Search Results for Medical Obituaries - Narrowed by: Oncologist

First Title value, for Searching Mott, Terence John (1936 - 2021)

2024-05-07T16:54:48Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2022-07-06
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E010000-E010999/E010100-E010199
Occupation Orthopaedic surgeon Oncologist
Details Terence Mott was a consultant and director of the department of radiotherapy and oncology at Ipswich Hospital. This is a draft obituary. If you have any information about this surgeon or are interested in writing this obituary, please email lives@rcseng.ac.uk
Resource Identifier RCS: E010133
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Peckham, Sir Michael John (1935 - 2021)

2024-05-07T16:54:48Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2022-01-18
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E010000-E010999/E010000-E010099
Occupation Oncologist Artist
Details Sir Michael Peckham was an oncologist, research director and artist, who pioneered treatments for testicular cancer and founded the British Oncological Association in 1985. This is a draft obituary. If you have any information about this surgeon or are interested in writing this obituary, please email lives@rcseng.ac.uk
Resource Identifier RCS: E010052
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Soteriou, Helen Margaret (1920 - 2012)

2024-05-07T16:54:48Z

by Sarah Gillam
Publication Date 2012-12-21 2015-02-16
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E003000-E003999/E003300-E003399
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/375507375507
Occupation Oncologist Radiotherapist
Details Helen Soteriou neé Mellor was a clinical oncologist at St Luke's Hospital, Guildford, and Nicosia General Hospital, Cyprus. She was born in Liverpool on 11 April 1920, the daughter of Stanley Alfred Mellor, a Unitarian minister, who died when she was just four years old, and Anita Mellor née Thomson. She was educated at Rotherham Grammar School for Girls and went on to study medicine at the Royal Free Medical School. She gained her MRCS LRCP in 1943. Between 1944 and 1947 she served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, with the rank of captain. She gained her FRCS in 1952 and then trained in radiotherapy. She was a registrar at the Royal Marsden Hospital and a senior registrar in the radiotherapy department at Westminster Hospital. In 1955 she was appointed to her consultant post at St Luke's. She became head of the department there in 1959. In 1969 she married Andreas Soteriou, a Cypriot businessman, and emigrated to Cyprus, where she co-founded the radiotherapy and oncology department at Nicosia General Hospital. She later established the first private radiotherapy unit at the Evangelista Clinic. She retired in 1995 and was awarded an OBE in 1998. In addition to her clinical work, she was also actively politically, and joined in protests against the Turkish occupation of the northern half of the island. Helen Soteriou died on 19 November 2012, aged 92.
Resource Identifier RCS: E003324
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Rothwell, Richard Ian (1942 - 2021)

2024-05-07T16:54:48Z

by Dan Ash
Publication Date 2022-04-04 2022-04-19
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E010000-E010999/E010100-E010199
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/385611385611
Occupation Oncologist Radiotherapist
Details Ian Rothwell was a consultant clinical oncologist at Cookridge Hospital, Leeds. He was born on 25 July 1942 in Buckingham to Mary Anne and Edward Richard Rothwell. A keen Scout, he enjoyed leading mountaineering expeditions. He studied medicine at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, during which time carried out an elective with the Red Cross in Yemen. After qualifying in 1966, Ian trained in surgery and, after obtaining his FRCS, went to work in Sabah, East Borneo, where he met his future wife, Mary. From 1968 to 1971 he was posted to Sandakan, Semporna and Keningau, after which he returned to the UK to undergo surgical training. He returned to Malaysia, and in 1974 was appointed as a surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. In 1976 he played a key role in helping the survivors of the ‘Double Six Tragedy’, an aeroplane crash which claimed the lives of 11 people, including the then chief minister Tun Fuad Stephens. Ian returned to UK in 1978 and decided to retrain as a clinical oncologist, which he did at Cookridge Hospital in Leeds. Soon after completing his training he was appointed as a consultant with a special interest in gynaecological cancer. He also took on the care of cancer patients in Pontefract, where he became a valued and respected colleague for 35 years. Ian suffered from three separate cancers during his life and overcame them all with quiet courage. This gave him considerable empathy, which was a great help to his patients as well as the local and national cancer self-help groups to which he gave unstinting support. In retirement he developed an interest in medical history and was a popular lecturer at the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds and in a variety of other venues around Yorkshire. In his last few years Ian was sustained by his wife and close family, who were by his side when he died from cerebrovascular disease on 1 August 2021. He was 79. He was survived by Mary, his wife of 51 years, their three children Robert, Martin and Tracy, and five grandchildren.
Resource Identifier RCS: E010102
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Milton, Gerald White (1924 - 2007)

