Anne Ferguson (physician)

Anne Ferguson FRSE FRCPath FRCPE FRCP (26 July 1941 – 21 December 1998) was a Scottish physician, clinical researcher and expert in inflammatory bowel disease. She was considered one of the most distinguished gastroenterologists in Britain.[1][2][3]

Anne Ferguson

FRCPG FRCP FRCPE FRCPath FRSE
Born(1941-07-21)21 July 1941
Glasgow, Scotland
Died21 December 1998(1998-12-21) (aged 57)
Edinburgh, Scotland
EducationUniversity of Glasgow
Occupationphysician, academic
Years active1969–1998
Known forresearch into coeliac disease and oral tolerance
RelativesJohn Ferguson (1966–1989 his death) (husband)
Gerald Collee (1995–1998 her death) (husband)
Medical career
Fieldmucosal immunology, gastroenterology
InstitutionsWestern Infirmary
University of Edinburgh
Western General Hospital
AwardsBrunton Medal, University of Glasgow
Sir Francis Avery Jones research medal of the British Society of Gastroenterology

Early life and education

Anne Glen was born in Glasgow in 1941. Her parents were Monica and John Glen. She was educated at Notre Dame High School and the University of Glasgow, graduating with a first class honours BSc in physiology in 1961, followed in 1964 with a MB ChB with honours. She won the Brunton Medal for the most distinguished graduate in medicine at the University.[1][2][3]

Career and research

In 1969, after completing her medical training, she became a lecturer at the Department of Bacteriology and Immunology in Glasgow's Western Infirmary teaching hospital. While working at the hospital she carried out research on the role of intra-epithelial lymphocytes in intestinal immunity, receiving her PhD in 1974.[1][2][3]

In 1975, she was appointed as a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, also becoming a consultant at the Gastrointestinal Unit at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.[3] In 1987 she was appointed to a personal professorship in gastroenterology. From 1991 to 1994 she was head of the Department of Medicine at the University.[3][4]

She published more than 250 papers in peer-reviewed academic journals, published three books and contributed chapters to many other books.[3]

Her research provided new insights into the mechanisms responsible for Crohn's and coeliac diseases which led to significant advances in the therapy of these conditions. She also carried out significant research on oral tolerance.[3][4]

She served on the Committee on Safety of Medicines, the Medical Research Council Gene Therapy Advisory Board, and the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee. At the time of her death she was president of the Society for Mucosal Immunology.[4] She was a consultant proving advice and training to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh.

Awards and honours

The Anne Ferguson building at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, is named after her.

Personal life

In 1966, she married John Ferguson, a sociology lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, and together they adopted two children, a girl and a boy. John Ferguson died of cancer in 1989. She married Professor Gerald Collee, Emeritus Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of Edinburgh in 1995.[1][3][4]

In her youth, Ferguson represented the University of Glasgow in athletics as a middle-distance runner. She was also on the Scottish women's basketball team. She enjoyed hill walking and mountaineering, and once visited the Himalayas with her first husband.[4]

Ferguson died of pancreatic cancer in Edinburgh on 21 December 1998.[3][4]

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References
  1. "Professor Anne Ferguson". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  2. MacDonald, Thomas T. (March 1999). "Professor Anne Ferguson (Anne Collee) 1941–1998". Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. 28 (3): 9A–10A. doi:10.1097/00005176-199903000-00001. ISSN 0277-2116.
  3. "Munks Roll Details for Anne Ferguson". munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
  4. "Obituary–In Memory of Professor Anne Ferguson, President of SMI" (PDF). Mucosal Immunology Update: 3–4. December 1998.
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