Ralph Lainson

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Ralph Lainson , OBE (born February 21, 1927 in Upper Beeding , West Sussex ; † May 5, 2015 ) was a British biologist specializing in parasitology .

Life

Ralph Lainson attended Steyning Grammar School and served during World War II . After the war he studied at Brighton Technical College and then went to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), where he first received his doctorate and then worked as a teacher. In 1960 he went to what was then British Honduras (now Belize ) as director of the Dermal Leishmaniasis Unit to research the causes of leishmaniasis .

In 1965, he set up the Wellcome Trust Parasitology Unit at the Evandro Chagas Institute in Belém , Brazil . Originally, his work there was only supposed to last three years, but even when the research facility was closed in 1992, Lainson continued his research, which he continued after his retirement in 1996.

Lainson discovered over 100 protozoan parasites in the course of his research . In 1969 he was the first to correctly describe the causes of Chagas disease . In the course of his work he discovered more than 100 pathogens. The pathogen Leishmania (Viannia) lainsoni , discovered in 1987, was named after him.

In 1982 he became a member of the Royal Society and received an honorary membership of the LSHTM. In 1971 he received the Chalmers Medal and in 1982 the Manson Medal of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene . In 1996 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Lainson was married for the second time since 1974, this marriage remained childless. He had three children from his first marriage.

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personal data
SURNAME Lainson, Ralph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British parasitologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 21, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Upper Beeding , West Sussex
DATE OF DEATH May 5, 2015