Past-President and Treasurer of the BNMS. Recipient of the British Nuclear Medicine Society President's Medal in 2016.

Dr TMD ‘Tim’ Gimlette, who has died aged 95, was a pioneer of nuclear medicine, and a former president of BNMS.

Thomas Michael Desmond Gimlette was born on 7 January 1927 in Wiesbaden, Germany, where his father, also a physician, was serving with the Army of Occupation. When the young Gimlette was two, the family moved to India, which he always loved despite everything: the dysentery, the marauding leopards, and nursery school (from which he was expelled for disobedience).

Appointed to run the Isotope Department at St Thomas' Hospital in 1960, Gimlette worked with a small self-taught staff, operating in two modest rooms and a cupboard. Radionuclides other than radioiodine began to take the floor. ‘What we were doing,’ he later wrote, ‘might be compared to prehistoric cave paintings, but less beautiful perhaps’. This was the dawn of the age of technetium, and also of the embryonic BNMS.

Here, Gimlette found himself amidst a field of brilliant innovators, including John Mallard (who helped develop nuclear magnetic imaging) and Ian Donald (who, said Gimlette, ‘virtually invented the medical use of ultrasound’). In 1966, a group of them, including Gimlette, founded the BNMS in a pub on Queensway.

The same year, he was appointed Physician in Nuclear Medicine at Liverpool, with a spacious department, excellent staff and a wide scope for studies both in vivo imaging and in vitro methods. Even a whole-body counter, constructed from a retired battleship was established. In 1973, he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and, the following year, was elected President of the BNMS. Towards the end of his career, he was appointed chairman of the Regional Scientific Committee, he retired in 1989.

A man of modesty and humour, Gimlette maintained a wide circle of friends from all walks of life. In retirement, he indulged his enthusiasm for travel, painting and conservation. He leaves behind a wood in Cheshire, whose 2,000 trees he planted all by himself.

Tim Gimlette married, in 1957, Ruth Curwen, who predeceased him. He is survived by their daughter and three sons.

We are saddened to hear of the death of Professor H J (Tito) Testa

Born and trained in Argentina before coming to the UK, he was a Consultant Nuclear Medicine Physician in Manchester Royal Infirmary for over 25 years before his retirement from the health service.

He has been strong supporter of the Society and a member for nearly 50 years, receiving honorary membership. He will be remembered with respect, affection and gratitude by many in our community.

We are sad to announce the death of Dr Howard Gemmell on the 24th of May 2022

Dr Gemmell was a member of the BNMS for decades and made a significant contribution to the field.

View an obituary here

Prof John Mallard 1927 - 2021 OBE FRSE FREng 14 January 1927 – February 2021

We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Professor John Mallard who helped change the face of medical imaging.

Professor Mallard was an Honorary Member of the British Nuclear Medicine Society and recipient of the BNMS Norman Veall Medal, for clinical scientists who have made an outstanding contribution to the science and/or practice of nuclear medicine in the United Kingdom.

BBC Obituary: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-56217687

Dr Muriel Simisola Buxton-Thomas MBBS, MSc FRCP
16 05 45 - 16 10 16

Colleagues in Nuclear Medicine, KCH, KCL and across BNMS were saddened to learn of the death of Muriel Buxton-Thomas .

MBT, as she was known, was an internationally recognized Nuclear Medicine physician, contributing actively to academic and clinical research throughout her career.

She qualified in Newcastle- upon -Tyne in 1971, began training in Medicine and Nuclear Medicine being awarded the MSc(Nuclear Medicine) in 1978 and a senior Registrar post at Addenbrooke's hospital in the early 1980's.
Prior to her appointment as Clinical Director of Nuclear Medicine at Kings she was Consultant Physician in Nuclear Medicine at St Thomas Hospital and Medway Hospital between 1984 and 1992.
She was instrumental in the development of diagnostic and therapeutic Nuclear Medicine services at Kings, overseeing the relocation of the department to its present site in the "new" Golden Jubilee wing and installing one of the first PET capable gamma cameras in England in the department. She had active clinics in endocrine medicine, particularly oncology and osteoporosis. She served Kings on numerous committees and undertook important national roles for the DH and ARSAC.

She was a formidable colleague, always prepared to defend the best patient services and care she could provide.
After her retirement from Kings in 2010 she continued to work, supporting colleagues at GSST and City Hospital Birmingham where she helped establish the local NET therapy service.

