Gordon Duff

Sir Gordon William Duff, FRCP, FMedSci, FRSE (born 27 December 1947) is a British medical scientist and academic. He has been Principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford, since 2014.[1] He was Lord Florey Professor of Molecular Medicine at the University of Sheffield from 1991 to 2014.

Not to be confused with Edward Gordon Duff.

Sir Gordon Duff FRCP FMedSci FRSE
Principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford
Incumbent
Assumed office 2014
Preceded by	Sheila Forbes
Personal details
Born	Gordon William Duff (1947-12-27) 27 December 1947
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Naida Margaret ( m. 1969)
Children	Two
Education	Perth Academy Hipperholme Grammar School
Alma mater	St Peter's College, Oxford University of London

Early life and education

Duff was born on 27 December 1947.[2] He was educated at Perth Academy, then a state grammar school in Perth, Scotland, and at Hipperholme Grammar School, a school in Hipperholme, Yorkshire, England.[2] He studied medicine at St Peter's College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1969 and Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (BM BCh) degrees in 1975: as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Oxon) degree in 1975.[2][3] He undertook postgraduate research in neuropharmacology at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School, University of London, completing his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1980.[2][3] His doctoral thesis was titled "Some observations on body temperature regulation in the rabbit".[4]

Career

From 1975 to 1976, Duff was a house officer in medicine at St Thomas' Hospital, London, and in surgery at Stracathro Hospital, Angus, Scotland.[2]

From January 2013 to 2014, Duff served as the Chairman of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.[5] He stepped down in 2014,[6] and was succeeded by Sir Michael Rawlins.[7]

In March 2014, Duff was elected as the Principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford, in succession to Sheila Forbes. He is the first male head of the formerly all-female college.[8] Since 1 July 2015, he has also been the Chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).[9]

Personal life

In 1969, Duff married Naida Margaret Clarke, the daughter of Air Commodore Charles Clarke, OBE and Eileen Clarke.[10] Together they have two daughters.[2]

Honours

In the 2007 New Year Honours, Duff was appointed a Knight Bachelor, and therefore granted the title sir, "for services to public health".[11] This was in recognition of his role in the inquiry into the conduct of a drugs trial at Northwick Park Hospital in 2006.[12]

In 1999, Duff was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci).[13] In 2008, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE).[14] On 17 July 2017, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Sheffield.[15][16]

Selected works

• Wilson, A. G.; di Giovine, F. S.; Blakemore, A. I. F.; Duff, G. W. (1992). "Single base polymorphism in the human Tumour Necrosis Factor alpha (TNFa) gene detectable by Nco1 restriction of PCR product". Human Molecular Genetics. 1 (5): 353–353. doi:10.1093/hmg/1.5.353.
• Wilson, A. G.; Symons, J. A.; McDowell, T. L.; McDevitt, H. O.; Duff, G. W. (1997). "Effects of a polymorphism in the human tumor necrosis factor alpha promoter on transcriptional activation". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 94 (7): 3195–9. doi:10.1073/pnas.94.7.3195. PMC 20345. PMID 9096369.
• Kornman, Kenneth S.; Crane, Allison; Wang, Hwa-Ying; di Giovlne, Francesco S.; Newman, Michael G.; Pirk, Frederick W.; Wilson, Thomas G.; Higginbottom, Frank L.; Duff, Gordon W. (1997). "The interleukin-1 genotype as a severity factor in adult periodontal disease". Journal of Clinical Periodontology. 24 (1): 72–77. doi:10.1111/j.1600-051X.1997.tb01187.x.

References

1. "Professor Sir Gordon Duff to be next Principal of St Hilda’s College", St Hilda's College, 10 March 2014 Archived 25 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 13 March 2014
2. "Duff, Sir Gordon (William)". Who's Who 2018. Oxford University Press. 1 December 2017. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.43452. Missing or empty |url= (help)
3. "Professor Sir Gordon Duff". St Hilda's College. University of Oxford. 5 February 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
4. Duff, G. W. (1980). "Some observations on body temperature regulation in the rabbit". E-Thesis Online Service. The British Library Board. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
5. "MHRA chairman steps down – PMLiVE". Retrieved 2 May 2015.
6. "MHRA chairman steps down". PMLive. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
7. "Sir Michael Rawlins – Government of the United Kingdom". Retrieved 2 May 2015.
8. Gibbons, Megan (14 March 2014). "St Hilda's elect first ever male Principal". Cherwell. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
9. "New chair of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council appointed – Government of the United Kingdom". Government of the United Kingdom. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
10. Telegraph announcements 13 February 2012 Accessed 13 March 2014
11. "No. 58196". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2006. p. 1.
12. "Drug trial safety expert knighted". BBC News. 29 December 2006. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
13. "Fellow – Sir Gordon Duff FRSE FMedSci". The Academy of Medical Sciences. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
14. "Professor Sir Gordon Duff FRSE, FMedSci". The Royal Society of Edinburgh. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
15. "Former astronaut and first Briton in space honoured by the University of Sheffield". The University of Sheffield. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
16. "Professor Sir Gordon Duff receives an Honorary Degree from the University of Sheffield". St Hilda's College. University of Oxford. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2018.