Malcolm Gracie "Calum" Semple is a British physician and academic. He is Professor of Child Health and Outbreak Medicine at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

and a

consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

respiratory paediatrician at

Alder Hey Children's Hospital Alder Hey Children's Hospital is a children's hospital and NHS foundation trust in West Derby, Liverpool, England. It is one of the largest children's hospitals in the United Kingdom, and one of several specialist hospitals within the Liverpool ...

Liverpool. Semple was an undergraduate medical student the

Middlesex Hospital Medical School Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clo ...

when he met Richard Tedder at the hospital

Burns supper A Burns supper is a celebration of the life and poetry of the poet Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), the author of many Scots poems. The suppers are usually held on or near the poet's birthday, 25 January, known as Burns Night (; ) ...

, both playing their bagpipes. This led to Semple interrupting his medical studies to read an intercalated bachelor's tripos in cell pathology, immunology and virology supervised by

Lewis Wolpert Lewis Wolpert (19 October 1929 – 28 January 2021) was a South African-born British developmental biologist, author, and broadcaster. Wolpert popularized his French flag model of embryonic development, using the colours of the French flag ...

Ivan Roitt Ivan Maurice Roitt (born 30 September 1927) is a British scientist. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Balliol College, Oxford University. He was Head of the Department of Immunology at University College London from 1967 to 1 ...

, and Richard Tedder. He continued to study clinical virology as a doctoral student supervised by Richard Tedder and Dr Clive Loveday at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. Semple completed his medical degree at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. Semple led a clinical trial of

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after in ...

convalescent plasma Convalescent plasma is the blood plasma collected from a survivor of an infectious disease. This plasma contains antibodies specific to a pathogen and can be used therapeutically by providing passive immunity when transfusing it to a newly infected ...

in Sierra Leone and a follow-up study of Ebola survivors with Dr Janet T Scott and Paul J Steptoe.

Honours

Semple was awarded the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa in 2016. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to the Covid-19 response.

References

Fellows of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Living people Academics of the University of Liverpool British paediatricians West African Ebola virus epidemic Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Fellows of the Higher Education Academy Year of birth missing (living people) Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Loretto School, Musselburgh {{UK-med-bio-stub