2024-05-07T16:54:48Z

by William H McCarthy
Publication Date 2016-07-27 2016-08-04
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009100-E009199
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/381351381351
Occupation General surgeon Oncologist
Details It is with sadness that we report the death of Gerry Milton, one of the pioneers of Melanoma Research and Development in Australia and a leading figure on the world melanoma scene. Born in India, educated in Adelaide, Gerry became the Bosch Professor of Surgery at the University of Sydney and the first professor of surgery at St Vincent's Hospital and subsequently at Sydney Hospital, where he initiated and developed the Sydney Melanoma Unit. The Melanoma Unit went on to become the largest and world leading center for melanoma management, research and development. He helped to initiate and develop the World Health Organization Melanoma Program and the subsequent World Melanoma Conferences. Gerry Milton was influential in the development of two important areas of cancer management in Australia. He initiated and fostered multidisciplinary care, particularly with the innovation of nursing support by trained oncology nurses for patients in their own homes. The Oncology Home Nursing Service concept has been taken up by other cancer units. The second area of importance was the development of a major melanoma database, which is now the largest of its kind in the world containing data on more than 23,000 patients treated by the Melanoma Unit. This resource underpins the AJCC/UICC melanoma database which was used to develop the current melanoma classification system. Among his many other contributions, Gerry Milton was Hunterian Professor at the Royal College of Surgeons, President of the Surgical Research Society of Australasia, and Co-director of the Garvin Institute of Medical Research during its early development. Medical education was a major interest for Gerry Milton. He was a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher in the undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate medical curricula at the University of Sydney. He was the author of many important papers on Melanoma, Medical Education and Surgical Research. He will be especially remembered for his energy and innovative ideas, his unqualified support of his colleagues, and his competent and caring management of his patients.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009168
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Peters, Noel Henry (1931 - 2021)

