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David Todd (haematologist)

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Sir David Todd
CBE JP FRCP FRCPath FRCPE FRCPGlas
Born(1928-11-17)17 November 1928
Guangzhou, China[1]
Died16 August 2017(2017-08-16) (aged 88)
Queen Mary Hospital, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong[2]
EducationUniversity of Hong Kong (MBBS, MD)
Known forContributions to medical education and training in Hong Kong
Scientific career
FieldsHematology
InstitutionsUniversity of Hong Kong
Queen Mary Hospital
ThesisThe haematological findings in cryptogenetic splenomegaly with and without cirrhosis and in primary carcinoma of the liver (1958)

David Todd (17 November 1928 - 16 August 2017) was a Hong Kong haematologist, the founding president of the Hong Kong College of Physicians and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine.[3][4][5] He was best known for transforming medical education and training in Hong Kong. [6][7]

Early life and education

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Todd was born in Guangzhou, China in 1928 to Chinese parents, but was placed in an orphanage and adopted in 1929 by American Presbyterian missionaries Paul Jerome Todd and Margaret Todd, who christened the baby David.[8][9] Paul Todd was a surgeon and Margaret Todd was the head nurse at the Kung Yee Medical College (now Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences),[10] which they founded in 1909. They also established the Todd Clinic and Hospital (now part of the Guangzhou Women And Children's Medical Center) in 1931.[9][10] David Todd had an elder sister, Lois, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, and a younger brother, Jonathan, a surgeon. Both were adopted.[8]

Todd was sent to Hong Kong for secondary school in 1937,[11] when the Second Sino-Japanese War unfolded, boarding at the Diocesan Boys' School.[8][9] In 1941, when he was 14,[11] Japan started occupying Hong Kong, and Todd fled to Shaoguan, Guangdong, to study at Lingnan Middle School.[8] After the war, Todd studied medicine at the Lingnan University in Guangzhou, but returned to Hong Kong in 1947 as the Chinese Civil War resumed. He entered Year 2 of the MBBS programme at the University of Hong Kong, graduating in 1952[8] He stayed at Morrison Hall during his undergraduate years.[12]

Todd received his MD in 1958 from the University of Hong Kong.[7]

Career and research

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Todd spent 1 year as a pre-registration house officer (or houseman) after graduation, and then joined the Department of Medicine at Queen Mary Hospital, where he was mentored by Alexander James Smith McFadzean.[8] Apart from a 2-year study at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary from 1956 to 1958, Todd stayed at Queen Mary Hospital and HKU throughout his career.[9]

When McFadzean retired in 1974, Todd became the head of the Department of Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine (now Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine), University of Hong Kong (HKU), succeeded in 1989 by Tai Kwong Chan.[13][14] Before 1981 when the Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong was founded,[15] HKU was the only medical school in the city. Todd's role as department head meant he mentored many future Hong Kong physicians. During this time, Todd was instrumental in forming international collaborations with researchers the United Kingdom, and began conducting professional examinations of the Royal College of Physicians in Hong Kong.[7]

Todd was a Sub-Dean of the HKU Faculty of Medicine from 1976 to 1978, and a Pro-Vice-Chancellor of HKU between 1978 and 1980.[16]

Todd founded the Hong Kong College of Physicians and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine in 1986 and 1992 respectively,[7] serving as the founding president of the former in 1986[2] and the latter from 1992 to 1996.[5] He was also appointed to the inaugural 1990 Hospital Authority Board.[5]

Todd has served on the boards of the Sino-British Fellowship Trust and the S. K. Yee Medical Foundation.[4]

Todd retired 1994, remaining as a professor emeritus at HKU,[17] and moved to Cambridge in 1997.[1][18] He returned to Hong Kong in 2008.[1][19]

As a haematologist, Todd, Yuet Wai Kan and collaborators discovered that the deletion of a gene could cause alpha-thalassemia[20] the first demonstration of its kind for any disease.[7] one of Todd's research focus was leukaemia. He contributed to the eventual approval of using arsenic trioxide to treat leukaemia.[21][22]

Personal life

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Todd liked classical music and opera, which he enjoyed after retirement during his years at the United Kingdom.[8]

Todd was not married and had no children.[9]

Honours and awards

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The Sir David Todd Professorship in Medicine at the University of Hong Kong[28] and the David Todd Oration at the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine[29] were named after Todd.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Professor Sir David Todd FRCP Edin". Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b Lau, CS (2017). "Professor Sir David Todd". Hong Kong Medical Journal. 23 (5): 541. doi:10.12809/hkmj175073. PMID 29026053. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Professor Sir David Todd". The Times. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b "In memoriam: Professor Sir David Todd". Croucher Foundation. 17 August 2017. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "In Memoriam: Professor Sir David Todd". Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong. 17 August 2017. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  6. ^ Li, Philip KT; Yu, Richard YH. "In Memoriam: Professor Sir David Todd (1928-2017)" (PDF). Synapse. Hong Kong College of Physicians. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e Snyder, Alison. "Sir David Todd". The Lancet. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Chan, Vivian Nap Yee; Chan, Tai-Kwong. "Sir David Todd". Royal College of Physicians. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e Warren, Penny (2017). "David Todd". The BMJ. 358: j4222. doi:10.1136/bmj.j4222. S2CID 220097843. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Dr and Mrs Paul Jerome Todd" (PDF). University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  11. ^ a b "David TODD - Citation". University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Obituary by Morrison Hall, HKU" (PDF). Morrison Hall, University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Head: Professor Sir David Todd (1974-1989)". Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 13 July 2022. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Department Heads HKU". Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Milestones". CUHK Faculty of Medicine. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  16. ^ "In Memory of Emeritus Professor Sir David Todd (1928-2017)" (PDF). University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  17. ^ "SFH saddened by death of Professor Sir David Todd" (Press release). Government of Hong Kong. 17 August 2017. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  18. ^ Young, Rosie. "EULOGY" (PDF). University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  19. ^ Chew, Chin Hin; Chan, Tai Kwong. "Prof Sir David Todd (Hon) FAMS" (PDF). Academy of Medicine, Singapore. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  20. ^ Taylor, JM; Dozy, A; Kan, YW; Varmus, HE; Lieinjo, LE; Ganesan, J; Todd, D (1974). "Gene deletion as the cause of α thalassaemia: Genetic lesion in homozygous α thalassaemia (hydrops fetalis)". Nature. 251 (5474): 392–393. Bibcode:1974Natur.251..392T. doi:10.1038/251392a0. PMID 4424635. S2CID 4154498. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  21. ^ Kwong, Y.L.; Todd, D. (1997). "Delicious Poison: Arsenic Trioxide for the Treatment of Leukemia". Blood. 89 (9): 3487–3488. doi:10.1182/blood.V89.9.3487. PMID 9129058.
  22. ^ Au, WY (2011). "A biography of arsenic and medicine in Hong Kong and China" (PDF). Hong Kong Medical Journal. 17 (6): 507–513. PMID 22147326. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Honorary Fellows". Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. Archived from the original on 23 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  24. ^ "No. 48837". The London Gazette. 30 December 1981. p. 18.
  25. ^ "No. 51981". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1989. p. 16.
  26. ^ "No. 54066". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 1995. p. 2.
  27. ^ "National and International Liaison Committee" (PDF). Synapse. Hong Kong College of Physicians. January 2009. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  28. ^ "Sir David Todd Professorship in Medicine". University of Hong Kong. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  29. ^ "David Todd Oration". Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. Archived from the original on 20 July 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
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