| Citation | Distinguished for his elegant physiological, biochemical and immunological studies on the control of pregnancy, parturition and lactation. From detailed studies of the kinetics and sites of hormone turnover he discovered a protein unique to hystericomorph rodents with progesterone conserving activity, the source of the rise in oestrogen production stimulating labour and a method for induction of timed parturition in sows with prostaglandin F2alpha. Work on the parturition of steroids between lipid membranes (liposomes) and aqueous solutions led to the discovery that progesterone and oestrone sulphate are secreted in milk and to the development of pregnancy tests in dairy animals are now used worldwide. He showed the maternal signal of conception was a steroid hormone from preimplanted embryos, and recently demonstrated the anti-fertility properties of monoclonal antibodies against progesterone the mechanism of which was further elucidated with anti-idiotypic antibodies. His work on growth hormone has shown the importance of an insulin-like growth factor as a mediator of hormone action in the mammary gland. He received the Research Medal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 1976, and an Inventors Award of the Agricultural Research Council in 1980. |