John Newsom-Davis
| John Newsom-Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born |
18 October 1932 Harpenden, Hertfordshire |
| Died | 24 August 2007 (aged 74) Adjud, Romania |
| Residence | England |
| Citizenship | British |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Neurology |
| Institutions |
National Hospital Royal Free Hospital Cornell Medical Center (1969-70) Oxford University (1987-98) |
| Alma mater | Pembroke College, Cambridge |
| Influences | Michael Kramer |
| Influenced | Angela Vincent |
| Notable awards | Queen Square Prize in Neurology RCP Jean Hunter Prize Ellison-Cliffe Lecture & Medal RCP Moxon Medal ABN Medal |
John Michael Newsom-Davis CBE, FRCP, FRS, FMedSci (18 October 1932 – 24 August 2007) was a neurologist who played an important role in the discovery of the causes of, and treatments for, Myasthenia gravis, and of other diseases of the nerve-muscle junction, notably Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome and acquired neuromyotonia. Regarded as "one of the most distinguished clinical neurologists and medical scientists of his generation," he died in a car accident in Adjud, Romania, having visited a neurological clinic in Bucharest earlier the same day.
John Newsom-Davis was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, the eldest child and only son of Kenneth Newsom-Davis, the managing director of the Davis Gas Cooker Company, and his wife Eileen, a doctor's daughter. He had a twin sister, Julia. He was educated at Sherborne and Pembroke College, Cambridge. During his two years national service in the RAF (1951–53), he qualified for full pilot training, and learned to fly Meteor jet fighters.
In 1963 he married Rosemary Elizabeth Schmid, an English Swiss, who later became an educational psychologist, working in child development. They had two daughters and a son, and (at the date of his death) seven grandchildren.
Newsom-Davis qualified MB BChir in 1960 at the Middlesex Hospital, and then joined Tom Sears at the National Hospital, Queen Square. After studying the physiology of breathing there, he spent a year at the Cornell Medical Center, New York City, working with Fred Plum on the central pathways involved in breathing. On returning from New York in 1970 he was appointed consultant neurologist jointly at the National and at the Royal Free Hospital. At the latter hospital he built up an active research group, becoming the first MRC Clinical Research Professor in 1980.
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