Ralph Lainson
Born(1927-02-21)21 February 1927
Upper Beeding, West Sussex
Died5 May 2015(2015-05-05) (aged 88)
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
EducationSteyning Grammar School
Alma materLondon University
AwardsOBE
Chalmers Medal (1971)
Manson Medal (1983)
Scientific career
Fieldsparasitologist
InstitutionsInstituto Evandro Chagas

Ralph Lainson OBE, FRS (21 February 1927 – 5 May 2015) was a British parasitologist who studied leishmaniasis in Brazil. He was the first to publish a record of Chagas disease.

Life

Lainson was born in Upper Beeding, Sussex on 21 February 1927. His father, Charles Harry Lainson was a chemist for Portland Cement and his mother was Annie May née Denyer. He studied at Steyning Grammar School, before enlisting in the army for a short while.[1]

Upon leaving the army, Lainson studied at Brighton Technical College before studying at London University earning a BSc in 1951, a PhD in 1955, and a DSc in 1964.[1] He was a lecturer in the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine from 1955 to 1959.[2]

Lainson established the Wellcome Trust Parasitology Unit, in the Instituto Evandro Chagas, Belém, Brazil, in 1965 and directed it until the unit was closed in 1992.[3] Under his direction, the unit focussed on parasitic diseases, especially, leishmaniasis. In 1969, Lainson recorded Chagas' disease for the first time, and in 1979, he proposed a classification system for different leishmania species.[1] He was awarded the Chalmers Medal (1971) and the Manson Medal (1983) by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.[4] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1982[5][6] and awarded the OBE in the 1996 Birthday Honours.[1]

Lainson married twice, on 28 September 1957 to Ann Patricia Russell (they had three children together) and then in 1974 to Zeá Constante Lins. Lainson died on 5 May 2015 at the age of 88 at Hospital Beneficente Portuguesa.[7][1]

Works

  • Flebotomíneos do Brasil , Editora Fiocruz, 2003

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Whitworth, Jimmy (10 January 2019). Lainson, Ralph (1927–2015). doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.110611. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 1 May 2020. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  2. ↑ "Ralph Lainson". The World Academy of Science - Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Looi, Mun-Keat (31 May 2011). "Beautiful creatures: Ralph Lainson and his parasites". Wellcome Trust. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  4. ↑ "List of past medal holders". Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Fellows details". Royal Society. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  6. ↑ Shaw, Jeffrey Jon (2021). "Ralph Lainson. 21 February 1927—5 May 2015". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 70: 245–262. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2020.0032. S2CID 227240714.
  7. ↑ Whitworth, Jimmy (17 May 2015). "Ralph Lainson obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
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