| Authorised form of name | Coombs; Robert Royston Amos (1921 - 2006) |
| Dates | 1921 - 2006 |
| Date of birth | 09/01/1921 |
| Date of death | 25/01/2006 |
| Occupation | Immunologist |
| Activity | Education:
Born in London but received his early education in South Africa; studied veterinary medicine at the University of Edinburgh, qualifying in 1943; worked at the Veterinary Research Centre, Weybridge (worked on on the serodiagnosis of glanders, a horse disease caused by Burkholderia mallei); Pathology PhD, Cambridge University (completed in 1947)
Career:
Stringer Fellow, King's College, Cambridge 1947-56; Assistant Director of Research, Pathology Department, Cambridge University; Reader in Immunology, Cambridge University (1963-1966); Quick Professor of Biology, University of Cambridge (1966-1986); Instrumental in setting up the British Society for Immunology (Coombs was first general secretary, a post he held for over ten years). Created 'Coombs Test' to detect anti-rhesus antibodies ("It identifies certain types of anaemia caused by antibodies produced against a patient's own red cells (called autoimmune haemolytic anaemia) and is used in cross-matching to prevent transfusion reactions due to incompatible blood. It is also crucial in diagnosing haemolytic disease of the newborn where the mother, who is blood group rhesus negative, carries a rhesus positive baby, and makes anti-rhesus antibodies which then cause destruction of her child's red blood cells". Obituary in 'The Guardian', 8th March 2006); research into the properties of antibodies; the study of allergy (and the use of that term); research into cot death ("Coombs believed that many cases of sudden infant death syndrome were due to allergy to cow's milk which babies had aspirated into their lungs when sleeping. The theory was difficult to prove and not widely accepted". Obituary in 'The Guardian', 8th March 2006)
Publications:
'Clinical Aspects of Immunology' (ed. with Philip Gell, 1963) |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 18/03/1965 |
| Age at election | 44 |
| Source | Obituaries:
The Times (6th February 2006); The Independent (6th February 2006); The Guardian (8th March 2006); Daily Telegraph (30 March 2006) |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/30417618 |
| Code | NA4027 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| IM/GA/WRS/6377 | Coombs, Robert Royston Amos | nd |
| EC/1965/08 | Coombs, Robert Royston Amos: certificate of election to the Royal Society | 1962 |