Sir Gordon Roy Cameron FRCP

FRCPath The Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath) is a professional membership organisation. Its main function is the overseeing of postgraduate training, and its Fellowship Examination (FRCPath) is recognised as the standard assessment of fitness to pr ...

FRS (30 June 1899 – 7 October 1966) was an Australian pathologist.

Childhood and education

Cameron was born in 1899 in

Echuca Echuca ( ) is a town on the banks of the Murray River and Campaspe River in Victoria, Australia. The border town of Moama is adjacent on the northern side of the Murray River in New South Wales. Echuca is the administrative centre and larges ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

to George Cameron and his wife Emily Pascoe. He was educated at state schools in local villages including

Mitiamo Mitiamo is a town in northern Victoria, Australia. It is in the Shire of Loddon, north of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Mitiamo had a population of 117. Mitiamo Post Office opened on 13 April 1875. Mitiamo station opened ...

Lancefield Lancefield is a town in the Shire of Macedon Ranges local government area in Victoria, Australia north of the state capital, Melbourne and had a population of 2,743 at the 2021 census. History The area was used by the indigenous aborigi ...

Dunkeld Dunkeld (, sco, Dunkell, from gd, Dùn Chailleann, "fort of the Caledonians") is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The location of a historic cathedral, it lies on the north bank of the River Tay, opposite Birnam. Dunkeld lies close to ...

and finally (from 1911 to 1917) at

Kyneton Kyneton ( ) is a town in the Macedon Ranges region of Victoria, Australia. The Calder Freeway bypasses Kyneton to the north and east. Kyneton is on Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung country. The town has four main streets: ...

, although from 1913 to 1917 he was occupied with compulsory military service. He gained a scholarship to Queen's College at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb n ...

, where he studied medicine from February 1916 to 1922, when he graduated with a second-class

MB BS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

. A lecture by

Harry Brookes Allen Sir Harry Brookes Allen (13 June 1854 – 28 March 1926) was a noted Australian pathologist. Education Harry Brookes Allen was born at Geelong, Victoria, the son of Thomas Watts Allen. He was educated at Flinders School, Geelong, and in 1869 ...

convinced Cameron to focus on

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

, and he was appointed Stewart Lecturer of Pathology at the University of Melbourne in 1924.

Career

In 1925

Charles Kellaway Charles Halliley Kellaway, (16 January 1889 – 13 December 1952) was an Australian medical researcher and science administrator. Biography Early years and education Charles Kellaway was born at the parsonage attached to St James's Old Cathe ...

invited Cameron to work at the

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research WEHI (), previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobel Prize in 1960 for ...

as the deputy director, where he remained until 1927, when he left to take up a position at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lond ...

(UCH) under Arthur Boycott, with the idea that he would return to take over from Harry Allen. When his time in London was up however he discovered he did not want to return, and he instead took up board with Fred Crewe (Boycott's chief technician) and his wife Alice, with whom he lived for the rest of his life and who remained devoted to him. He never married. In 1929 he became Graham Scholar in Pathology at the Hospital, followed by a promotion to Beit Fellow for Medical Research in 1930. He spent a year as a pathologist at Queen Mary's Hospital but, unhappy with the job, returned to UCH in 1934, this time as a Reader in Pathology. Boycott retired as Reader in Morbid Anatomy in 1937 and Cameron succeeded him, although he then spent much of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

working with

Joseph Barcroft Sir Joseph Barcroft (26 July 1872 – 21 March 1947) was a British physiologist best known for his studies of the oxygenation of blood. Life Born in Newry, County Down into a Quaker family, he was the son of Henry Barcroft DL and Anna Richar ...

Porton Down Porton Down is a science park in Wiltshire, England, just northeast of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) ...

studying the effects of

poison gas Many gases have toxic properties, which are often assessed using the LC50 (median lethal dose) measure. In the United States, many of these gases have been assigned an NFPA 704 health rating of 4 (may be fatal) or 3 (may cause serious or perm ...

. After the war Roy returned to UCH, this time as head of the Graham department. He retired in 1964 and died of heart disease on 7 October 1966. He was knighted in 1957. He had made his only return visit to Australia in 1962 to accept an honorary Doctor of Laws from the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cameron, Roy 1899 births 1966 deaths Australian pathologists Royal Medal winners Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians WEHI alumni Australian Knights Bachelor People from Echuca Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom