidence from previous years when allcandidates were interviewed strongly suggestedthat the chances of being offered a place in partcould be predicted from previous academicachievement. Interviews for the standard courseare therefore offered to ~450 candidates (i.e. ~3per place) on the basis of an algorithm that usestwo measures: their school academic achievementas represented by their GCSE performance(proportion of A*s (pA*)) adjusted for theirschool’s average performance (i.e. are they doingbetter or less well than the average at the school);and a biomedical aptitude (BMAT) test used byOxford, Cambridge and some London schools,which has three sections — problem solving, GCSEscience knowledge, and a short essay on a giventopic — which is sat in early November. The datafor pA* is very heavily skewed to the right; that forBMAT approximates to a normal distribution. Thedossiers of all candidates who would not beoffered an interview on the basis of the algorithmare sent to tutors who can ‘flag up’ candidates forwhom the algorithm might be misleading byreason of disrupted schooling or other problems.These are then considered by a panel and the final40 places determined on this basis. A similarprocess is adopted by the G-E course except thatthe algorithm is based on the UKCAT score andrankings by panels of tutors of the very diverseapplication dossiers which include those in thefinal year of undergraduate courses, through thosewith DPhils, and those with a wide variety of post-education working experience.

Selecting the next generation ofOxford-trained doctors

Contents

Clinical admissions to the OxfordMedical School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

OMA President’s News . . . . . . . . . . .3

A Profile of Michael Dunnill . . . . .4

The Anglo-French MedicalSociety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

New name for NHS Trust . . . . . . . .6

People in the News . . . . . . . . . .6

Saving Oxford Medicine . . . . . . . .

Osler House Report . . . . . . . . . . .10

Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Alumni events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Photography: Khadar Mohamed AbdulClinical Skills Laboratory

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Then comes the interview process. Many candidates now opt for theuniversity allocating them to a college. To equalise the chances of

candidate success, proportionalbalanced interview lists areproduced centrally so that eachcollege interviews about four timesmore candidates than it has places.To make the interview processunbiased by either the aptitude testscore or any college preferenceexpressed by candidates, interviewsare conducted blind of thisinformation. To overcome problemsassociated with single interviews,candidates are interviewed by twocolleges, and by two panels in each

interviewing college. With intensive interviewing this means thatcandidates only have to be in Oxford for 24 hours. Each interviewing panelconsists of at least two interviewers and all candidates must beinterviewed by both a practising clinician and a male and femaleinterviewer. Each interviewer then evaluates the candidate in relation to aset of criteria — problem solving, ethical awareness etc. Each college thenproduces a ranked list of the candidates it has interviewed; this is repeatedat the second college. For the standard course ranking information is thenshared, allowing the possibility of discussion (e.g. “why did you rankcandidate A so low, he/she did rather well with us?”); colleges thenproduce a second ranking based on all the interview information. Finallythe BMAT/UKCAT scores are released, BMAT essays (which experiencesuggests are poor predictors) are made available, and each collegeproduces a list ranking all those who it has interviewed. The office thenlinks this ranking with the previously determined college priority; tutors areinformed of the outcome and colleges contact candidates to offer places.Because of the smaller number of candidates and colleges and the greaterdiversity of the G-E candidates, the discussion of interview performanceoccurs at a tutors’ meeting. The outcome is that about one third of allcandidates accept a place at a college other than that for which theyexpressed a preference or were allocated.

How well does this work? The process is certainly very labourintensive, with large numbers of medical school staff giving up one week

of each year to the process. The only real evidence that we have is ourvery low drop-out rates (2–3%; usually from students changing courseafter arrival); the correlation of BMAT score with success in preclinicalexaminations; the students’ exit evaluation of the courses which indicateconsiderable satisfaction, and the success of Oxford medical graduates innational post qualification professional examinations.

What of the future? The efficacy of BMAT is continuously evaluated;section 2 is increasingly difficult to set as boards vary their syllabi. The G-Ecourse seems likely to change from using the UKCAT and may acceptcandidates with a wider variety of first degrees based on experiencefrom elsewhere. Candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds areencouraged to apply by efforts such as the UNIQ summer school, anddisadvantage may be assessed differently e.g. by postcodes. The GMCalso encourages patient and public involvement in the selection process.Emphasis on scientific output means that fewer and fewer collegepreclinical tutors have a medical background and the pressures of thehealth service make it increasingly difficult for practising clinicians todevote the time to interviewing. Most recently there has been aproposal that decisions on university admissions should be made onlyafter A level results are known, though how this could work for Oxfordis quite unclear. However we go about choosing what we hope will bethe leading Oxford doctors of the future it must clearly be based on thebest evidence, so we badly need better outcome data. That said, medicalstudents — whether standard or G-E — change during the course, andno selection procedure can allow for that. What is clear is that weshould continue to put very considerable effort and thought into theadmissions process; we owe that to the future.

1 Ferguson E et al (2002) British Medical Journal 324: 952–957

This article is informed by the author’s thirty-plus years of the admissions process inOxford and by input from colleagues, in particular Robert Wilkins and William James(past Admissions Advisors); Huw Dorkins and Paul Dennis (Deputy Director andDirector of the G-E Course) and Dr Helen Salisbury who chaired a recent meeting ofthe Oxford Medical Education Forum devoted to this topic.

John MorrisVice-President Oxford Medical Alumni, ImmediatePast Director of Preclinical Studies and Wellcome-Franks Fellow and Tutor in Medicine at St Hugh’s

Clinical admissions to the Oxford Medical SchoolIn 2001, the Oxford clinical course began an expansion which led tostudent numbers rising by over 60% to 160 per year. These numbersreflected an expansion to 150 in the numbers entering pre-clinical study atOxford, and the creation of a completely new four year graduate entrymedical course admitting 30 students per year. These developments meantthat, for the first time, the number of pre-clinical students at Oxfordexceeded the number of clinical places. The expansion plan included anagreement with what was then the University of London. This createdearmarked places in London schools for Oxford students who chose tomove, or were unsuccessful in gaining a place on the Oxford clinical course.Although not anticipated at the time, these changes were to lead tosignificant changes to the demography of the Oxford clinical student body.

Prior to 2000, Oxford accepted applications to the clinical years fromany UK medical school, and had particularly strong links with Cambridge,such that up to 50% of entrants in some years came from outside Oxford.In turn, many Oxford students decided to pursue their clinical studies inLondon, or occasionally at other UK medical schools. The imbalancebetween preclinical and clinical numbers created by the 2001 expansionled to an immediate increase in competition for places on the Oxfordclinical course. This competition intensified in the subsequent decade

as an increasing proportion of Oxford students applied to stay forclinical studies: in 2011 95% of Oxford preclinical students ranked Oxfordas their first choice clinical school. Increasingly, Oxford students appearunwilling to move for clinical studies. This change in behaviour may berelated to Oxford’s high scores in the National Student Survey (NSS),which have been publicly available since 2007. The NSS forms the basisfor broadsheet subject league tables which have rated Oxford the numberone UK medical school during this period. As a result of this rising demandfor places Oxford no longer considers applications for transfer from anymedical school except Oxford and Cambridge, and 90% of the intake isnow home-grown.

Are these good changes or not? Changing universities can bestimulating to both individuals and institutions, and many Oxford faculty,who themselves enjoyed the diverse experiences of two medical schools,lament the reduction in numbers transferring to Oxford from Cambridgeand elsewhere. Time inevitably moves on and the introduction of theGraduate Entry Course has brought further diversity into the ClinicalSchool, albeit of a different kind.

Tim LancasterDirector of Clinical Studies, Oxford Medical School

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OMA President’s NewsDist inguished Fr iend of Oxford awarded to John LedinghamOn Saturday 8th October the Vice Chancellor visited Osler House toconfer the title of Distinguished Friend of Oxford on Professor JohnLedingham, to acknowledge his outstanding work on behalf of OslerHouse and the Medical Sciences Division, especially since hisretirement. Many friends and colleagues gathered in a buzz ofanimated conversation, as the sun shone into the Wing Tat Lee room.In a formal citation, the VC heard of JGGL’s crucial role in theformation of OMA and the refurbishment of Osler House. A team ofcurrent Tingewick students sang their own special informal citation incelebration of his many merits and achievements*. Arvind Singhal,the President of Osler House, presented Dr Elaine Ledingham with acolourful bouquet in celebration of her own contribution to herhusband’s successes. The reception which followed brought togethermany who have collaborated with him over the years, and OslerHouse proved a wonderful venue for a very happy occasion.

Record ing the memories of Medical AlumniWe are delighted that our project headed by Derek Hockaday hasbegun to capture the memories of some Oxford medical alumni. Weare encouraging volunteers to record informal interviews orconversations, so that John Oxbury recently captured his neurologicaleminence grise, John Spalding. OMA hopes to make theirconversation available on the OMA website, both as a pod-cast andas a downloadable transcript. We much appreciate any collaborationwhich will extend this idea, and we would very much welcomesuggestions from you, as readers of Oxford Medicine, about possibleinterviewees and interviewers — please do contact Jayne Todd. Foralumni who live within striking distance of Oxford, the necessarysmall, simple and excellent recording equipment is available toborrow from the OMA office — currently and temporarily upstairs atOsler House. An interesting series from 1981 of taped interviews withthe elderly Professor Dame Ida Mann is pledged to the BodleianLibrary for the medical archiving project, which has recently focusedon her material.

