J. Christopher Wagner

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J. Christopher Wagner (born April 11, 1923 in Pretoria , † May 25, 2000 in Weymouth , Dorset ; full name John Christopher Wagner ) was a South African physician who was known for his research on the connection between asbestos and cancer.

Wagner was the son of a geologist (director of the South African Geological Survey), went to school in Johannesburg and Natal and studied medicine at the University of Natal from 1941 and - after military service in North Africa and Italy during the Second World War - at the Witwatersburg School of Medicine . After graduating in 1951, he completed specialist training as a pathologist at the South African Institute of Medical Research and was in the research group for pneumoconiosis in Johannesburg from 1954 . In 1960 he succeeded in proving the connection between certain carcinomas of the pleura ( mesothelioma ) and asbestos. The special, rare form of cancer occurred more frequently in the areaKuruman , where blue asbestos was mined. Since decades often pass between contact with asbestos and the development of cancer, this was important evidence of a connection.

From 1962 he was on the Pneumoconiosis Research Group of the Medical Research Council at Llandough Hospital in Wales , where he stayed until his retirement in 1988. In cooperation with I. Baris, among others, he examined the occurrence of mesotheliomas after contact with erionite minerals in Turkey, which also have the structure of thin fibers.

He was married and had a son and a daughter.

In 1985 he received the Charles S. Mott Prize .

Web links

References

  1. ↑ Biography ( memento of December 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on May 30, 2011
  2. ↑ J. Christopher Wagner, Christopher A. Sleggs, Paul Marchand: Diffuse pleural mesothelioma and asbestos exposure in North-Western Cape Province. In: British Journal of Industrial Medicine. Volume 17, 1960, pp. 260-271.
personal data
SURNAME Wagner, J. Christopher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES John Christopher Wagner (full name); Wagner, Chris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African medic
DATE OF BIRTH April 11, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Pretoria
DATE OF DEATH May 25, 2000
Place of death Dorset