Brian William Fox

Last updated
Brian William Fox
Born1929
Ammanford, Carmarthenshire
Died1999
New Mills, Derbyshire
Alma materDurham University
SpouseMary Fox (died 1992)
Scientific career
Fieldscancer chemotherapy; botany
Thesis Lupin and related alkaloids: synthesis of 6 ethyl pyrrocoline

Brian W. Fox (1929 - 1999) was a professor of experimental chemotherapy at University of Manchester and the Paterson Institute who contributed to development of systematic methods for studying potential chemotherapy agents. He was also a keen botanist and lichenologist, involved in recording plant and lichen distributions in northern England.

Contents

Personal life

Brian William Fox was born in Ammanford in Carmarthenshire, south Wales. The family moved to Lancashire in 1941. He studied chemistry at King's College, Durham University (now University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne), including for his doctoral degree. He undertook National Service.

Career

In 1980 Fox was promoted to a personal chair in experimental chemotherapy at University of Manchester. He became deputy director of the Paterson Institute at Christie Hospital, Manchester. He developed standardised methodologies for screening compounds for anti-cancer activity. [1] He [2]

Fox was also interested in plants and lichens. He collected plant specimens in the late 1940s to 1970s from northern England and donated around 1000 to Bolton Museum collection in 1984. [3] These were part of the records for Travis's Flora of South Lancashire (1963). [4]

He also recorded and taught about lichens. In 1981 he took part in an effort to record lichens on Scottish mountains. [5] He later studied the lichens of Derbyshire [6] and Cheshire in the UK, nearer his home. He taught lichen identification His records of changes to lichen distributions in Cheshire over 20 years showed how epiphytic lichens were moving to new areas as air pollution reduced. [7] These were published as a book posthumously.

Honours

Fox was president of the British Lichen Society, 1994 - 1996. [1]

Publications

Fox was the author or co-author of over 70 scientific publications about chemotherapeutic agents. These included:

He also authored books including:

The University of Manchester Library holds some of his personal papers [8] and the documents he used as source material for his book on the history of the hospital. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 Gilbert, Oliver (2000). "A tribute to Brian William Fox". The Lichenologist. 32 (2): 103–104. doi:10.1006/lich.1999.0263. S2CID   85569556.
  2. 1 2 "Christie Hospital Collection". JISC Archives. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  3. "Brian William Fox". Herbariaunited. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  4. Savidge, J. P.; Heywood, V. H.; Gordon, Vera (1963). Travis's Flora of South Lancashire. Liverpool Botanical Society. p. 400.
  5. Gilbert, O.; Fox, B.; Purvis, O. W. (1982). "The Lichen Flora of a High-Level Limestone-Epidiorite Outcrop in the Ben Alder Range, Scotland". The Lichenologist. 14 (2): 165–174. doi:10.1017/S0024282982000309. S2CID   86779678.
  6. "Woodside: Lichens". Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  7. Fox, Brian (1999). "The influence of atmospheric pollution on the lichen flora of Cheshire". In Greenwood, E.F. (ed.). In Ecology and Landscape Development: A History of the Mersey Basin. Liverpool University Press and National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside. pp. 185–193.
  8. "Brian William Fox, 1929-1999". JISC Archives. Retrieved 11 January 2024.