Keith Halnan

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Keith Halnan
FRCR FRCP FRSE
Born(1920-03-08)8 March 1920
London, England
Died6 February 2006(2006-02-06) (aged 85)
OccupationPhysician
Academic background
Alma materUniversity College Hospital, London
Academic work
Discipline
Institutions
Main interestsRadioactive isotopes

Keith Edward Halnan FRCR FRCP FRSE (28 March 1920 – 6 February 2006) was a British oncologist and researcher in radiotherapy.

He first studied radioactive isotopes with the Medical Research Council (MRC) at University College Hospital (UCL), where he worked on radioactive iodine. He later became involved in establishing the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow. From 1978 to 1985, he held the position of director of the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London.

In 1986, the Hong Kong Government Working Party on Postgraduate Medical Examination and Training appointed him their chair.

Early life and education[edit]

Keith Halnan was born on 28 March 1920 in London.[1] His father was the don Edward Thomas Halnan.[1] He was educated at The Perse School, where he was head boy.[1] Between 1938 and 1940 he studied natural sciences at St Catharine's College, Cambridge.[1]

Halnan received training in a British Army Officer Cadet Training Unit before being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals on 26 August 1941.[2] Halnan led an Infantry Brigade Signals Unit at the Battle of Kohima and the Burma campaign.[3][4] He had been appointed to the temporary rank of captain by the time he was Mentioned in dispatches "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Burma" on 9 May 1946.[5]

After the Second World War, Halnan returned to Cambridge and gained admission to study medicine at UCL, London, from where he graduated.[3]

Career[edit]

Halnan took to the specialty of oncology.[3] He first studied radioactive isotopes with the MRC at UCL, where he worked on radioactive iodine with Edward Pochin.[1][3][6] In 1957 he received his MD.[7]

Between 1958 and 1966, he was posted at the Christie Hospital, Manchester.[1][3][8] In 1967 he moved to Glasgow, where he later became involved in establishing the Beatson Cancer Centre and received the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.[9] He remained there until 1978.[3]

From 1978 to 1985, he held the position of director of the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London.[3][10] In 1986, the Hong Kong Government Working Party on Postgraduate Medical Examination and Training appointed him their chair.[9] There, he produced the "Halnan Report".[11][12]

His book Treatment of cancer was published in 1982.[1] In 1995, the Channel 4 documentary Deadly Experiments featured his 1950s study of giving iodine-132 to 25 healthy pregnant women, published in 1958.[6][13] What happened to the mothers and babies is not known; no follow-up study was carried out.[6]

Death[edit]

He died on 6 February 2006 from metastatic cancer.[3]

Selected publications[edit]

Books[edit]

  • Atomic Energy in Medicine. Butterworth's Scientific Publications. 1957.
  • Treatment of Cancer. London: Chapman and Hall. 1982.

Articles[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Keith Edward Halnan | RCP Museum". Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  2. ^ "No. 35262". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 August 1941. p. 5093.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Vernon, Clare (15 April 2006). "Keith Halnan". British Medical Journal. 332 (7546): 917. PMC 1440667.
  4. ^ "One last trip to remember lost comrades: In April WW2 veteran Keith Halnan returned to Kohima, Burma, where he fought in one of the war's fiercest battles". Surrey Comet. 14 May 2004. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  5. ^ "No. 37558". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 May 1946. p. 2213.
  6. ^ a b c "Radiation in MRC supported research in the 1950s and 1960s. Report of a Committee of Enquiry. 1998. PP.21-22
  7. ^ "Medical Notes in Parliament". British Medical Journal. 1 (5024): 955–956. 20 April 1957. ISSN 0007-1447. PMC 1973235.
  8. ^ "University of Glasgow - Schools - School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing - Undergraduate Medical School - Our facilities - A Significant Medical History - 20th Century - 1948-2018 - Cancer subsection". www.gla.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Dr Keith E Halnan (1920-2006)". Hong Kong Medical Journal. 12: 167. 17 January 2015.
  10. ^ Halnan, Keith E. (October 1992). "The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine". Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of London. 26 (4): 442–444. ISSN 0035-8819. PMC 5375548. PMID 1432887.
  11. ^ Leung, Gabriel M.; Patil, N. G. (Niv) (2017). "5. A brief history of medical education in Hong Kong". In Chen, Lincoln C.; Reich, Michael R.; Ryan, Jennifer (eds.). Medical Education in East Asia: Past and Future. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-253-02510-4.
  12. ^ Lee, Peter C. Y. E. "Message from the President" (PDF). Hong Kong College of Family Physicians. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  13. ^ Halnan, K. E. (15 July 1995). ""Deadly experiments". No evidence of harm from tracer studies". British Medical Journal. 311 (6998): 192. doi:10.1136/bmj.311.6998.192c. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 2550248. PMID 7613448.
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