Francis William Rogers Brambell (25 February 1901 – 6 June 1970) was an Irish medical scientist who spent all of his professional working life in Britain.

Education

Brambell was born in

Sandycove Sandycove () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is southeast of Dún Laoghaire and Glasthule, and northwest of Dalkey. It is a popular seaside resort and is well known for its bathing place, the Forty Foot, which in the past was reserved for me ...

, Dublin and was educated (1911–1914) at Aravon School and then privately, specializing in zoology. He entered

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

with an Entrance Prize in natural science. In 1920 Brambell won a Foundation Scholarship and in 1922 he graduated B.A. with Senior Moderatorship and gold medal in natural sciences, and was awarded a postgraduate Fellowship prize. During his first degree he was taught by some distinguished scientists including Professors

Henry Horatio Dixon Henry Horatio Dixon FRS (19 May 1869, Dublin – 20 December 1953, Dublin) was a plant biologist and professor at Trinity College Dublin. Along with John Joly, he put forward the cohesion-tension theory of water and mineral movement in plants. ...

FRS,

John Joly John Joly FRS (1 November 1857 – 8 December 1933) was an Irish physicist and professor of geology at the University of Dublin, known for his development of radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer. He is also known for developing techniques to ...

FRS, and James Brontë Gatenby. After graduation he worked in cytology under Professor James Brontë Gatenby, gained his BSc (subsequently transformed into MSc) in 1923, and his PhD in 1924 (this was the first PhD of

). In 1924 he was awarded a Science Research Scholarship for the Exhibition of 1851. Owing to the formation of the Irish Free State, Irish graduates had become eligible for the overseas awards of the commission.

Career

Brambell was appointed Lloyd Roberts Professor and Head of th
Department of Zoology
at

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

in 1930 at age 29 years. From that time until his retirement 38 years later, he brought great distinction to his Department and College. He was the father of the field of transmission of

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...

. As part of his quantitative and temporal studies on transmission, he defined the first Fc receptor system for

IgG Immunoglobulin G (Ig G) is a type of antibody. Representing approximately 75% of serum antibodies in humans, IgG is the most common type of antibody found in blood circulation. IgG molecules are created and released by plasma B cells. Each IgG ...

, and furthermore recognized the link between transmission of

passive immunity Passive immunity is the transfer of active humoral immunity of ready-made antibodies. Passive immunity can occur naturally, when maternal antibodies are transferred to the fetus through the placenta, and it can also be induced artificially, when hi ...

from mother to young and protection from

catabolism Catabolism () is the set of metabolic pathways that breaks down molecules into smaller units that are either oxidized to release energy or used in other anabolic reactions. Catabolism breaks down large molecules (such as polysaccharides, lipids, ...

via IgG. Brambell wrote ''Antibodies and Embryos'' with W. A. Hemmings and M. Henderson in 1951. Brambell was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in March, 1949 and won their

Royal Medal The Royal Medal, also known as The Queen's Medal and The King's Medal (depending on the gender of the monarch at the time of the award), is a silver-gilt medal, of which three are awarded each year by the Royal Society, two for "the most important ...

in 1964 "In recognition of his important contribution to our understanding of the passage of protein from maternal to foetal circulations". In 1965, Brambell lead the UK governmental committee that authored The Five Freedoms, a document asserting the five essential freedom to guarantee quality of life for animals under human control.

Personal life

He died on 6 June 1970. He had married Margaret L. Adgie in 1927.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brambell, Francis 1901 births 1970 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Fellows of the Royal Society Royal Medal winners Scholars of Trinity College Dublin