Record

Authorised form of name	Weatherall; Sir; David John (1933 - 2018)
Dates	1933 - 2018
Nationality	British
Place of birth	Liverpool, England
Date of birth	09/03/1933
Date of death	08/12/2018
Activity	Honours: Kt 1987 Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE), 2017. 'For services to medicine'.
Membership category	Fellow
Date of election	17/03/1977
Age at election	44
RSActivity	Royal Society roles: Council: 1989-1991; VP 1990-1991 Medals and prizes: Royal Medal 1989; Buchanan Medal 1994 Lectures: Rutherford Memorial 1993
OtherInfo	David Weatherall was a haematologist and clinical researcher whose research focused on the genetics of blood disorders affecting haemoglobin, particularly thalassaemia. He was the first to describe thalassaemia outside the Mediterranean and his work led to the eradication of the disease in some parts of the world. Through his work on thalassaemia, David demonstrated for the first time that a gene deletion could cause a human disease. He developed new methods for analysing haemoglobin and measuring the synthesis of alpha- and beta-haemoglobin chains. This provided the first clear evidence of how thalassaemia arises. In addition, David’s work made possible the detection of thalassaemia early in pregnancy, enabling antenatal diagnosis. His characterisation of the mutations causing thalassaemia led to numerous families being offered genetic counselling. In 1989, David established the Oxford Institute of Molecular Medicine, which is now named in his honour. He was knighted in 1987. In 2010, he won the Lasker Award, a prestigious US medical research prize, and was the only scientist from outside the United States to win that year. Sir David Weatherall GBE FRS died on 8 December 2018.
Source	References: 'Address of the President, Sir Michael Atiyah, OM, Given at the Anniversary Meeting on 30 November 1994' in NR 1995 vol 49 pp 141-151
Virtual International Authority File	http://viaf.org/viaf/27126444
Code	NA5411

Archives associated with this Fellow

RefNo	Title	Date
IM/004824	Weatherall, Sir David John	13 July 1992
IM/004825	Weatherall, Sir David John	1994
IM/GA/JGRS/8014	Weatherall, Sir David John	1977
EC/1977/37	Weatherall, Sir David John: certificate of election to the Royal Society	1975

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