Colleagues at Keele University were saddened by the recent passing of Professor Sir David Weatherall, our former Chancellor, who was a world-leading clinical scientist and pioneering researcher. Sir David died on December 8 aged 85, after a short illness.

Sir David received a medical degree from the University of Liverpool in 1956, and then joined the British Army as part of his National Service. It was during this time that he found his passion for the lifelong study of haemoglobinopathies.

After leaving the army he took up a medical residency at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. It was here that he started looking into the genetics of haemoglobin, before returning to Liverpool, where he rose to the rank of Professor of Haematology.

In 1974 Sir David was appointed Nuffield Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford, and founded the Institute of Molecular Medicine, which was renamed the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine.

Sir David joined Keele in 2002 as Chancellor and was invaluable in setting up the new School of Medicine, including recognising how important the development of Primary Care research could be for us. In 2012 the School building was named in his honour. He was knighted in 1987 and appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire for his services to medicine in the 2017 Birthday Honours.

Read more about Sir David in The Times.