She leaves her daughter Dr Rachel Buxton - Thomas, Consultant Respiratory Physician at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals.

Gill Vivian FRCP FRCR
Consultant in Nuclear Medicine, Kings College Hospital

Prof Ignac Fogelman (04.09.1948 – 05.07.2016)

Our very dear friend, teacher, mentor and colleague, Prof Ignac Fogelman, passed away on the 5th of July 2016

Read more here

At this year's Annual Spring Meeting, Dr Des Green was awarded the President's Award
This is a token gift of the President to medics who have made an exceptional contribution to nuclear medicine.

 Citation

Founder of the BNMS Nurses' Group

Ingrid Crane 1935 - 2011

It was with great sadness that the death of Ingrid Crane (nee Aric) on 25th April from breast cancer was announced at the BNMS Annual Meeting in 2011.

Ingrid's love of Nuclear Medicine, her quiet determination and professional, caring manner proved pivotal in setting up the Nuclear Medicine Nurses Association, now known as the BNMS Nurses Group we have today.

We would like this page to mark her wonderful achievement.

Ingrid was born in a small town in the south of Sweden in May 1935 and studied nursing in Stockholm. She had a long and distinguished career in nuclear medicine working in many countries and being fluent in many languages. The family travels took her to Turkey, America, Germany and finally to England. Ingrid worked at St Thomas’ Hospital in the Nuclear Medicine Department for 17 years and was responsible for founding the ‘Nuclear Medicine Course on Radiation and Safety’ for nurses. The course was adopted by the English National Board for Nursing and became known as ENBN10 'caring for patients receiving radionuclides'. Sadly a number of years later this postgraduate course which ran from St Thomas's Hospital closed to new applicants due to the small numbers of staff being able to attend. Many nursing colleagues still express regret that it is no longer offered.

Named as co-author on many research papers Ingrid was the founder, and subsequently the President of the Nuclear Medicine Nurses Association. She gave her last lecture at the BNMS Annual Meeting in Harrogate
in 2010.

Ingrid leaves behind her husband Richard, whom she married in 1999 and described as ‘my rock’, her ‘two wonderful children’ Ayse and Mehmet, four grandchildren Gemma, Leila, Charley and Max of whom she was intensely proud, her brother and a niece, Marie.

'Truly a wonderful role model for us all and someone to aspire to ~ Thank you Ingrid'

Edward Sydney Williams

07.10.1923–31.08.2015

Nuclear Medicine Pioneer, Life Long Mountaineer, Poet and Priest

Professor Edward Sydney Williams PhD, FRCP, FRCR, passed away from acute myocardial infarction on 31st August,2015, leaving his wife Wendy, three sons and 5 grandchildren.

With a dual degree in physics and medicine, Edward Williams pioneered Nuclear Medicine in the UK, being the director of the world renowned Institute of Nuclear Medicine from 1963 to 1985. With a major grant from the Nuffield Foundation, he helped and designed a 4 storey building, housing the new Institute in 1961 in the then Medical School in Mortimer Street. Formal opening by Lord Todd, FRS, in 1969.

He initiated the intercollegiate MSc course in Nuclear Medicine, after lengthy negotiations with London University, a program which was to attract well over a hundred national and international graduates.

Helping to shape national and European legislation on the use of radioactive substances, he became first Chairman of the national ARSAC Committee, issuing national certificates for practioners in the UK.

A lifelong mountaineer, a member of the Alpine Club for 50 years, visiting the summit of 3 previously unclim-bed peaks in Asia, passionate for high altitude physiology, he took charge of the science of an early expedition to the Karakoram in 1956, a range of very high mountains just to the north-west of the Himalayas, studying the causes of oedema and mountain sickness. Key steps involved the measurement at high altitude of electrolytes in saliva, which he published in Science in 1961, the assessment of human aldosterone excretion and potassium retention again at high altitude, which he published in Nature in 1961, and presenting to the Royal Society, data on the human adaptation of electrolyte regulation to extreme high altitude in 1966! He became a member of the British Mount Kongur Expedition to China in 1981 and to Pikes Peak in Colorado, thereafter.

After completing a 3 year ordination course, he became a priest in the Anglican Church. He published his first volume of (very moving) poems ‘Hearing Silence’ in 2011 (Book Guild UK).

