Brian J. Bellhouse (1 October 1936 – 12 June 2017) was a British academic, engineer, and entrepreneur, the inventor of
PowderJect, a needle-free injection system for delivering medications and vaccines.
He was also a professor at the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
.
Early life
Bellhouse received an
undergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher e ...
in
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
from
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
, followed by a
DPhil degree in
engineering science
Engineering physics, or engineering science, refers to the study of the combined disciplines of physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, particularly computer, nuclear, electrical, electronic, aerospace, materials or mechanical en ...
in 1964.
Academic career
Bellhouse was appointed a lecturer and elected a tutorial fellow at Magdalen College in 1966.
In 1998, he became a professor of engineering science, and established and supervised the
Department of Engineering Science's Medical Engineering Unit at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
.
He retired in 2004 and was appointed an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College.
PowderJect
In 1992, Bellhouse was at work on a "powdered injector to deliver genetic material into plant cells" when he wondered if he could use the same method on people. A few hours after injecting himself with finely ground salt, the skin began to bleed. As he explained, "Salt bursts the red blood cells. This proved that it had worked. And it was utterly painless. It felt like a puff of air".
Bellhouse developed PowderJect, a needle-free and pain-free injection system which shoots fine powder into the skin at high speed, and his son-in-law
Paul Drayson
Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson (born 5 March 1960), is a British businessman, amateur racing driver and Labour politician. He was Minister of Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills until May 2010, where he replaced I ...
brought along the financing needed to turn it into a commercial reality.
PowderJect Pharmaceuticals became a public company in 1997 with a £50 million market valuation.
It was later sold to
Chiron Corporation
Chiron Corporation ( ) was an American multinational biotechnology firm founded in 1981, based in Emeryville, California, that was acquired by Novartis on April 20, 2006. It had offices and facilities in eighteen countries on five continents. ...
for £542 million, and has been called "one of the most successful companies ever to be spun out of Oxford
niversity.
Philanthropy
With the profits he gained from the sale of PowderJect Pharmaceuticals, Bellhouse became a major donor to Oxford University, including a "substantial gift" towards the building of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and the endowment of the Oxford-Bellhouse Graduate Scholarship in Biomedical Engineering at
Magdalen College
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
.
Personal life
Bellhouse was the father-in-law of the
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
peer and former Minister of Science,
Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson
Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson (born 5 March 1960), is a British businessman, amateur racing driver and Labour politician. He was Minister of Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills until May 2010, where he replaced Ia ...
.
He was born and resided in
Winchelsea
Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...
, East Sussex.
Death
On 12 June 2017, Bellhouse, while out for a walk in a field that he owned, was trampled to death as he tried to save his dog from a stampeding herd of cows.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellhouse, Brian
1936 births
2017 deaths
People from Winchelsea
Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Fellows of Magdalen College, Oxford
English engineers
English inventors
English company founders
Accidental deaths in England
People from Guestling
20th-century English businesspeople