2024-05-07T16:54:48Z

by Simon Mellor
Publication Date 2021-09-28 2022-01-07
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Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E010000-E010999/E010000-E010099
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/385029385029
Occupation Military surgeon General surgeon Oncologist
Details Colonel Noel Peters was a military surgeon, general surgeon and later consultant oncologist at the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, Woolwich. He was born in Hong Kong on 20 December 1931 to Rose Margaret Peters née Shea and William Henry Peters. He was the youngest child and only son with three elder sisters, all of whom predeceased him. His father was a member of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps during the Second World War and died defending Hong Kong against the Japanese forces. The family suffered great hardships and three of his uncles were interned as prisoners of war. During this time, he was inspired by the compassion of a Japanese doctor who endeavoured to save his seriously ill sister and showed Noel photos of his own children. In 1942, his extended family of 12 and Snowy the dog, fled to neutral Macau on a small boat under cover of darkness to avoid air attacks and stayed there until the end of the war. Upon their return to Hong Kong, Noel was enrolled in the prestigious Diocesan Boys’ School in Kowloon, where he excelled academically as well as in cricket. He left school at 16 with the highest grades awarded to any boy in Hong Kong of that year and entered medical school as the youngest student to be accepted to study at Hong Kong University. He qualified in time to celebrate his twenty first birthday and, after concluding his pre-registration jobs, he transferred to UK in 1956 and started his career at Kent and Canterbury Hospital as a surgical houseman. Whilst there he met Phyllis Forman, a theatre nurse, who he married shortly afterwards. Noel was appointed as a registrar at Smallfield Hospital, Surrey and later at Redhill General Hospital as a senior registrar. He passed the FRCS in 1963 and joined the Royal Army Medical Corps as a captain in July 1964, initially on a short service commission. He clearly enjoyed the travel afforded by life in the RAMC and subsequently had three tours to his beloved Hong Kong interspersed with postings in Germany (in Iserlohn and Hanover), Dhekelia in Cyprus, Singapore (including a spell at the British Military Hospital in Dharan, Nepal), Catterick, Woolwich and Northern Ireland, where he pioneered surgery for gunshot and shrapnel wounds, later adopted in the Falklands War. He was appointed to the Military Hospital at Catterick as a consultant in 1970, where he was recognised as a fine technical surgeon and his opinion was greatly valued. While at Catterick, Noel was awarded the Order of St John of Jerusalem. In 1981, he and his colleague Peter Craig introduced the idea of taking Chinese civilian patients into the British Military Hospital in Hong Kong from the new but very overworked Queen Elizabeth Hospital close by. This afforded excellent experience for the junior staff, and stimulating and interesting cases for consultants, including portal hypertension, gastric cancers and the complications of clonorchis sinensis (liver fluke). The last was still a common condition in Hong Kong, although rapidly reducing as a result of improving water quality and a more westernised diet. The corollary was that the incidence of colorectal cancer, hitherto rare in the Chinese community, was rapidly rising to the level seen in the West. Following that tour he was posted to Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital, Woolwich, where he restored the Army oncology unit following the closure of Millbank Hospital in 1977, where the Army Cancer Registry had been housed. He worked closely with the best oncology units in London to provide first class treatment for soldiers and their families, and his team achieved the highest survival rates in the UK for his innovative treatments for testicular cancers. He was highly respected for his work there and was awarded the CBE for his efforts. Noel was also awarded the Mitchiner medal 1986, in recognition of his contribution to advances in medical science. He retired from the RAMC in 1990 and returned to the British Military Hospital in Hong Kong in its final days as a civilian consultant. He was a much respected and trusted colleague and always a pleasure to work with. He left Hong Kong in 1997, just before the handover to China, and returned to the family home in Kent. Noel was a passionate exponent of the natural world, endangered animals and birds, as well as sick and vulnerable children and cancer related societies. He generously supported all manner of charities throughout his life and gave his time and energy to those most in need. He enjoyed travel and classical music and was never happier than when he was surrounded by his family enjoying a large glass of Australian shiraz on family holidays in various parts of the world. He died after a short battle with pneumonia on 28 May 2021. He was survived by his wife, three daughters and three grandchildren and is sorely missed.
Resource Identifier RCS: E010003
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Sellwood, Ronald Arthur (1929 - 2015)

2024-05-07T16:54:48Z

by Sir Miles Irving
Publication Date 2015-06-12 2016-08-18
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E007000-E007999/E007400-E007499
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/379651379651
Occupation Breast Surgeon General surgeon Oncologist
Details Ron Sellwood was professor of surgery at the University Hospital of South Manchester (UHSM). He undertook his initial surgical training in Bristol, where he held house officer appointments at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. After military service with the RAMC in Hong Kong, he continued his surgical training at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, Bristol Royal Infirmary and Sharoe Green Hospital in Preston. He subsequently trained at registrar level at the Postgraduate Medical School of London at Hammersmith Hospital, working with Ian Burn, the well-known breast surgeon, and Richard Welbourn, the endocrine surgeon. He then took a year out to undertake studies in pathology at the Chester Beatty Institute for Cancer Research. Thereafter he returned to Hammersmith as a senior surgical registrar and a tutor in surgery. In 1968 he was appointed as a senior lecturer in surgery and assistant director at St Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, and as an honorary consultant surgeon to St Mary's Hospital. In 1970 he was appointed to a new chair in surgery at Manchester University with the task of developing an academic department of surgery at Withington Hospital, subsequently renamed the University Hospital of South Manchester. That same year he was awarded the Moynihan fellowship of the Association of Surgeons. Ron's main interest, both clinical and research, was in the field of breast cancer. His laboratory studies resulted in significant contributions to the understanding of the dissemination of cancer cells in the circulation. Whilst at the Hammersmith he worked closely with Ian Burn to establish breast surgery as a specialty in its own right. With the encouragement of Welbourn, they defined oncology as a specialty, leading to the creation, in 1972, of the British Association of Surgical Oncology, of which he was a founder member and a member of the national committee. Throughout these developmental years he was described as having a razor sharp intelligence and a splendidly analytical mind, bound up with an unassuming personality and a wonderful sense of humour. He was subsequently honoured to be made president of the British Breast Group. Ron Sellwood was a great communicator and was especially gifted in explaining to patients the problems associated with the management of breast cancer. An example of this talent is the interview with the broadcaster Sally Magnusson on BBC television about the development of breast screening, which is now in the BBC archive. Perhaps his greatest achievement was his successful development of the academic department of surgery at Withington Hospital, which, alongside other clinical departments, formed the University Hospital of South Manchester, thus creating the second campus of the rapidly expanding Manchester University Medical School. When it was finally completed, with the addition of the third campus at Hope Hospital, Salford, Manchester University could pride itself on having a thriving school of surgery with three chairs in general surgery, as well as chairs in urology, orthopaedics, vascular surgery, plastic surgery, emergency medicine and surgical science. It is to Ron Sellwood's credit that several of these were sited at UHSM. Ron had an irrepressible sense of humour and was always fun to be with, and he and his wife Patsy were charming hosts. Ron Sellwood retired in 1988 with the title of emeritus. Together with his wife, he moved to Norfolk, where they lived happily and where Ron could indulge in his hobby of bird watching. He died on 18 May 2015.
Resource Identifier RCS: E007468
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Berg, Derek Oliver (1926 - 2014)

2024-05-07T16:54:48Z

by Graeme Morgan
Publication Date 2016-02-19 2017-10-19
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E009000-E009999/E009000-E009099
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/381233381233
Occupation General practitioner General surgeon Oncologist Radiologist
Details Derek Berg was born in 1926 in Hong Kong, where his father was a shipping broker and Norwegian Consul-General. His Australian mother Constance died of cerebral malaria just before his third birthday, and Derek was sent to live with his aunt in Adelaide. His father remarried and he returned to Hong Kong, travelling with his stepmother - who he was led to believe was his own mother. At the age of 10, Derek was sent to boarding school at St Giles British School in Tsingtao, China, and travelled there by cargo ship, taking up to 10 days. In 1939 the school closed due to the outbreak of World War II, and Derek returned to Australia to live with his step-uncle at Bundarra in northern NSW. He became a boarder at The Armidale School (TAS), where he excelled at athletics and was a member of the rugby First XV. It was here that he built up life-long friends, as, without a family, he spent most of his holidays at the homes and stations of families he never forgot. He was unhappy at TAS and was unaware of the fate of his parents. On mature reflection he would regret it, but he left school at 16 to stay with an aunt in Sydney. He tried to join the Navy. Despite stating that he was older in age, he was not accepted as he was found to be colour blind. He therefore instead joined the Bank of New South Wales (Westpac) in O'Connell Street, Sydney, and studied at night to pass the Leaving Certificate. In 1945 he joined the Army and became Private Berg (NX206272). One month later Germany surrendered, although Derek was sure there was no connection between the two events. In 1946 Derek was reunited with his father and step-mother in Sydney. In 1941 they had become prisoners of war. When Derek saw them for the first time in 7 years, they were painfully thin and their possessions consisted of two little bags. They had lost almost everything. Derek enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney in 1947. While 600 students enrolled, only a group of 100, which included Derek, graduated in 1953. As a student, Derek was a boarder at St Andrew's College for several years and played rugby for the University reserve grade, as the First XV at that time had 13 players who had played for either the Wallabies or the All Blacks (selected from NZ students studying at the Sydney University Veterinary school, as veterinary studies were at the time not being offered in NZ). After graduating, Derek became a doctor at the Sydney Hospital, where he decided to become a surgeon. He travelled to England as a ship's surgeon on a cargo vessel and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1956. He then spent a year as a registrar at the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, where his surgical skills were developed with operating lists taking up to 16 hours. On his return to Australia, Derek obtained a position as a GP/surgeon in Tamworth, where he later became a specialist surgeon. Derek built up contact with GPs in surrounding towns and often flew up to Collarenebri, Wee Waa or Walgett or drove to Quirindi, Walcha or Barraba for minor surgical procedures, with the local GP being the anaesthetist. He also spent time in Sydney at Royal Prince Alfred, St Vincent's and Prince Henry's Hospitals to assist and learn about thoracic surgery. Derek obtained the Australasian Fellowship in Surgery and later (after Vietnam) the American Fellowship in Surgery. In 1968, with Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, Derek volunteered for a 3-month period as a surgeon in Long Xuyen, in the Mekong delta 150 km south-west of Saigon. It was an exhilarating time for him professionally. Lighting and hot water were not always available in the operating theatres, but the doctors made do with torches and candles. The medical team was extremely busy, and Derek started operating the morning after his arrival and virtually never stopped for 3 months. The majority of cases were gunshot, shrapnel or mine injuries, but there were also perforated typhoid ulcers and complications of tuberculosis and diphtheria. In 1969 Derek returned home and resumed his practice in Tamworth. Soon to follow was the setting up of a consultative cancer clinic at the Tamworth Base Hospital by Professor Leicester Atkinson from the Radiotherapy Department at Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney. Derek was actively engaged with the clinic, and this was the catalyst that kindled his interest in the treatment of cancer by radiotherapy. In early 1971 Derek was appointed a senior surgeon in Papua New Guinea in Goroka in the highlands for the first 3 months and then at ANGAU Hospital in Lae. Surgical problems included injuries from arrows and spears, parasitic diseases and infections. Cancer of the mouth was very common and was attributed to the habit of chewing betel-nut. The Australian Head & Neck Oncology Group held their annual meeting in Lae in 1972, and Derek presented a paper on treatment of mouth cancers. St Vincent's Hospital Sydney subsequently arranged to send senior surgical registrars to Lae on a