Oxford Medicine and reunionsWe waited with somewhat bated breath after the launch of our firstelectronic version of Oxford Medicine, as a PDF emailed in earlySeptember 2011 to over 7,500 alumni at zero extra cost. Theresponse has been overwhelmingly positive, with many appreciationsand only a few reservations; Jayne Todd and Derek Jewell are to bewarmly congratulated. The funds saved by this swap will allow us toconcentrate more on our reunion programme and I am delighted that

Theo Schofield and Keith Hawton have agreed to collaborate inlooking at how best to do this — please do send us your thoughts onreunions, what format you would like if and when you would like tomeet . We currently aim to hold a series of reunions dated from theyear of final qualification. The first is at ten years with a family teaparty in June at Osler House and a formal college dinner the sameevening. At twenty five years, a dinner is held on the evening of thespring OMA meeting, and all alumni who have reached forty fiveyears or more are invited to a lunch during the University Alumniweekend in September. We’re sure we can improve our organisationto offer a good spectrum of events, as Oxford has so much to offer;what we most need is a full list of addresses for the names we haveentered on the database for each year-group, preferably with anemail contact, and at least one focal person from each group whocan advise us about what format would suit them best and who canalso encourage their contemporaries to join in.

North America and AustraliaOMA has traditionally held a reunion in New York every two years, atthe Waldorf Astoria. We are very keen to continue this tradition butwe are considering other venues, including the Princeton Club. Weare working with Don Chambers and the North American OslerSociety on a revamp, and we would very much like to hear the viewsof alumni who might wish to attend; the next is set for spring 2012.Next year will also see the first Australian reunion in early March,organised at Cradle Mountain inTasmania by Roger Bodley and PeterMorris with Peter Teddy. Laurie Beilin ishoping to attend, so the span of years islikely to be impressive and booking isalready brisk.

I bring greetings from the OMA teamwith the Executive committee, JayneTodd and Deanna Edsall, and our bestwishes for 2012, in which we would bedelighted to see you in Oxford.

Peggy FrithOMA President

* A description of the DFO ceremony, the words of the student song,and photographs of the event are available on the OMA websitewww.medsci.ox.ac.uk/oma

Oxford Medical Mentoring

Thank you to those who have verykindly offered to be involved inthis. We are now deciding howbest to take this forward based onthe numbers involved and we willbe in touch with you in early2012. If anyone else wishes to beinvolved then please do let usknow.

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After qualifying in Bristol and twohouse jobs at Bristol Royal InfirmaryI did national service in the armywhere I found myself regimentalmedical officer to the first battalionthe Highland light Infantry. We werestationed in Tel el Kebir, an outpostin the desert renowned as thelocation of a battle with ArabiPasha in 1882. In 1952 it was thesite of an ordnance depot forsupplying the divisions guarding theSuez Canal. Surrounded by aminefield and barbed wire, there

were approximately 10,000 troops that included two other battalionsand a host of engineers and corps staff. My duties were usuallycompleted by 8.30am and, apart from Fridays nights spent sewing upwounds of drunken Jocks and occasional periods on manoeuvres, mytime was my own. I read a lot, drank a lot and after a month realised Iwas on the road to ruin. However, a short distance from our camp wasa hospital. Do not picture a version of the John Radcliffe. This hospitalconsisted of a series on Nissen huts accommodating patients, tenunfortunate members of Queen Alexandra’s nursing corps and fiveregular RAMC doctors. There was also a pathology laboratory but nopathologist. Always interested in pathology it occurred to me that Imight be usefully employed there. After brief negotiations with thecommanding officer of the hospital (an alcoholic) and the Director ofPathology for the Middle East, whom it transpired had littleknowledge of the subject, I was appointed unofficial pathologist to thehospital. Surprisingly perhaps considering the garrison was composed of fit

young men there was plenty of work. Various forms of dysentery,infective skin conditions including diphtheritic sores, and occasionalcases of malaria and tuberculosis came my way. Idle soldiers, of whichthere were many, have a tendency to experiment with live ammunitionresulting in a variety of potentially fatal, often self-inflicted, wounds.There were two very able laboratory technicians and together we setup a blood transfusion service, grouping a large number of volunteerswho agreed to donate blood. There were no adequate storagefacilities for blood so donors were called upon when needed,something easy to achieve in the confines of a military camp.There were facilities for post mortem examination and I found

myself detailed to perform several, the most alarming of which was acase of murder. Happily it was easy to ascertain the cause of death.The victim was a sergeant-major who had been persistently bullying aMauritian pioneer; the latter finally took matters into his own handsand struck the bully over the head with a metal tent peg. The courtmartial of this poor man nearly delayed my demobilisation. He wasconvicted and transported back to Mauritius where I was pleased tolearn there was no capital punishment.After demobilisation I spent two years as a junior pathologist at

Bristol, four years as a graduate assistant in Oxford and then a periodas a research fellow in the cardio-pulmonary division at ColumbiaUniversity, New York. In 1962 I was back in Oxford as a pathologist atthe Radcliffe Infirmary eager to pursue my studies on pulmonarypathology. One morning in Hilary term 1967 George Pickeringappeared round the door of my room in the Gibson Laboratories andsaid that he wanted me to become the Director of Clinical Studies. Thiswas not something I wanted to do but he gave me little choice as hewas off to the United States for a period of sabbatical leave. In thosedays the medical school was small with an annual intake of thirty

students and even on occasion that number was not achieved.Increasing the numbers to 50 a year was one of my first tasks andevery medical tutor in Cambridge was approached by letter and askedto inform those for whom they were responsible of the advantages oftaking their clinical course in Oxford. The result was gratifying and wehad an excellent number of Cambridge graduates applying for entry.This was a period of fitful, if widespread, student unrest (on 25February 1970 undergraduates in Oxford occupied the Clarendonbuilding) and we accepted several students who had been at theforefront of similar disturbances in Cambridge; they seemed content tobe sympathetically received as refugees here.At this time there was a particular ferment of discontent with the

medical curriculum. There had been little change since the 1920s. Thecombination of the need for more doctors and the considerableadvances in medicine gave rise to dissatisfaction both with the contentand length of the clinical course. No one was more conscious of thisthan George Pickering; he had been instrumental in alerting theacademic world to the defects and in many cases total lack ofprovision for postgraduate education in the profession. Now he wasanxious to tackle the undergraduate course and already hadexperience in this as he had chaired the committee appointed toestablish the new medical school in Nottingham. In order to facilitatechange in Oxford he engineered the appointment of Paul Beeson asthe new Nuffield professor of medicine.Beeson came from Yale where the clinical course lasted two years

as opposed to three years in Britain. A committee was set up tosuggest alterations to the course and it was concluded that there weretwo main defects. Firstly, there was no formal teaching in specialpathology and secondly the course was too long. The changesproposed, chiming with those of the Royal Commission on medicaleducation that reported in 1968, were based on the assumption thatin the future all doctors, general practitioners and hospital consultants,would be specialists in one particular aspect of medicine. Theimplication of this was that a complete education in all branches ofmedicine was an obsolete concept. The aim should be to produce abroadly educated person who would become a specialist by furthertraining. Opposition to change was considerable. Yet success wasachieved with regard to pathology. Beeson was able to put a strongcase to the Harkness foundation for building a teaching laboratory. Iwent to New York and inspected the laboratory at the Cornell medicalschool, then drew up a plan on what I had seen. This was the planthat the architects eventually adopted. The Harkness Foundation gavea very generous grant that was matched by the Hospital Board andthe building that bears their name was put up very quickly and, stillremains in place today amid the desert that once was the RadcliffeInfirmary. Extra lecturers were appointed, special pathology wasincorporated into a new introductory course and there was anexamination on the subject before full time clinical work started – anearly attempt at continuous assessment.It was proposed to shorten the course by reducing the time spent

on special subjects and by abolishing the revision course. It wasconsidered that if a student had conscientiously attended the variousclinical attachments there should be no need for a long period ofrevision. Furthermore both Pickering and Beeson were keen to reducethe time spent on certain specialties. Thus they considered obstetricsand gynaecology essentially postgraduate subjects. In ophthalmologyand otorhinolaryngology it was thought that students needed to learnmethods of clinical examination rather than become familiar withdetails of specific diseases. Alas, these concepts were considered tooradical for the Faculty of Medicine to take on board and fell by thewayside.

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Profile of Michael Dunnill

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When I accepted the post of Director of Clinical Studies I did notrealise that George Pickering had every intention of quitting theRegius chair at the earliest possible moment for the Mastership ofPembroke College. As soon as this was announced there was a flurryof activity with regard to his replacement. At that time appointmentto the Regius chair was in the gift of the Prime Minister – a source ofsome annoyance to the University hierarchy who feared the selectionof an inappropriate candidate. In 1968 there was a committee of theMedicine Board to advise the Prime Minister’s patronage secretary.They met on several occasions under the chairmanship of Sir LindorBrown and failed to reach a firm conclusion. Beeson was the obviouschoice but he was not a British citizen and it would have required anact of parliament for him to be appointed. There was an impasse.Oliver Franks was consulted and he suggested that the patronagesecretary would be greatly influenced by a letter signed by members ofthe faculty. Such a letter was drawn up, signed by a large number ofnon-professorial faculty members, proposing Richard Doll. In duecourse the patronage secretary arrived in Oxford for consultation withthe Vice-Chancellor, the Registrar and other senior university worthies.By late afternoon a somewhat exhausted figure appeared in themedical school office. Rather nervously I offered him tea and cakes

that he readily accepted. He then said that Doll was the obviouschoice but would be grateful if I could assist him on another matter.Did I know anyone who would be a suitable Bishop as there was greatdifficulty in finding appropriate men? I fear I was of no help. That saidthe choice of Regius by this method was most fortunate as during histenure Doll oversaw expansion of the medical school, theestablishment of an internationally famous department ofepidemiology and public health, introduction of five new chairs andthe foundation of a college.In 1972 I received a letter from the Secretary of Faculties asking me

to sign on for a further five years. By this time the new pathologycourse was established, the Harkness building was complete and PaulBeeson was considering moving back to the States. I was frustrated athaving to spend so much time away from the laboratory and sitting onwearisome committees and so I declined the offer. Involvement withthe medical students, many of whom have subsequently becomedistinguished members of the profession, was most enjoyable but theadministrative duties were often frustrating, unnecessarily tedious andcomplex. I was delighted to hand over my responsibilities into thecapable hands of Jim Holt.

