Sir John Dacie MD, FRS, FRCP, FRCPath

Abstract

SummaryProf. Sir John Dacie was one of the most distinguished haematologists of the 20th century. He died on 12 February 2005 at the age of 92. This annotation is intended to give an impression of his career, and his role in the development of haematology in the UK and beyond. It describes his approach to haematological practise, taking account of both clinical and laboratory aspects, and reviews his published works over a range of haematological topics.

Historical review: a history of the British Journal of Haematology

“…An obituary of the founding Editor was published at the beginning of this decade 2 and at the end of the decade there was an obituary of Janet Rowley, the cytogeneticist who contributed so much to haematology 20 . Themes remained similar to those of previous years, but with an increasing interest in molecular haematology.…”

“…The founding Editor was thus, Dr Dacie, later Professor Sir John Dacie, of the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith Hospital (Fig 1). 2 The Editorial Board was comprised of Sheila Callendar, D. A. G. Galton, R. G. Macfarlane, P. L. Mollison, A. E. Mourant, R. R. Race and R. Bodley Scott. Note that in the fashion of the day, the women were identified as such by the use of a Christian name, while the men had only initials.…”

“…Dacie remained as Editor until the end of 1961, Rosemary Biggs taking over for volume 8 in 1962. Dacie remained as Chairman of the Editorial Board for the six Editors who succeeded him 2 . Table I shows all Editors to date and Data S1– electronic resources – gives biographical details of some of the Editors.…”

“…J. V. Dacie in 1975, when he was President of the International Society of Haematology Congress in London, from reference [2]. …”

“…1 The founding Editor was thus, Dr Dacie, later Professor Sir John Dacie, of the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith Hospital (Fig 1). 2 Mollison. The themes that were covered in the first issue make an interesting contrast to the strong emphasis on haematological neoplasms and the therapy thereof that we see in current issues of the Journal.…”