In memoriam: Professor Sir David Weatherall 1933-2018

News article 11 Dec 2018
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By University of Exeter from United Kingdom - RILD launch, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34068030

It is with great sadness that LSTM has learnt of the death of Professor Sir David Weatherall GBE, FRS. He was a great supporter of LSTM, a Vice President since 2005 and recieved LSTM’s highest award the Mary Kingsley Medal in 1999.

It is with great sadness that LSTM has learnt of the death of Professor Sir David Weatherall GBE, FRS. He was a great supporter of LSTM, a Vice President since 2005 and recieved LSTM’s highest award the Mary Kingsley Medal in 1999.

Two years after graduating from the University of Liverpool’s School of Medicine, Sir David was posted to Singapore where a lifelong fascination with tropical medicine and blood disorders was triggered, bringing him into contact with LSTM.

From his long term academic base at the University of Oxford, he was instrumental in setting up the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Research Unit in Thailand with support from the Wellcome Trust, the model on which the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome (MLW) Research Programme is based. The Thai unit and his interests in haematology brought him into close contact with David Warrell, a world expert on snakebite and long-term supporter of LSTM in this area.

Sir David was knighted in 1987 and appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to medicine.

LSTM’s Director, Professor Janet Hemingway, said: “Sir David was a great supporter of LSTM and was always gracious and generous in giving his time and advice. His long-term links with LSTM, intersecting academically with us at different points, and his influence on multiple organisations, trusts and foundations made him a valued supporter and Vice President. He will be greatly missed.”