Michael Dunnill

Anglo-French Medical Society

The Anglo-French Medical Society began in 1983. It is a ‘convivial andinformative society where everyone is welcome, whatever theirlinguistic ability’. More details of the conferences and awards areavailable from the websites: www.anglofrenchmedical.org orasso.proxiland.fr /amfb

Medical students are encouraged to apply for elective bursariesfunded by a legacy from Miss Ford, General de Gaulle’s chauffeur.Each completed report receives £50 and there are then six bursaries of£300. A shortlist of the three best authors receive funding to attend asociety meeting to be judged for a further award.

Qualif ied doctors in training posts can apply for exchanges toFrench hospitals through the Will Reynish prize.

Students and doctors can apply to attend the Medical Frenchresidential weekend course, now held at Warwick University;invaluable for those intending to study or work clinically inFrancophone countries, or with organisations such as Médecins sansFrontières. More details from c.greenwood@liverpool.ac.uk

I joined twenty years ago, finding adelightful group, where non-medicalpartners were welcomed. Annual meetingslast three days, and can be accepted forcontinuing medical education needs. Onefinds good food, good wine (especially inFrance!) and good company.

Accommodation is now usually in a hotel with conference facilities in aplace of cultural (and gastronomic) interest. Educational sessions areheld in the morning, while accompanying guests can visit sites ofinterest, e.g. learning how vellum is made, or about ostriculture. In theafternoon, visits for all take place to other areas of note. There is awinter meeting; action and presentations in Chamonix for sports lovers.

My most treasured memory is of society members walking bare-leggedin a guided group across the bay to Mont St-Michel on St. Michael’sday, to the sounds of plainsong from pilgrims complemented byseagulls. ‘Inoubliable’.

C.J. BartonOsler House 1969.

The Oxford Alumni Travel ProgrammeThe new travel brochure for tours in 2012 and beyond is nowavailable. Highlights include two new cruises to Greenland andNorway with Hurtigruten. There are also new tours to Burma, Chinaand Russia with Distant Horizons. All tours are accompanied by experttrip scholars, and groups are small. Please note that most of the toursin the brochure are available without flights if you prefer. Oxfordalumni are welcome to take friends and family on the tours. For further details, please visit www.alumni .ox.ac.uk /t rave l or phone 01865 611617.

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Professor Frances Ashcroft has won the topaward in the L’ORÉAL-UNESCO For Womenin Science Awards for 2012.

Professor Ashcroft is one of five women scientists from around theworld, one from each continent, that will benamed 2012 Laureates for their contributionto science at a ceremony in March. The$100,000 award recognises ProfessorAshcroft’s work in advancing understandingof insulin secretion and a type of diabetesthat develops in the first months of life. Professor Ashcroft is a Royal Society Research

Professor at Oxford and a Fellow of Trinity College. In 1984, ProfessorAshcroft discovered the missing link connecting an increase in theblood sugar level to secretion of the hormone insulin. In subsequentstudies, she unravelled how genetic mutations in this protein cause arare inherited condition, known as neonatal diabetes, in whichpatients develop diabetes soon after birth. This has enabled manypeople with neonatal diabetes to switch to a better form ofmedication.

Professor Gunter Blobel, president of the award jury and the winnerof the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1999, said: ‘Thisaward is testament to Professor Ashcroft's intellectual achievementsand her energy, dedication and passion for her research. The judgeswere also struck by her commitment to communicating science tothe general public. She is an inspirational role model for youngerfemale scientists.’

More recently, Professor Ashcroft has focused on a different medicalproblem, that of obesity. She and her colleagues have illuminated themolecular function of a protein called FTO, which was previously knownto influence obesity but whose mechanism of action remained a mystery.

Professor Margaret Snowling, FBA hasbeen elected President of St John’s College andwill succeed Sir Michael Scholar. ProfessorSnowling is an internationally known expert onreading disorders and presently holds a Chairat the University of York where she co-directsthe Centre for Reading and Language. She is aformer President of the British Association for

the Advancement of Science (Psychology section) and is Past-President ofthe Society for the Scientific Study of Reading. In 2008, she was electedFellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.

Professor Kevin Talbot has been appointedto the new Chair of Motor Neuron Biology atOxford. The establishment of this Chair, thefirst of its kind in the UK, is supported by theMotor Neurone Disease (MND) Associationand the Spinal Muscular Atrophy Trust. Thereare 5,000 people in the UK living with thecondition, and the MND Association estimates that around half ofpatients will die within 14 months of receiving their diagnosis due tothe rapid progression of the disease. Professor Talbot’s research atOxford University, with support from the MND Association, focuses ontwo areas: creating new disease models in the laboratory tounderstand the biological processes occurring in the patient. Searchingfor ‘biomarkers’, that could speed up diagnosis and predict the patternof disease progression. Professor Talbot has already established anddeveloped one of Europe’s leading care and research centres in motorneurone disease. He and his team now see 150 new patients everyyear, 10% of all referrals in the UK, and have over 250 patients underactive follow-up. It makes Oxford the second largest motor neuronedisease clinic in the UK. The Oxford MND Care Centre based at the JohnRadcliffe Hospital was established in 2002 with a grant from the MNDAssociation. It continues to receive financial support from the charity.

People in the News

New name for NHS Trust reflects ties with UniversityThe Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust; a single NHS Trust to runOxfordshire’s four teaching hospitals was launched on 1 November2001. The new Trustarises from a merger ofthe city’s two acutehospital Trusts (theOxford RadcliffeHospitals NHS Trust andthe Nuffield OrthopaedicCentre NHS Trust). The John Radcliffe hospital, the Churchill hospital,the Horton General in Banbury and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centrewill retain their current names and functions, but will now be run bythe single NHS Trust under a single board and management team.

The University of Oxford plays no part in the merger, which is an NHSmatter, but the new name of the merged Trust signals the closeworking relationship between the University and the local hospitals. Ajoint working agreement between the merged Trust and the Universityof Oxford will now come into operation, and provide a formalstructure and governance for the relationship between the twoorganisations. The joint working agreement is designed to support the

best teaching of medical students, excellence in medical research andthe delivery of quality healthcare.

Oxford University medical students benefit from the clinical trainingthey receive at all the hospitals and many staff have both Universityand NHS roles, carrying out leading research in University departmentsand running clinics and treating patients in the hospital.

Professor Alastair Buchan, head ofmedical sciences at OxfordUniversity, said: ‘These tighterlinks between the University andthe hospitals should see benefitsfor patients locally and see Oxfordplay its role in driving medicaladvances on the world stage. It’s avery positive step. You can’t do thebest clinical research withoutpatients being involved, and thebest medical care is grounded inthe latest research.’

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Dr Matthew Wood has been awarded a £2.5million Health Innovation Challenge Fund(HICF), a translational research award schemefunded equally by the Wellcome Trust and theDepartment of Health has been awarded tofund research into Duchenne musculardystrophy (DMD). Dr Wood and colleagues atthe MDEX Consortium — a UK-based

translational medicine network of neuromuscular disease expertsworking to turn scientific findings into drugs and other forms ofhealthcare — have successfully trialled a treatment using antisenseoligonucleotides (AOs) — DNA-based drugs that can repair the gene andrestore functional dystrophin to the muscles of DMD patients. Currentlythe AO drug is only moderately effective in skeletal muscle and does notwork on heart muscle. Led by Dr Wood, the group is now developing anew generation of AO drugs which will dramatically improve the deliveryand restoration of dystrophin by all muscle. The treatment will be testedin a clinical trial on nine DMD patients, starting in 2013.

P rofessor Robert MacLaren, from Oxford’sDepartment of Ophthalmology, has won a£1.2 million HICF award to investigate a newtreatment for choroideraemia, an incurableblindness and form of retinitis pigmentosa —a disease causing damage to the retina. Theproblem develops in childhood and often runsin families with night blindness the most likelyinitial symptom. The disease mostly occurs inmen who become totally blind, usually in their forties. ProfessorMacLaren and Professor Miguel Seabra from Imperial College London,an expert in the molecular biology of choroideraemia, have developedan experimental genetic treatment, which has been tested successfullyin Oxford University’s Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology. They planfour more years of research on a potential gene therapy treatment.

Dr Samantha Knight, Dr Jenny Taylor, Dr Anna Schuh andProfessor Chris Holmes from the Wellcome Trust Centre for HumanGenetics and the National Institute for Health Research OxfordBiomedical Research have developed specialised approaches to test thegenetic make-up of blood cells from patients with B-cell chroniclymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). Their £730,000 award from the HICF willenable these approaches to be validated in a three year study usingpatient samples from the UKCLL National Cancer Research Networktrials. The more precise detection of relevant genetic alterations will allowdoctors to provide the most suitable treatment for patients, reducingmortality and NHS care costs, and minimising side-effects of treatment.

Charles R J C Newton, Professor in Tropical Neurosciences andPaediatrics, Institute of Child Health, UCL; Wellcome Trust SeniorClinical Fellow, Wellcome Trust/Kenya Medical Research InstituteCollaborative Programme, Centre for Geographical Medicine, Kilifi,Kenya; Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Great Ormond StreetHospital; Honorary Professor of Tropical Medicine, Clinical ResearchUnit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; HonoraryProfessor, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania;

and Visiting Professor, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, hasbeen appointed to the Cheryl and Reece Scott Professorship ofPsychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry from October 2011.Professor Newton will be a fellow of St John's.