rotating basis for 3 to 6 months. Under the supervision of the Queensland Radium Institute (now Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital), a radiotherapy unit was established at ANGAU in 1972. A Cancer Workshop was held in Lae in 1974 and resulted in Derek and Dr John Niblett (founding director of radiotherapy at Lae) producing a booklet, *A Guide to Management of Malignant Disease in Papua New Guinea*. A third edition was published in 2006. Professor Leicester Atkinson from Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, was a frequent visitor to PNG and Lae and talked to Derek about a new career move, given his interest in treatment of cancer. In 1977, Derek joined Prince of Wales as a registrar and embarked on a four-year training course. At the time he was 50 years of age and had five children to support on a registrar's wage. … He subsequently became a staff specialist in radiotherapy at Prince of Wales, responsible for the St George Hospital 'peripheral' clinic. In 1982 Derek was appointed Director of Radiotherapy at St Vincent's Hospital. The department was at a crisis point when he took over, as not only was the department in decline, treating only 20 or so patients a day, but in late 1981 the Trinker Report on Radiotherapy in NSW had recommended that radiotherapy at St Vincent's should be closed or amalgamated with the nearby Prince of Wales Hospital. However, the Sisters of Charity averted this by meetings with the then NSW Health Minister (Mr Laurie Brereton), and a new cobalt machine was purchased with funds from the Curran Foundation. The St George Hospital clinic was also transferred to St Vincent's and provided an immediate supply of patients for treatment. St Vincent's was the beginning of an extraordinary happy, rewarding and successful time for Derek professionally. He had an immediate support base from surgical friends from his time at Tamworth and also from registrars (now consultants) whom he helped train at Lae. The Wagga Wagga Clinic - the oldest peripheral clinic of any discipline in NSW, established by Leicester Atkinson in 1954 - was expanded by Derek. In addition, Dr Graeme Morgan, who became a life-long friend and a partner in the new St Vincent's Clinic department, established a new clinic at Griffith Base Hospital. Consultative clinics in head & neck, haematological and lung cancers were continued, along with support for total body irradiation prior to bone marrow transplantation, and new clinical cooperation was developed in gynaecological and urological cancers. A gynaecological cancer clinic was established with Professor Neville Hacker at the nearby Royal Hospital for Women, Paddington. Here Derek helped develop a technique of small-field irradiation, rather than whole-pelvis treatment, to be given postoperatively to high-risk, node-negative Stage 1B cervix cancer patients. This approach has now become the standard of care for this group of patients. In urological cancer, Derek's visit to Perth to learn the new technique of permanent I-125 seed implantation for early carcinoma of the prostate resulted in the first treatment at St Vincent's Clinic of a patient with his disease in 1995. Around 1000 patients had been treated at the unit using this technique by the time Derek retired. In 1991, Derek and Graeme Morgan borrowed heavily to establish a radiotherapy department within the newly opened St Vincent's Clinic that provided a state-of-the-art facility to expand radiotherapy services at St Vincent's. Much to the delight of Sister Bernice and many others at St Vincent's, this initiative proved to be extremely successful. As a clinician, Derek was first-class, and his caring and supportive approach to patient care was well recognised by the colleagues, patients and families with whom he came into contact. He was always available to see a patient at any time and did not restrict his availability to standard hours of duty. With his gentle and unassuming but vibrant and energetic behaviour, Derek was a quiet achiever, leading the department from the front foot. He had the unique ability to make every member of the staff feel special, taking time to chat and to encourage and acknowledge the contributions each person was making. In 1998 Derek retired from St Vincent's and moved to Noosa, where he and Judy spent 13 fun-filled, relaxing years. During his time Derek wrote an autobiography, *My Paper Trail*, plus a biography of his father, *The Shipping Broker*, and was in the process of writing a third, *World Faiths*, about his concepts of the meaning of religion and life. Derek always maintained his love for St Vincent's Hospital, the Sisters of Charity, Sister Bernice and the medical staff. When he was found to have prostate cancer, he and Judy returned to Sydney to be closer to care at this hospital. Later through his illness, he went on to receive palliative radiotherapy for bony secondaries in the very department he had played a key role in establishing. Ironically, Derek died on World Cancer Day, 4 February 2014. We extend our deepest sympathies to Judy and the Minchin family, to Derek's children - Janet, Andrew, Michelle, Amanda and James - and their partners, and to his 10 grandchildren.
Resource Identifier RCS: E009050
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Al-Hayo, Tharwat Idrees Sulaiman (1955 - 2021)

