Dame Rosalinde Hurley, DBE, FRCPath, FRCOG (30 December 1929 – 30 June 2004), was a British physician, microbiologist, pathologist, public health and medical administrator, ethicist and barrister. She was knighted in 1988 for her services to

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...

and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

. Her public positions included: Consultant Microbiologist, Queen Charlotte's Hospital (1963–95); Honorary Consultant (1995–2004; her death), Professor of Microbiology, London University (1973–75); Professor Emeritus, 1975–95), Board Member, Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS), Chairman, The Medicines Commission (1982–93), President of the Pathology Section, Royal Society of Medicine (awarded the C. ver Heyden de Lancey prize, 1991). She was a professor and consultant medical microbiologist, researcher, and ethicist, as well as a barrister; she applied her legal training and expertise for the benefit of her medical, and especially her microbiological, practice.

Biography

Born in England on 30 December 1929 to a Roman Catholic family, the daughter of William and Rose Hurley, her early education was at the Academy of the Assumption in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. She remained a lifelong Catholic. She and her brother had been evacuated to the United States during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to live with a friend of her father. She returned to England in 1948 and studied medicine at Charing Cross Hospital Medical School while at the same time studying law. In four years she qualified in medicine (LRCP, MRCS and MBBS in 1955) and became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

at law. She never practiced law, but the training made her an effective administrator, and she gave informal legal advice to the Royal College of Pathologists and elsewhere. She took the Diploma in Literature of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1956 and won the Gilchrist Prize and the Churton Collins Prize in Literature while a pre-registration house officer at the Wembley and West London hospitals. She was called to the Bar at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1958 and was awarded

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the China, People's Republic ...

in 1959 while a lecturer and assistant clinical pathologist at Charing Cross Hospital and Medical School. Her medical thesis on

perinatal Prenatal development () includes the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal devel ...

candida infections led her permanent interest in

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

. She later became a member of the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) Board when the service's infectious diseases surveillance role was becoming more prominent and the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre was also expanding. By the 1980s the PHLS needed an ethical review of its own research projects as well as advice regarding the ethics of its broader programmes of disease surveillance and vaccine evaluation. Hurley established a committee that reported to the board but operated independently of it. After she had completed two terms as a board member, she continued as the Ethics Committee chair until the mid-1990s.Notice of death of Professor Dame Rosalinde Hurley
, hpa.org.uk; accessed 26 April 2014.

Personal life

In 1963, around the time she became a consultant, she married Dr Peter Gortvai, a neurosurgeon of Hungarian descent, at St Bartholomew's and Romford hospitals. They had no children. In later life Peter Gortvai suffered from heart disease and he died on 20 February 1995. Dame Rosalinde died on 30 June 2004, aged 74, from undisclosed causes.

References

External links

publications.parliament.uk; accessed 25 April 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hurley, Rosalinde 1929 births 2004 deaths English barristers 20th-century English medical doctors English microbiologists British pathologists British people of Irish descent English Roman Catholics English women lawyers Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Members of the Inner Temple English women medical doctors Academics of the University of London Fellows of the Royal College of Pathologists Fellows of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Charing Cross Medical School Women microbiologists 20th-century British women scientists 20th-century women physicians 20th-century women lawyers 20th-century English lawyers 20th-century English women 20th-century English people