2011 MJA Open Book Awards HighlyCommended — Susan Burge and Dinny Wallis,for Oxford Handbook of Medical Dermatology

2011 BMA Medical Book Awards HighlyCommended — Yaver Bashir, Timothy R. Bettsand Kim Rajappan for Oxford Specialist Handbooksin Cardiology: Cardiac Electrophysiology and Catheter Ablation

2011 Medical Futures Innovation Awards, announced at anawards ceremony hosted by comedian Rory Bremner and Dynastyactress Emma Samms recognise the Best Therapeutic Innovation, andthe Best Translational Research Innovation overall, as the CysticFybrosis Gene Therapy developed by researchers from the Universities

of Oxford and Edinburghand Imperial College,London. This delivers anormal version of the faultycystic fibrosis gene into thelungs of sufferers via avirus. The Oxford Group isled by Dr Deborah Gilland Dr Steve Hyde and

forms one third of the UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium.The aim of this Consortium of scientists and clinicians is to make genetherapy for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) lung disease a clinical reality.

Professor Richard Hobbs from the University ofBirmingham took over the post of Head of theDepartment of Primary Care Health Sciences afterthe retirement of Professor David Mant.

Prof. Raymond Courteney Tallis (1964)published his latest book in June 2011 Aping Mankind. Neuromania,Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity

David Burn (1982) Professor of MovementDisorder Neurology at Newcastle Universityhas been Acting Director of the University’sInstitute for Ageing and Health since April2011.

Peter C Taylor, (1982) was appointed to theNorman Collison chair of musculoskeletal sciences atOxford from October 2011. His clinical and researchwork in Oxford will be based within the NuffieldDepartment of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology andMusculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMs) at the NuffieldOrthopaedic Centre where he will lead the clinicaltrials research. He was formerly Professor ofExperimental Rheumatology at the Kennedy Institute of RheumatologyDivision, Imperial College, London, an honorary consultant rheumatologistworking in Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust and lead clinician forrheumatology. He was also head of the clinical trials group at the KennedyInstitute Division, and Dean of the Charing Cross campus. He studied pre-clinical medical sciences at Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge andstudied clinical medicine at Oxford; he was awarded a PhD degree from theUniversity of London for studies on pathogenesis of arthritis.

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8 / OXFORD MEDICINE . DECEMBER 2011

Nick Haining (1986) was recently welcomed tothe White House by President Obama as one ofthe winners of the Presidential Early CareerAward for Scientists and. His group was selectedfor the award, which recognizes high-potentialleaders who are working at the frontiers ofscience and are committed to community service.Nick Haining is assistant professor of paediatrics,

at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School; associatemember, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. His research focuses onunderstanding the basis of protective T-cell immunity in humans anddeveloping novel therapeutic approaches to rescue function in exhaustedT cells. Before taking up his present post Nick Haining trained as apaediatric oncologist at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children'sHospital Boston before doing a post-doc in Lee Nadler's laboratory atDana Farber Cancer Institute. He started his own lab at DFCI in 2008, andstill sees patients in the Jimmy Fund Clinic and at Children's Hospital.

Jonathan Cohen (1998) Clinical Training Fellow at UCL Institute ofChild Health has achieved his PhD at University College London.

Mark Duxbury (1996) Clinician Scientist andHonorary Consultant Surgeon in Hepatic-Pancreatico-Biliary Surgical Services at the RoyalInfirmary of Edinburgh has received a grant fromPSGBI in September 2011 towards his project onsystematic identification and functionalcharacterisation of specific protein interactionpartners of the Homosapiens SID1 trans-

membrane family member 1 (SIDT1) protein in human pancreatic cancer.

Professor Te rence Ryan, Emeritus Professor of Dermatology,University of Oxford inaugurated the new Institute of AppliedDermatology in Uliyathadka, Kasaragod, India on 2nd December2011.

The 2011 Oxford University Teaching Awards recognise differentways to engage students and help them learn, from creating new courses

to innovative use of audio and videopodcasts and the delivery of exceptionallectures and demonstrations. Many of theawards have been made followingfeedback from undergraduates, graduatesand members of staff who have singledout the special contribution of those

involved in promoting the highest standards of teaching and learning. Inthe Medical Sciences Division the teaching awards recipients included:

Professor Nick Rawlins, Pro-Vice-Chancellor(Development and External Affairs) and member ofthe Department of Experimental Psychology andWolfson College, who received an award recognisingthe outstanding contribution he has made topostgraduate education in Oxford over many years.

Dr David Popplewell, Department ofExperimental Psychology and BrasenoseCollege

• Mrs Helen McGrath, Faculty ofPhysiological Sciences UndergraduateStudies Office

• Mr Juan Escobar, Mrs Anoma Wagner, and Ms Patricia Hook,Department of Biochemistry

• Mr Timothy Pragnell, Department of Physiology, Anatomy &Genetics

• Ms Anne Tay lor, Nuffield Department of ClinicalNeurosciences

• Dr Mark Roberts, Department of Biochemistry• Mr John Salmon, Oxford Eye Hospital, John RadcliffeHospital

Professor Alan SteinDepartment of Psychiatry, Linacre College

Dr PaulRamchandani,Department ofPsychiatry, CorpusChristi College

• Anyone who has studied medicineat Oxford, which includes thosewho have been a member of theOxford Medical School, and thosewho studied at Oxford as part oftheir medical studentship when atother institutions.

• Those who have researched, orstudied, at any level, in disciplines related to medicine in otherdepartments or colleges of the University of Oxford.

• Anyone who has taught medicine, or its related disciplines, at Oxford,including those who have taught students as part of their clinical orresearch work at Oxford.

• Any person or institution who wishes to promote the goodwill ofOxford Medicine.

Membership of OMA is £30 per annum.

Keeping in TouchWe are currently in touchwith thousands of formerstudents and staffthroughout the world. Bykeeping us informedof your up-to-datemailing and email addresses we can send you regular informationabout our activities and events, and publications.

Oxford Medical Alumni, Medical Sciences Office, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU UK Telephone: 01865 221690 (Direct l ine) Email: oma@medsci.ox.ac.uk www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/oma

OMA complies strictly with the terms of the Data Protection Act andwill never release your information to anyone without your consent.

Dr PhilipBiggin,Department ofBiochemistryand LadyMargaret Hall

MsChristelleKervella,Departmentof PublicHealth

Membership of OMA is open to:

Teaching Awards ceremony pictures courtesy of Rob Judges Photography

OxMed13 FINAL DEC 2011 16pp GBedit V10_Layout 1 05/01/2012 10:18 Page 8

OXFORD MEDICINE . DECEMBER 2011 / 9

Saving Oxford Medicine

The Saving Oxford Medicine project, which began in early 2011, is acollaboration between the Medical Sciences Division and the BodleianLibrary to locate, promote and preserve for future research Oxfordmedical archives of the 20th and 21st centuries.

A presentation to a meeting of Oxford medical alumni in April resultedin a number of useful leads. The project archivists are in touch with keysubjects in order to survey their archives and plan for their futurepreservation. A major acquisition has been the first portion of thearchive of Professor Sir David Weatherall. A number of MedicalSciences Division websites are also being electronically captured andarchived.

A survey of the archives of holders of senior medical posts is beingcarried out in order to establish which are securely held in archiverepositories and whether the remainder might be located and alsopreserved. For example, we have at present no information about thepapers of Arthur Duncan Gardner, Regius Professor from 1948 to1954, who had been a member of the Oxford team led by ProfessorHoward Florey that isolated penicillin and further developed the drugduring the Second World War.

We recently received from Reading University a collection of materialsrelating to Oxford medicine from the archive of Hugh MacDonaldSinclair (1910-90), creator of the wartime Oxford Nutrition Survey andReader in Human Nutrition at Oxford from 1951 to 1958. These arepredominantly papers relating to the research of Professor KennethFranklin, Dean of the Medical School 1934–46, into the history of theSchool. They include interesting and entertaining ephemera such asmenus, prints and commemorative items. Some senior members of

staff can be seen in caricature on this menu of 1898, including, at thepiano, the Regius Professor, Sir John Scott Burdon Sanderson.

Sir William Osler, Regius Professor from 1905 to 1919, has figured inour work in a variety of ways. We are exploring with Professor TerenceRyan the medical collections brought together in recent years at 13Norham Gardens, Oxford, formerly the home of the Osler family, nowthe Osler-McGovern Centre for the promotion of the integration of theart and science of medicine.

Catalogues of papers relating to the ophthalmologist, Ida Mann, andthe pharmacologist, Edith Bülbring, and the records of the OxfordDiabetes Trust, all held by the Library, have been published.

With a project of this nature we rely to a great extent on members ofthe medical community acting as our eyes and ears. Please check theproject page at:http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/bodley/library/specialcollections/projects/saving-oxford-medicineand blog: http://sav ingoxfordmedicine.blogspot.com/ now andagain and do contact us if you have any information about relevantarchive materials or if you would like further information.

Chrissie Webb and Catherine Parker, Project Archivists (01865 277597)

chrissie.webb@bodleian.ox.ac.ukcather ine.parker@bodleian.ox.ac.uk

Osler’s clockIt was brought to our notice recently that a clock presented to theBodleian Library by Sir William Osler in 1912, which sits under the bustof Sir Thomas Bodley in Duke Humfrey’s Library, no longer chimed. Weare glad to say that, as it approaches its centenary, the clock is chimingagain and that an explanatory label is being designed. A file relating tothe presentation of the clock survives among the Library’s records andshows that the clock was personally chosen by Osler, and purchasedfrom R S Rowell, Jewellers, 115 High Street, Oxford, following therecommendation of Falconer Madan, Bodley’s Librarian, of ‘a clock witha good 18th century style of case, and striking hours and half hours ona gong with a non-irritant sound…’. With the support of the LondonOsler Society, plans are being made for the refurbishment of the clockin Duke Humfrey’s Library to commemorate its presentation in 1912 bySir William Osler, a regular user of the Library.