2024-05-07T16:54:48Z

by The Al-Hayo family
Publication Date 2021-10-20 2022-05-03
JPEG Image
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E010000-E010999/E010000-E010099
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/385109385109
Occupation General surgeon Oncologist
Details Tharwat Al-Hayo was a professor of surgery, surgical oncologist and general surgeon in Baghdad, Iraq. He was born on 30 November 1955 in Mosul, Nineveh, Iraq, the son of Idrees Sulaiman Al-Hayo, a school teacher, and Khayriyah Al-Hayo née Sallo, a housewife. As a young teenager he moved with his family to Baghdad, where he lived and worked until the day he died. Despite being one of the first high school graduates who qualified for a government paid overseas scholarship in engineering, he decided to pursue his dream and passion for medicine instead. He qualified from Baghdad Medical College in 1979. He finished his internship and residency in the state-of-the-art hospital complex, the Medical City, Baghdad, Iraq and then joined the Iraqi Army as a medical officer/surgeon. He served during the First and Second Gulf Wars in the field, and in secondary and tertiary hospitals throughout the country. He received multiple medals for his dedication and establishing excellence in surgical care. Despite the intensity of his military experiences, he managed to train and obtain certification from the Arab Board of General Surgery in 1989. His aspirations surpassed those around him, and he followed his dream of obtaining the fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, which he acquired in 2002. Since his early days, he aspired to perfection and inspired everyone to do the same. After retiring from the Army as a brigadier general in 1999, he decided to dedicate himself to education. He started his teaching career immediately at the Baghdad College of Medicine, the most prestigious medical school in the country. He became a professor in 2007. He was appointed as a supervisor of the Arabian and the Iraqi Surgical Board examination in 2003. He became a member of the court of examiners at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 2015. He was a keen researcher. He had a staggering publication record of 24 articles and two books funded by the World Health Organization. He attended and presented at numerous national and international conferences. His dream was to re-establish the Baghdad School of Medicine amongst its international peers in terms of education and research. As such, he became editor-in-chief of the *Journal of the Faculty of Medicine Baghdad* in 2004 and remained in post for 17 years. He helped establish the journal’s online platform and included the journal in the Open Access Directory. He also helped establish the first oncology unit in the country and led the first Iraqi surgical oncology multidisciplinary meeting. He was appointed as the head of the surgical department at Baghdad Teaching Hospital in 2021. Tharwat had an avid affection for flowers and for his garden. He loved art and procured many paintings and artwork throughout his life. He supported many local artists as he aimed to reignite Iraqi art. He indulged in the ancient and modern history of Iraq and Europe. He was a happy traveller; his favourite country was always Iraq, but he loved visiting Paris, London and Vienna in particular. Despite his numerous health conditions, he continued to challenge life even more than it challenged him – living a full life to the best of his abilities. Through good and hard times, he motivated and inspired hundreds of medical students and junior doctors who chose to follow his footsteps into surgery, charmed by his enthusiasm, work ethic, humility, attitude to surgery and, more importantly, to life. His uncompromising nature, optimism, approachability, sense of humour, passion for teaching and kind heart, made him a beacon of shining light to his students, colleagues and to his own family. Despite all his achievements, work never distracted him from his immediate and extended family, and to them he was a mighty pillar of strength, kindness and generosity. Tharwat Al-Hayo passed away on 4 June 2021 at the age of 65 in Baghdad after a short but difficult fight with COVID-19, the pandemic that changed the world. He was survived by his wife, Etihad Salih (née Amash), also a doctor, and two sons and one daughter – all doctors. We cherish Tharwat, the father, the friend, the teacher, the mentor and the excellent surgeon he was. We are thankful for every minute we have spent with him, and we will continue to live up to his beautiful standards.
Resource Identifier RCS: E010021
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
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First Title value, for Searching Van den Brenk, Hendrick Athos Sydney (1921 - 1992)

