| Authorised form of name | Gray; Sir; John Archibald Browne (1918 - 2011); physiologist; medical administrator |
| Dates | 1918 - 2011 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | 34 Albert Road, Marylebone, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Date of birth | 30 March 1918 |
| Place of death | Kingsand, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom |
| Date of death | 04 January 2011 |
| Occupation | Physiologist |
| Research field | Neurophysiology |
| Physiology |
| Activity | Education:
Preparatory schools at Selwyn House and Pembroke House; Cheltenham College (1931); Clare College, Cambridge (1936); University College Hospital MB BChir (1942)
Career:
Worked at the Medical Research Council (MRC)'s National Institute for Medical Research on a project to provide a sensitive test for acetylcholine, a recently discovered neurotransmitter (1939); researched conditions faced by military personnel in battle conditions at the MRC's Armoured Fighting Vehicle Training School (1943); worked for a short time at the National Institute for Medical Research; surgeon-lieutenant in the Royal Navy (1939-1945); returned to the National Institute for Medical Research to work on neurophysiology (1946-1952); head of the department of physiology, University College London (1949); then reader (1952); then Professor (1960-1966); Secretary of the Medical Research Council (1968-1977); retired (1983).
Honours:
Kt 1973
Memberships:
Marine Biological Association |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 16/03/1972 |
| Age at election | 53 |
| Proposer | Ian Robert Young |
| Geoffrey Wingfield Harris |
| William Drummond MacDonald Paton |
| Archibald Vivian Hill |
| David Whitteridge |
| Charles Garrett Phillips |
| Bryan Harold Cabot Matthews |
| Relationships | Parents: Sir Archibald Montague Henry Gray (1880–1967), dermatologist, and Elsie, née Cooper (1881–1971), a solicitor's daughter from Staffordshire and a matron at St George's Hospital prior to marriage.
Spouse: (m. 17 April 1946) Vera Kathleen Mares (1919–2010), daughter of Charles Anthony Mares, an artists' brush manufacturer.
Children: Clare (b. 1948) and Peter (b. 1951). |
| OtherInfo | Distinguished for his study of the initiation of sensory nerve impulses, in particular in mechanical receptor structures.
ne of the first to demonstrate the existence of local electric "transducer" potentials arising at sensory nerve endings during mechanical stimulation and has done important work to elucidate the mechanism and microscopic localization of their origin. This work has set an example in the analysis of sensory receptors and has served as an important stimulus to other investigations in this country and overseas. |
| Source | DNB |
| Code | NA4832 |
Archives associated with this Fellow
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| GLB/49/4/4 | Brown to J A B Gray, Medical Research Council | 3 May 1968 |
| GLB/49/4/17 | J A B Gray, Medical Research Council to Brown | 12 March 1970 |
| GLB/65/38 | J A B Gray | October 1960 - December 1968 |
| GLB/49/4/13 | Brown to J A B Gray, Medical Research Council | 26 September 1968 |
| GLB/65/100/115 | Brown to J A B Gray, Medical Research Council | 6 November 1968 |
| HWT/39/32 | Great Britain-China Committee (later Great Britain-China Centre) | July 1973 |
| RR/72/138 | Letter from Archibald Vivian Hill, on a paper 'The initiation of nerve impulses by mesenteric Pacinian corpuscles' by John Archibald Browne Gray and J L Malcolm to D C Martin, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society | 8 August 1949 |
| RR/72/137 | Referee's report by Archibald Vivian Hill, on a paper 'The initiation of nerve impulses by mesenteric Pacinian corpuscles' by John Archibald Browne Gray and J L Malcolm | 1949 |
| GLB/49/4/12 | J A B Gray, Medical Research Council to Brown | 19 February 1969 |
| GLB/49/4/14 | J A B Gray, Medical Research Council to Brown | 30 September 1968 |
| GLB/49/4/3 | J A B Gray, Medical Research Council to Brown | 24 April 1968 |
| IM/GA/RGRS/7986 | Gray, Sir John Archibald Browne | 1977 |
| EC/1972/16 | Gray, John Archibald Browne: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| DRW/1/1/27 | Scientific Memorabilia collected by Douglas Robert Wilkie | 1957-1999 |