Copyright Bodleian Library 2011 Photography: Nick Cistone

Dinner menu, 1898

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10 / OXFORD MEDICINE . DECEMBER 2011

How could you not love a guy who swam with sharks, who plungednear naked into the Med at Nice after we had skied that morning inthe Pyrenees, and thirty years later soared from a rock into muchdeeper and colder Canadian waters in Halifax when visiting with Sue.Grant Bates leaves this world a much poorer place. He made the worldof his family, countless friends and colleagues somewhere very goodto be. Another golden boy from our year dies before his time, after aglorious life that has touched so many. We skied together many times,rowed in eights week and often laughed over memories of somehilarious Osler House rugby moments in that bygone era of the middleand late 1970s. I can see him now, hurtling along on a diagonal runacross Trinity’s lovely ground in Marston. Old Marston, not a mile fromthat scene of triumphs and more losses, was where he settled in thelast stages of a spectacular career in otolaryngology, spanningcontinents, spawning textbooks and providing inspiration forgenerations of young surgeons.

We should have known he was a bit special when he first showedup, looking like a Greek God in ’75. Against the tide he arrived inOxford from London for his clinical training. He loved his spell atMerton and became something of a master of real tennis on thatElizabethan court, a game at which his son James has since excelled. Itwas wonderful to see Grant and Sue in Oxford this summer, albeitbriefly and under the shadow of a new and devastating diagnosis, yetever hopeful and positive, and to see him so delighted that James washome, training in surgery at the JR. Rebecca, his eldest, is my god-daughter and how chuffed we all were when she won internationalrowing honors and graced an evening with the ‘gang’ at one of ourSpring reunions. Sue quite brilliantly kept Grant in check and gavehim a wonderful home. This is a very special family and we mourn withyou, Sue, Rebecca and James.

Grant was one of those fearless men for whom no new sport orchallenge was too much. Sunday morning runs to Blenheim and drinksin the hot tub were simply routine. He will be mourned too in otherwaters. He spent time and effort beyond measure to raise awareness ofthe plight of the Great White in the worlds’ oceans and completedseveral London Marathons, once absurdly dressed as a shark, to raisemoney for a protective trust. No Christmas was complete without anew series of action photos and memories of birthday parties andwedding anniversaries at his home will bring smiles to many faces. Ourdoomed trip to Paris in 1980 with wives to be, to try (and fail) to watchFrance vs. England, is the stuff of family legend. Reliving anotherlegend he bought an old Lotus this summer and raced it with Rebeccaat Silverstone. He dived off the Great Barrier Reef in his Aussie days inCairns, and just about anywhere else there was water. In classic Batesfashion he laughed off some air in his head a couple of years ago. Whoknew he had a patent foramen ovale, challenged once too often in adecompression incident? Another one of ‘our gang’ fixed it for him, andall was well, until new events overtook him this summer.

How young we look in that photo of the two of us in tops and tailsat his wedding, three decades ago. We drove there in his Morris Minor,Grant going round a roundabout near the church and not just once, tohowls of laughter. We have always laughed and fooled around in aharmless way over the years. We tasted champagne at altitude in ahot air balloon and wisely wimped out of hang-gliding from the top ofa French ski resort one sunny winter’s day. But I can’t laugh today, theday I heard from Sue that he had died peacefully a short while ago.The tears flow instead and watered a special Rhododendron I plantedthis morning in my Nova Scotia garden that I hope will bring colour ashe did and be loved as he was, for a lifetime.

Graeme Rocker

GRANT BATES FRCS (1953–2011)

Great memories

Obituaries

“If I have seen a little further, it is only by standingon the shoulders of Giants”

— Isaac Newton

It is always a pleasure, as President, to have a chance to discuss howOsler continues to move from strength to strength. Our progress, ofcourse, is on the back of previous generations. The recent“Distinguished Friend of Oxford” award presented to Professor JohnLedingham by the Vice Chancellor in Osler House was a fitting reminderof the work done by individuals before us. We therefore strive tocontinue the good work, as well take things forward where we can.Osler continues to have an excellent relationship with the MedicalSchool. Our students continue to excel academically and extra-curricularly. Our sports teams continue to enjoy themselves (with mixedsuccess — we unfortunately recently suffered defeat at the hands ofCambridge in the Varsity Sports Day!). The Tingewick society is as funny(and outrageous) as ever and Osler House itself continues to be thesocial hub for all clinical students. Osler is, of course, not without itsproblems. We continue to be in financial difficulty, requiring us to cutspending, and explore new ways to generate income.

Our club, however, continues to flourish. We now have more

student-run societies than ever. The scope of welfare and peer supportis ever expanding. Fresher’s fortnight was a resounding success, with thetwo weeks filled with popular events showcasing Osler House. We arebuilding stronger links between junior doctors and students throughstudent-organised bedside tutorials, and joint sports and societies. Thisyear we are trialling a housing database, where students help each otherfind accommodation in Oxford, and in a similar vein we hope to have afoundation post database to help students through daunting applications.

If it seems I have said “continue” a lot, it is only to emphasisethat Osler House is not just a product of its current members, but alsoits past. Thus we continue to progress, not because we are better thanour predecessors, but because they add to our stature, and raise us upto allow us to see further than they could.

Arvind SinghalOsler House President 2011–2012arvind.singhal@medschool.ox.ac.uk

www.osler.co.uk

If you would like to find out more about Osler House, have anyquestions, or feel you have ideas to contribute then please contact meor one of the members of the Osler House committee.

News from Osler House

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BRIAN BEyNON LLOyD, CBE, MA, DSC (1920–2010)

Generations of Oxford medical students will recall being learningrespiratory physiology from Brian Lloyd — the beard and bow tie (usually)and the larger than life personality. He died on 28 June 2010, aged 89.

Lloyd was born in Port Talbot, Wales, the son of a headmaster. Hisintellect and mathematical prowess won him a scholarship toWinchester where, his life-long friend Geoffrey Venning recalls, someyounger scholars looked to Lloyd for advice rather than to theirteachers, notably Freeman Dyson who followed Einstein at Princeton.

From Winchester Lloyd went up to Balliol in 1939 to readChemistry and Physiology. He regarded war as morally repugnant andwas a conscientious objector. During the Second World War he wasemployed by Hugh Sinclair, another Wykehamist scholar and Fellow ofMagdalen, to work with the Oxford Nutrition Survey. As aconscientious objector Sinclair only had to pay him £2 a week, the ratefor a land worker. At the end of the war this work took him to Hollandand Germany to study famine and there he programmed bankHollerith machines to store nutritional data from thousands ofindividuals. While there he met his future wife Reinhild, whom hemarried in 1949 and with whom he was to have seven children,including two sets of twins.

After returning to Oxford he became a Fellow of Magdalen andwas subsequently Vice–President of the College and Proctor in theUniversity. His major academic contribution was undoubtedly toRespiratory Physiology in which he had a very fruitful collaborationwith the late Dan Cunningham of University College. His mathematicalprowess facilitated all he did. Sir Roger Bannister, an early researchstudent, recalls Lloyd rationalising a method of calculating pulmonaryventilation-perfusion ratios so that it took minutes rather than hours.

Undergraduates, and particularly Lloyd and Cunningham’s researchstudents, will recall Lloyd’s modification of the Haldane apparatus forthe analysis of respiratory gases which was commercially producedand used in physiology departments world-wide. Perhaps his greatestcontribution to physiology was his algebraic description of theinteractions of hypercapnia and hypoxia in the control of humanventilation. The parameters of the equation (A, B, C and D) gavequantitative estimates of the thresholds and sensitivity of individualsubjects to each stimulus. At that time authors of papers in the Journalof Physiology were cited in alphabetical order leading some to themisconception that Cunningham was the senior author in what was inreality a synergistic collaboration of equals. Lloyd, with a wry smile,could be heard muttering “Cunningham calls it B” after thepublication of a new edition of a well-known textbook of physiologywhich had fallen into this trap.

In 1965 he was president of the Physiology and BiochemistrySection of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and

used his presidential address to discuss the energetics of running inman and racehorses. His prediction of the effects on the 100 metres ofreduced air resistance at altitude in Mexico City proved highly accuratebut his brave forecasts of world record times 35 years later in 2000were in the event somewhat optimistic.

His intellectual strength was matched by his skill as a craftsman. Inhis workshop at home he produced for example beautiful round diningtables for friends and family and Perspex respiratory valves ofexceptionally low resistance and dead space. Visiting physiologistscoveted these and some persuaded him to make one for them.Needless to say the design of anything he made was optimisedmathematically.

In 1961 Lloyd became a Governor of the Oxford College ofTechnology and in 1963 its Chairman. He drove developments whichled to the College becoming one of the new Polytechnics and in 1970Lloyd resigned his fellowship at Magdalen and became the firstDirector of the new Oxford Polytechnic. There he pioneered thedevelopment of modular degree courses, then a new venture, nowwidely adopted. He is remembered there, indeed by all who knew himwell, as having encyclopaedic interests and knowledge combined witha formidable intellect – happy discussing carpentry, Old Masters, sliderules (he was an avid collector), English usage, exercise; virtuallyanything. Although he retired from the Polytechnic in 1980 before itstransformation into Oxford Brookes University, Rodney Tulloch, formerAcademic Secretary at Brookes, said at Lloyd’s memorial service that itwould hardly be an exaggeration to describe him as a founder(www.brookes.ac.uk/alumni_card/lloyd-memorial-service-nov-13.pdf).The Lloyd Building at Brookes (recently demolished), which he openedhimself in 1984, was named after him.