2024-05-07T16:54:48Z

by Royal College of Surgeons of England
Publication Date 2015-10-08
Unknown
Asset Path Root/Lives of the Fellows/E008000-E008999/E008300-E008399
URL for Files https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/client/en_GB/search/asset/380560380560
Occupation Oncologist Radiologist Radiotherapist
Details Hendrick Van den Brenk, a radiotherapist, radiologist and experimental oncologist in Australia and England, was born on 22 June 1921 in Sydney, Australia, and qualified MB BS at Melbourne in 1944. He gained the MS degree in 1954, the same year in which he passed the Fellowship. After practising as a general surgeon in Boort, Victoria, he spent two years as senior research fellow in physiology at the Royal College of Surgeons. Returning to Australia, he was consultant radiotherapy research officer at the Melbourne Cancer Institute from 1956 to 1967. He then became Richard Dimbleby Fellow in Cancer Research and honorary consultant physician at St Thomas's Hospital, London, from 1967 to 1978, becoming the Foundation Richard Dimbleby Professor of Cancer Research at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School from 1975 to 1978. On returning to Australia he was SMO (Appeals) on the Repatriation Committee from 1979 and SMO of the Commonwealth Department of Veterans' Affairs. Harold Hewitt, MD, FRCR, writes in the *British Medical Journal*: '"Van" had an international reputation as a clinical radiotherapist, radiobiologist and oncologist. He published over 250 papers which, fifteen years after his retirement from clinical and laboratory work, retained a high citation index. 'While working as chief of the radiobiomedical unit of Melbourne Cancer Institute Van carried out one of the first controlled clinical trials of hyperbaric oxygen as an adjunct to radiotherapy. In 1967 he was appointed foundation director of the Richard Dimbleby Laboratory of Cancer Research at St Thomas's Hospital, London. There he devoted himself to experimental research at the bench. After returning to Australia in 1977 for family reasons he became senior medical officer of the Commonwealth Department of Veterans' Affairs and then, after his 'retirement', medical officer to a high security prison. 'Van's toughness (he lost the sight of one eye in infancy and had severe angina for his last twenty years and malignant disease for his last three) contrasted with his sensitive nature. He was a talented violinist and pianist and a philatelist and angler. His acerbic rejection of overpromoted theories and inflated egos was given an extra edge by a guttural ingredient (from his Dutch parentage) in his Australian accent. His wife, Miriam, died before him; he is survived by his daughters, Christine and Judy, and six grandchildren.' He died on 21 August 1992, aged 72 years.
Resource Identifier RCS: E008377
Collection Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
Format Obituary
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