Written by Professor Peter J. Ell, FMedSci Dr HC

Dr Russell Bayly was a scientist who was involved in the very start of nuclear medicine in the UK. After war service as a young man Russell studied chemistry at the University of Birmingham then considered a world leader in synthetic chemistry. This was followed by a PhD in sugar chemistry leading to papers in Nature.

After obtaining his PhD he joined the radio-chemical centre in Amersham and was an early supporter 
of British nuclear medicine and he helped develop new tracers and radiopharmaceuticals. An 
interest in haematology lead to the Dicopac test kit utilising dual isotopes of cobalt to ensure a fast 
and effective Schilling test. Russell though working for “industry” remained the scientist and 
supported scientific endeavour both in the U.K. and the U.S.A.

In the 1970s he spent time in the U.S.A. helping to move the radio-chemical centre from a U.K. based 
organisation to one with a world vision. Whilst there he took a particular interest in the use of 
tertiary amines in identifying brain perfusion. A development which became HMPAO. 
In the 1980s The Radio-chemical centre was privatised as Amersham and Russell along with the rest 
of the team ensured the company was the great innovator in nuclear medicine world-wide launching 
new products every year or two. The final product Russell brought to market was metastron for 
palliating the pain from bone metastases.

1990 saw Russell’s retirement and the BNMS at their annual meeting gave him a glass vase signed by 
all the great pioneers of nuclear medicine including Hal Anger and Henry Wagner. In retirement he 
always wanted to know what was happening in nuclear medicine but was concerned what would 
happen to Amersham when it was run by “toothpaste salesman”. He also raised money for injured 
servicemen long before it became fashionable and had a great interest in the history of east 
Buckinghamshire

As the pioneers of our specialty and our society pass away we surely miss their vision and the “can 
do attitude” that was personified by Dr Russell Bayly.

J.Buscombe 
British Nuclear Medicine Society

The BNMS were saddened to learn of the death of Dr Desmond Croft. Dr Croft was Consultant Physician with an interest in Nuclear Medicine at St Thomas' Hospital until his retirement in 1996.

He first became interested in the subject when a registrar and studied gastric bleeding using radio-labelled red cells. He was appointed Consultant Physician at St Thomas' and was in charge of what was then called the 'isotope lab.' With the building of two new blocks in the 1970's the department moved to new premises and was renamed 'Nuclear Medicine.' He held a joint position as General Physician with a share of the acute on-take rota and Consultant in charge of the Nuclear Medicine Department. It was through his involvement in acute medicine that several of his trainees were 'converted' to Nuclear Medicine. Six of these trainees became consultants in Nuclear Medicine and 3 of these Presidents of the BNMS.

Within St Thomas' he was Chairman of the Consultants Committee. He was also a Trustee fro the Florence Nightingale Museum which is housed on the St Thomas' campus. He represented Nuclear Medicine on multiple Committees including those of the RCP.

As is apparent from the naming of the first department, the speciality of Nuclear Medicine was in its infancy when he began. He was a founder member of the BNMS and was President from 1976-78 having previously been Honorary Secretary. He was also Chairman of the Intercollegiate Committee, President of the European Board of Nuclear Medicine from 1990 – 1993, and in this position he was instrumental in ensuring that Nuclear Medicine was recognised by the European Union of Medical Specialties as a mono-speciality.  This recognition took 10 years and needed the backing initially of Irish practitioners and a Belgium practitioner as well as diplomacy and a great deal of effort over this period to gain recognition of the Specialty.

Under his stewardship, the department pioneered, amongst other things, quantitative lymphatic scanning, Xenon lung ventilation scans, Parathyroid imaging, and DTPA aerosol lung studies publishing over 80 papers in the field. Perhaps the most important clinical methodology he helped introduce was PET scanning. The first Clinical PET Centre in the UK was opened in 1991 at St Thomas’ Hospital and Guy’s Hospital and has developed into one of the leading Centres.

Desmond was a very popular doctor and was well respected by both those he worked with and by his patients. He was a keen swimmer and whenever he went to meetings abroad his hotel either had to have or be near a swimming pool.  He was always approachable, had a good sense of humour and hubris – essential for any clinician.  Above all he was very supportive of colleagues and junior doctors and extremely caring of his patients.

Written by Professor Mike O’Doherty and Dr Tom Nunan,  24 September 2012.

The Nuclear Medicine Community in the UK were saddened to learn of the recent death of Dr Ajit Padhy, a global figure in the field of Nuclear Medicine.

Brian Neilly, President of the BNMS

To read more about Dr Ajit Padhy, view article here