Lloyd was Chairman of the Health Education Council and wasawarded the CBE in 1983 for his work in raising awareness of thehazards of smoking.

In 1970 Lloyd bought High Wall, Headington (www.headington.org.uk/history/pullens_lane/high_wall.htm), which still belongs to his family andis bursting at the seams with all the items he collected including pictures,slide rules and ready reckoners, soldering irons, planes, a side saddle (!),gas analysis apparatus, files and papers going back to his school days.

He is survived by his wife, seven children and twelve grandchildren.

I am grateful for the help of Sir Roger Bannister, Professor CharlesMichel, Professor John Stein, Mr Rodney Tulloch, Mrs Megan Turmezeiand Doctors Geoffrey and Michael Venning in the preparation of thisobituary. (In alphabetical order!)

Paul Miller

OXFORD MEDICINE . DECEMBER 2011 / 11

WILLIAM (BILL) SPENCER LUND MS FRCS (1926 – 2010)

Bill Lund was a true gentleman and an ENT surgeon much loved by hispatients and colleagues.

Born to non- medical parents he thought he might join the Navyand was accordingly educated at Pangbourne College. He then did his1st MB at Nottingham where he was awarded his hockey blue. AfterNational Service in the Navy, where he became a morse code expert, heenrolled at Guys Hospital. He played for the Guys 1st XV anddeveloped his love of cricket. He did two pre-reg house jobs at Guyswhere he had the good fortune to meet a young nurse – Paddy soon tobe his wife for the next 54 very happy years.

Bill decided on a career in ENT, demonstrated Anatomy at King’s,and as a Registrar at the Radcliffe Infirmary acquired the FRCS. It washere he developed his lifelong interest in swallowing and joined forces

with Gordon Ardran in the Nuffield Institute for Medical Research. Twoand a half years research work both in Oxford and as a Fellow at theUniversity Hospital, Iowa led to some very significant findings on themechanism of the function of the cricopharyngeal sphincter particularlyrelated to pharyngeal pouch development. For this work he wasawarded his MS and appointed the Arris and Gale Lecturer at the RoyalCollege of Surgeons in 1964. He was subsequently the author of manychapters and papers on swallowing problems.

From Iowa he returned as Senior Registrar at the Radcliffe Infirmaryand then at the Middlesex Hospital where he was appointed ConsultantENT Surgeon in 1965. Ronald Macbeth then retired from Oxford in 1968and Bill was successful in being appointed Consultant in Oxford inDecember 1968.

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Clinical pharmacologist who brought scientific rigour to clinicalstudies of the pharmacology of serotonin.

David Grahame Grahame-Smith was one of the UK’s leadingclinical pharmacologists. His work on the pharmacology of theneurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) began with theidentification of a key enzyme in its synthesis and continued over thenext 35 years through a series of innovative and elegant experimentson its functions and its roles in depression and the human tumoursthat cause the carcinoid syndrome, on the clinical management ofwhich he was an expert.

Born David Grahame Smith in Leicester in 1933, he studiedmedicine at St Mary’s Hospital in London from 1951. As a HouseOfficer in Paddington General Hospital, he found himself in thecompany of four other David Smiths. In order to reduce the hospitalswitchboard’s constant confusion he changed his surname toGrahame-Smith. Some years later, criticizing the Lancet’s overuse ofhyphens, he cited the Fowler brothers’ manual, The King’s English(1906): “Hyphens are regrettable necessities, and to be done withoutwhen they reasonably may.” His ability to laugh at himself in this waywas a major asset when he had to tackle the many problems thatOxford clinical professors face.

After service in the Royal Army Medical Corps, he returned to StMary’s to work with Albert Neuberger, the founder of glycoproteinresearch. For his PhD he identified tryptophan hydroxylase, theenzyme that catalyses the rate-limiting step in the synthesis ofserotonin. A Medical Research Council Travelling Fellowship then tookhim to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he workedwith Grant Liddell, Bill Butcher, and Earl Sutherland (Nobel prize,1971). Now well trained in clinical medicine and biochemicalpharmacology, he returned to St Mary’s as Senior Lecturer in ClinicalPharmacology and Therapeutics. When the Medical Research Councilestablished its Unit of Clinical Pharmacology in Oxford in 1971, hewas the obvious choice as its Director.

Learning the sometimes Byzantine ways of the University ofOxford, the Medical Research Council, and Corpus Christi College, ofwhich he was a Fellow, was no mean task. But the new MRC Unitand University Department of Clinical Pharmacology flourished underhis direction, and attracted a wide range of both highly skilled

pharmacologists and clinicians. The Unit’s large output of scientificpapers dealt not only with serotonin and psychopharmacology, but awide range of other topics, including the pharmacology and clinicalpharmacology of cardioactive and anticancer drugs and thephysiology and pharmacology of transmembrane ion transport. Healso mentored many young scientists, who delighted in his skilleddirection and later achieved eminence elsewhere: two Presidents ofthe British Pharmacological Society and two Presidents of the BritishAssociation of Psychopharmacology spent significant parts of theircareers in his department, and he trained several professors, bothbasic and clinical. He was a highly accomplished physician, and hisconsultant master classes were a popular feature of Oxford medicineduring the 1990s. When in 1993 he reached the MRC’s age ofretirement, the Unit closed, but the Department continued until hisretirement in 2000, part funded by the pharmaceutical companySmithKline Beecham.

During his time in Oxford Grahame-Smith’s influence was feltwidely. He was a loyal supporter of the British PharmacologicalSociety, and skilfully steered the British Journal of ClinicalPharmacology. He served on the Committee on Safety of Medicines(now the Commission on Human Medicines) from 1975 to 1986, andchaired its Safety, Efficacy, and Adverse Reactions (SEAR)subcommittee and two influential working parties, on guidelines forpreclinical toxicity testing and on post-marketing surveillance. Thelatter resulted in what came to be known as the 1985 Grahame-Smith report. He chaired the subgroup on hepatitis B immunizationfor the Joint Commission on Immunisation and Vaccination, and wasthe founding Chairman of the Government’s Advisory Council on theMisuse of Drugs. His visiting professorships included a trip to Beijingin 1985, during which he was delighted that the ballet-dancingtalents of his wife were as much in demand as his own clinical andscientific ones, perhaps even more so.

His awards included an Anna Monika Stiftung Prize for Studies inDepression (with A R Green, 1977), the 1980 Paul Martini prize inClinical Pharmacology (with J K Aronson and A R Ford), the Lilly Prizeof the British Pharmacological Society in 1995, and the BritishAssociation of Psychopharmacology’s Lifetime Achievement award in2002. He was appointed CBE in 1993.

PROFESSOR DAVID GRAHAME GRAHAME-SMITH (1933–2011)

Gavin Livingstone, who pioneered congenital ear reconstruction inthe UK, died within a month of Bill being appointed and he immediatelytook over this challenging area of ENT. Over the years he treated, alongwith his colleague, Bernard Colman, a large number of children andadults some with defects left over from the Thalidomide disaster andintroduced many new techniques to keep Oxford as the foremostdepartment in this field. In 1987 Oxford was the first to use the newSwedish system of Bone Anchored Osseointegrated hearing aids andear prostheses which revolutionised the management of those withcongenital ear malformations.

In addition he continued his interest in the management ofswallowing problems and particularly pharyngeal pouch surgery. Thisculminated in his election in 1987 as President of the Laryngologysection of the RSM where he delivered a brilliant and entertainingaddress on the technique of sword swallowing!

He had a very large practice. His patients adored him and despitehis clinics always over running none complained waiting patiently tosee their wise, kindly and friendly surgeon.

He took a particular interest in teaching medical students. Hebecame “His Rhinoplasty” of the Tyngewick Society and was taken offbeautifully in one of the pantomimes where his characteristic ward

round habit of putting one foot up on the patients bed while pinningthe patients legs with his fine leather brief case was depicted very well!

He retired in 1991 which allowed him more time for his golf. Hewas a member of Huntercombe, where he was allowed to take hisborder terrier, Scud (after the missiles used in the first Iraq conflict) butofficially named Meg! Whether he trained her to spot his ball and helpit to a better lie is not known! In addition he was a leading light andat one time Chairman of the Woodstock Players where he wasequally happy as the pantomime dame, the spy– Anthony Blunt, or abishop which fitted his natural mannerisms!

His patients all considered Bill as their friend and he wasenormously popular with all who were fortunate to know him. He wasa true gentleman surgeon. He died in 2010 and his thanksgivingservice in Woodstock was completely packed with so many friends andcolleagues all giving thanks for a man who lived life to the full andgave so much to so many.

He had a very happy family life and is survived by Paddy his adoredwife of 54 years and their three children, Sarah, James and Kate and 6much loved grandchildren.

Andrew Freeland

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OXFORD MEDICINE . DECEMBER 2011 / 13

John Anthony Robert Anson b. 1927, matric. Christ Church 1945, d.18 April 2011

Gareth de Bohun Mitford-Barberton, b. 1925 matric. St Edmund Halld. 13 February 2011 aged 86. Born in Kenya, he worked as a doctor inUganda, returning to England in 1962 to become ConsultantObstetrician and Gynaecologist in Kettering and District. After retiring, hespent five years collating the family letters and writings and assemblingthem into no less than forty volumes with the title Pioneer Spirit.

Derek F Barrowcliff b. 1919, matric. University College 1937 d. 21September, aged 92, whilst out walking. In the late 1930s DerekBarrowcliff made his way to the Pyrenees to assist in the relief work forthose fleeing the Spanish Civil War. He went to read Medicine atUniversity College and while there he gained a half blue in lacrosse. Hiswork as a Home Office pathologist included the baffling case of themurder of Olive Bennett, which remains unsolved to this day, despitethe News Of The World offering £100,000 in 1974 for informationleading to the identity of the killer or killers. He also worked on theStoneleigh Abbey poisoning case in 1969, when he detected signs ofarsenic in the hair of the victim — the wife of the chauffeur employedat the Abbey. In the 1970s, his research on the propensity for corpses tobleed was quoted in the controversy over the authenticity of the Shroudof Turin. Barrowcliff gave an expert opinion when he showed thatbodies bleed after death for a time, and demonstrated that cuts on theback of the head of a corpse (comparable to the wounds made by theCrown of Thorns) “would bleed freely”. His overriding passion —walking — was to continue throughout his life, and he was walking inthe woods near Valbonne, France, when he died. Derek Barrowcliff issurvived by his wife and their six children.

John Blandy b.1927 matric. Balliol 1946 d. 22 July 2011 aged 83. CBE,FRCS, Emeritus Professor of Urology at the London Hospital MedicalCollege. Balliol Honorary Fellow from 1992 to 2011. Born in Tenby,Blandy’s distinguished list of credentials included House Physician andHouse Surgeon, London Hospital, 1952; Royal Army Medical Corps,1952–1953; Surgical Registrar and Lecturer in Surgery, LondonHospital, 1956–1960, among many others. A member of the Council,Royal College of Surgeons from 1982–1994, Blandy also served as EAUCongress president from 1986–1988; president of the European Boardof Urology (EBU) from 1991 to 1992 and member of the Council,General Medical Council, 1992–1996. Blandy also received in 2001,the EAU's highest honour, the Willy Gregoir Medal.

Francis Caird b. 1928; matric. 1946 New College, d. 26 June 2011 aged82. Former professor of geriatric medicine University of Glasgow. Won ascholarship to Oxford, where he started reading classics beforeswitching to medicine in his first year and gaining a first class honoursdegree. After qualifying and two years of national service, he worked inOxford, Birmingham and at Hammersmith Hospital before he returnedto the Radcliffe Infirmary, in 1961 as senior registrar. In 1967 he movedto Scotland and became a senior lecturer in geriatric medicine at theUniversity of Glasgow. He was appointed David Cargill Professor ofGeriatric Medicine in 1979 and remained in this post until hisretirement in 1994. He enjoyed combining clinical work with teachingand research. Throughout his working life he contributed articles on a

regular basis to medical journals and wrote numerous books, often incollaboration with his Glasgow colleagues. He was keen on thedevelopment of multidisciplinary teams in the care of elderly people.After retirement he returned to Oxford and continued to work with theParkinson’s disease Society and as an associate editor for Age andAgeing. Francis had a love of the classics throughout his life and wasalways able to read and enjoy texts in Ancient Greek.

Percy ‘Bruce’ S Fowler b. Shanghai 1921; matric. Balliol 1940, d. 9August 2011. Bruce Fowler was a medical polymath and formerconsultant physician Charing Cross Hospital. One of the last trulygeneral physicians of English medicine, he balanced original researchwith teaching while the individual patient remained paramount in hiswork. Born to an American mother and a successful Englishbusinessman, he returned to England at the age of 3 and was lookedafter by his father’s chauffeur, who fed him raw suet and taught him tosmoke Wills’s Woodbines. He continued in private practice until he was82, when one of his oldest patients, on hearing him say “You look welltoday,” said “Don’t be ridiculous, Bruce, you cannot see me.” He retiredthat day, but continued to think and talk about medicine right up to hisdeath. PubMed currently lists more than 88 publications to his name,and his last article on blood flow was published in the Quarterly Journalof Medicine when he was 84, a feat that only few achieve.

John William Goodfellow b. 1927 d. 2011 MS, FRCS, ConsultantOrthopaedic Surgeon, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, 1965–1990,President, British Orthopaedic Association, 1988–89, Editor, Journal ofBone and Joint Surgery [Br], 1990–95.

Alfred Gunning d. 10 August 2011 aged 92. Former consultant cardiacsurgeon at the John Radcliffe and Churchill Hospitals. Alf diedpeacefully at home. Devoted husband to Mollie and much loved fatherto Kevin, Andrew and Peta and grandfather of Jenny, Laura, William,Ollie, Nick and Sophie. An appreciation of his life will be published inOxford Medicine in 2012.

Edmund Neville Hey b. 1 April 1934; matric. Exeter College 1953 d. frommeningitis on 7 December 2009. Pioneer in the care of new born babies.His father, Max, was a mineralogist and keeper of minerals at theNatural History Museum the mineral heyite was named in recognition ofhis contributions. British paediatrics has lost a remarkable man whosetalents were insufficiently recognised. However, his legacy is a muchbetter understanding of how to organise and care for new born babies.Predeceased by Susan in 1999, he leaves two daughters and a son.

Leslie Le Quesne b. 1919 matric. Exeter Coll 1937 d. 5 August 2011aged 91. Ex Hon Sec Oxford Graduates Medical Club (from which OMAemerged). Devoted to Oxford, Professor of Surgery and Head of Dept atMiddlesex, he wrote state of the art papers on fluid balance in surgicalpractice. Whilst at the Middlesex Hospital, Le Quesne found thatsurgeons too often declared operations to have been a great success(from a technical point of view), only for the patient to die. Determinedto address this contradiction, Le Quesne decided to investigate otherfactors that might affect survival rates. Nutritional fitness for surgery,and the body’s response to the surgical onslaught, for example, hadhardly been addressed. Under Le Quesne’s leadership a new generationof surgeons devoted itself to resolving these problems, particularly in

With sadness December 2011

If you wanted to find David Grahame-Smith in a crowd, you onlyhad to follow the sound of laughter. His extracurricular interests werewide and often surprising. He was a strong swimmer and a vigorousplayer of water polo. He rode to hounds. He tap-danced with verve. Hewas a gently quirky cartoonist. And he was an accomplished pianist,whose jazz-playing friends saw him off at his funeral with “When theSaints Go Marching In”.

He leaves his wife, Kathryn, and two sons, Harvey and Henry.

Professor David Grahame Grahame-Smith, CBE, clinicalpharmacologist, was born on 10 May 1933. He died on 17 June 2011,aged 78.

Jeffrey Aronson

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14 / OXFORD MEDICINE . DECEMBER 2011

the fields of electrolyte balance and hydration, as well as studyingthe response of the endocrine system. The result was a greatimprovement in survival rates following major surgery, and wasfundamental in the establishment of intensive care units. As well asbeing a skilful surgeon, especially in the gastric and biliary field, LeQuesne rapidly acquired a reputation as a research scientist. Beyondpre- and post-surgical care, Le Quesne’s other great interest was inthe diagnosis and prevention of deep vein thrombosis; the currentuse of elastic stockings to stimulate blood flow on long planejourneys arises directly from work carried out in his department atthe Middlesex. Married, late in life, Pamela Fullerton, Lady MargaretHall, she was one time Professor of Neurology at NHQS and predeceased him. A full obituary will appear in due course.

David Francis Mullins matric. Trinity 1942, died 26th November 2011aged 88.

John C. Probert b. 1931 matric. Keble 1951 d. 18 October 2011. Afterworking as Assistant Professor of Radiology at Stanford UniversitySchool of Medicine, Stanford, California John Probert became AssociateProfessor of Radiation Oncology at Auckland University where heestablished the section of oncology in the Department of Pathology.

Peter Carew Reynell b. 1917; matric. Balliol 1936, d. 27 June 2011 aged83. Former consultant cardiologist Bradford. After qualification and fouryears in the Royal Army Medical Corps, Peter Carew Reynell worked inacademic medicine at Oxford, researching liver diseases. He wasawarded a Rockefeller travelling fellowship (1953) and was co-authorwith Sidney Truelove of “Digestive disease Disorders”. He moved toBradford in 1957. While developing new arrangements for coronarycare, he continued to publish in the BMJ until his retirement. He was firstchair of the local division of medicine, and his numerous regional andnational roles included vice chair of the National Association of ClinicalTutors; regional adviser to the Royal College of Physicians; director of theYorkshire Cancer Research Campaign; chair of the Regional HigherDistinction Awards Committee; general medical adviser to the minister ofhealth at the Department of Health; and external examiner at severaluniversities. His greatest sporting achievement was to score a century atLord’s for Rugby, his school, but tennis was his strongest suit (half-blueat Oxford). He had an astonishing range of interests and knowledge. Anatural linguist, he led French and German conversation groups into his90s, when he was also producing experimental abstract digital images.

Paul Sebastian Richardson b. matric. New College 1961, d. 2011Physiologist.

Gerald Annesley Rutter b. 1930 matric. Keble 1949, d. July 8, 2011aged 81, at Christchurch Hospital NZ.

Barbara Shuttleworth (née Nathan), b. 1922, matric. Somerville1940; d. 16 June 2011. Aged 89.

David Skeggs, b. 1928 matric. Oriel 1946 d. December 22 aged 82. Atthe Royal Free Hospital he led the team that developed computer-controlled precision radiotherapy, the technique which enablesradiologists to focus radiation beams precisely on a tumour, leavingother, healthy, cells unaffected. Skeggs’s family and large circle offriends loved him for his sense of fun, his generosity of spirit and hiswillingness to give advice on all sorts of medical and health problems.His personal fight with cancer began 11 years ago, he remained wellfor 10 years, until the cancer returned last year. David Skeggs married,in 1957, Anne Hughes, whom he had met while he was a student atOxford. She and their two daughters survive him.

Kenneth Fletcher Malcolm Thomson b.1927 matric. 1945 ChristChurch d. 4 January 2010 aged 84 from a chest infection. Dr Thomsonbegan work an as ear, nose and throat registrar at the then York CountyHospital before joining Dr Royle’s practice in York where he continuedto work until his own retirement in 1988. Dr Thomson continued

operating part-time at York District Hospital until 1992, and wasPresident of York Medical Society in 1994–5. In addition to hisprofessional work, Dr Thomson was an active volunteer member of theYork branch of St John’s Ambulance, eventually being made an OfficerBrother of the Order of St John in 1991. Following the 1989 overthrowof Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaucescu, Dr Thomson, his wife, Diana,and other York area volunteers helped a struggling orphanage in thetown of Siret. He was a keen singer and performed with York MusicalSociety and in the York Mystery Plays in 1988. The majority of his sparetime was spent tending and enjoying the garden of his family home inFulford, but in his later years his activities were progressively restrictedfollowing his diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr John Patrick Acton Weaver, (Patrick) b. 17 November 1927 m.Trinity College 1946; d. 10 July 2011, aged 83. DM, FRCS, surgeon.Patrick Weaver was brought up in Oxford, the son of the eminenthistorian John Weaver who was President of Trinity College. Patrickwas brought up in the College with childhood memories of playing inthe rafters of the President’s residence. He achieved a first-classhonours degree in physiology at Oxford and went on to Guy’s Hospitalfor clinical training where he met his future wife, a nurse. His accountof being examined for higher degrees in Oxford in these days, whenfull formal academic dress was required even in a clinical setting, wasmemorable. Patrick Weaver went to Scotland in 1967, as seniorlecturer, to join Professor Sir Donald Douglas’s surgical academic teamat the University of St Andrews. His surgical interests evolved into thearea of surgical urology and he became a consultant urologicalsurgeon in 1976. He retired in 1992 but continued to practise andcarried out research into the properties of blood flow and into urologyand paediatric urology. He pioneered innovative surgical techniques forthe treatment of incontinence. In retirement gardening, furniturerestoration, art and opera were his main interests. He is survived by hiswife and three children.

John Kingdom Guy Webb b. 29 October 1918; matric. Balliol 1937; d.17 August 2010, aged 91. Former paediatrician and professor of childhealth in Newcastle upon Tyne. One of the first generation of doctorswho specialised exclusively in the care of children. When he arrived inIndia only six of that massive country’s medical colleges had a children’sdepartment and there was only a very small number of dedicatedpaediatricians. For the first five years in Vellore he was the onlypaediatrician, and, as well as a vast clinical workload of sick children heinspired and taught a new generation of doctors who would devotethemselves to the care of children. In his research he and his groupwere the first to identify Japanese B virus as the cause of epidemics ofencephalitis in Tamil Nadu and filarial infection as the hitherto unknowncause of epidemics of tropical eosinophilia, a common respiratorycomplaint. In 1972 he returned to the UK to be the James SpenceProfessor of Child Health in Newcastle after four years as director of theMedical College of Vellore. With Donald Irvine, he set up a majorproject to set standards of the care of children in general practice whichwas the forerunner of the current work to set standards for all aspectsof medicine and for doctors to be regularly revalidated against these.After retirement, John pursued his love of tropical paediatrics with apost at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and he was director of the Childto Child programme in which children in developing countries wereinstructed in common health issues and encouraged to share what theyhad learnt with their family and others in their village.

John Marshall Wilson b. 1931 matric. Trinity 1951, d. 6 April 2011,aged 79. He practised medicine all his life mostly as a GP in Pershoreand retired at the age of 60. He often recalled his time at Trinity Collegeand his rowing days there — he rowed for Oxford in 1953 and in 1955in the Oxford/Cambridge boat race.

With sadness…

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2012 2nd – 4th March

Australian Reunion

Roger Bodley, Peter Morris and Peter Teddy are convening a reunionfrom 2nd to 4th March 2012 for anyone who has studied or taughtmedicine at Oxford and who is now living or working in Australia andNew Zealand. We would encourage as many of you as possible tocome. This reunion is to be held at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania over theweekend of 2nd to 4th March 2012 at the Cradle Mountain Lodge.

It would be very helpful if youwere to tell any other Oxfordmedical alumni about thereunion. The distance fromOxford means that we want tomanage this using electronicmeans and ask that you giveus your email address so wecan get information out as quickly as possible. If you want to contactus about the reunion or are able to help with the organisation pleasecontact: oma@medsci.ox.ac.uk

ALUMNI EVENTS

2012 12th May

Oxford Spring Meeting

The meeting will include the Weatherall Lecture 2012 to be given byProfessor Nicholas White. We are delighted that Professor DameValerie Beral and Professor Sir Rory Collins will also be speaking. Themeeting will be followed by the Oxford Spring Dinner which will takeplace in the splendid surroundings of the Divinity School. The reunionyears are those qualifying in 1986 and 1987.

Professor White is Chairman of the WellcomeTrust South East Asian Research Units,Professor of Tropical Medicine at Oxford and atMahidol University, Bangkok, and Consultantphysician at the John Radcliffe Hospital. Hisdiverse interests include the epidemiology,pathophysiology and management ofuncomplicated and severe malaria, meliodosis, enteric fever, tetanus,dengue haemorrhagic fever, Japanese encephalitis and tuberculosis. Hisparticular interests at present include the pathophysiology andtreatment of severe malaria and the prevention of antimalarial drugresistance using artemisinin-based combinations.

Professor Dame Valerie Beral is Professor ofEpidemiology, Director of the CancerEpidemiology Unit, and a Consultant Physician.She studied medicine at Sydney University,Australia. After a few years of clinical work inAustralia, New Guinea and the UK, she spentalmost 20 years at the London School of Hygiene& Tropical Medicine working in the Department of

Epidemiology. In 1988 she became the Director of the CancerEpidemiology Unit in Oxford. Major focuses of her research include the

role of reproductive, hormonal and infectious agents in cancer. She isPrincipal Investigator for the 'Million Women Study' and leads theinternational collaborative studies of breast, ovarian and endometrialcancer.

In 1985 Professor Sir Rory Collins became co-director, with Professor Sir Richard Peto, of theUniversity of Oxford's Clinical Trial Service Unit &Epidemiological Studies Unit (CTSU). In 1996 he wasappointed Professor of Medicine and Epidemiologyat Oxford, supported by the British Heart Foundation.He became Principal Investigator and Chief Executiveof the UK Biobank prospective study of 500,000 people in September2005. His work has been in the establishment of large-scaleepidemiological studies of the causes, prevention and treatment of heartattacks, other vascular disease, and cancer.

We are pleased that Dr Allan Chapman has agreed to give this year'stalk on the history of medicine at Oxford.

In the evening the OMASpr ing D inner will beheld in the beautifulsurroundings of the DivinitySchool in the evening on 12May 2012.

All alumni are invited to attend this very special occasion.

The programme and information on how to book for the meeting andfor the reunion will be available at:www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/oma/events

OXFORD MEDICINE . DECEMBER 2011 / 15

2012 13th – 15th April

University of Oxford

North American Reunion

The reunion will take place at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.The programme and more information will be available on theOMA website:www.medsci .ox .ac.uk /oma/ev ent s

New York photographs by Katherine Black

OxMed13 FINAL DEC 2011 16pp GBedit V10_Layout 1 05/01/2012 10:18 Page 15

Contacting OMAAddress:

Oxford Medical AlumniMedical Sciences OfficeJohn Radcliffe Hospital

OxfordOX3 9DUEmail:

jayne.todd@medsci.ox.ac.ukWebsite:

www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/omaEnquir ies:

01865 221690Fax:

01865 750750

Oxford Medicine is produced by the Medical Informatics Unit, NDCLS, University of Oxford. Telephone +44 (0)1865 222746. Ref: OxMed1211/0600

• Saturday 12th May 20121977 A Reunion for those who qualif ied 35years ago will take place a part of the OMA SpringMeeting. Guests and Partners are most welcome. Thisreunion will take place at the Divinity School.

• Saturday 26th May 20122002 A Reunion for those who qualif ied 10years ago. This reunion will include a Family TeaParty for alumni and their young children which willtake place at Osler House in the afternoon. There willbe a formal dinner in Oxford in the evening. Guestsand Partners are most welcome.

• Friday 14th September 20121987 A Reunion for those who qualified 25 yearsago will take place as part of the University AlumniWeekend. Guests and Partners are most welcome.

• Saturday 15th September 20121972 and ear lier A Reunion for those whoqualif ied 40 or more years ago will take placeduring the annual University Alumni Weekend inSeptember 2012. Guests and partners are mostwelcome.

2012 14th – 16th September Oxford Alumni Weekend Meeting

The 2012 Oxford Alumni Weekend will featuremedical issues prominently in a fascinat ingprogramme of more than 120 tours, talks andwalks. The "Oxford Osler Lecture and Lunch" formedical alumni w ill take place on the Saturdayof the weekend. There will be Reunions forthose qualify ing in 1987, and in 1972 or ear lier.The full programme will be published as soon aspossib le.

2012 REUNIONS —Invitations will be sent so please make sure we have your current contact details.

Further information about alumni events inside the back page

Australian Reunion•University of Oxford North American Reunion•Oxford Spring Meeting

More OMA events at www.medsc i.ox .ac.uk /oma/ev en ts

GMore information on

OMA events can be found at

www.medsci.ox.ac.uk/oma/events

—k—Information on Oxford Universityalumni events can be found at

www.alumni.ox.ac.uk

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