Dame Valerie Beral
AC DBE FRS FRCOG FMedSci (28 July 1946 – 26 August 2022) was an Australian-born British
epidemiologist
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
, academic and a preeminent specialist in
breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...
epidemiology
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
. She was Professor of Epidemiology, a Fellow of
Green Templeton College, Oxford
Green Templeton College (GTC) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. The college is located on the previous Green College site on Woodstock Road next to the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in North Oxford and ...
and was the Head of the
Cancer Epidemiology Unit
The Cancer Epidemiology Unit (CEU) is a medical research institute within Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Population Health in the United Kingdom. It is located in the Richard Doll Building on the Old Road Campus, Headington, Oxford. ...
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 ...
and
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...
from 1989.
Early life and education
Valerie Beral was born in Australia on 28 July 1946.
She completed her
MBBS
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...
degree graduating with
first-class honours
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...
from the
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
in 1969.
Beral then spent six months travelling the "
hippie trail
Hippie trail (also the overland) is the name given to the overland journey taken by members of the hippie subculture and others from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s between Europe and South Asia, mainly from Turkey through Iran, Afghanistan ...
" through Asia of which she said "That taught me how much I wanted to work. But I still wanted to leave Australia."
She then travelled to England and successfully applied for a job at the
Hammersmith Hospital
Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of H ...
.
Career
At Hammersmith Hospital, she worked under Charles Fletcher, who recognised that she was suited to epidemiology and so propelled her towards the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine.
The inst ...
. There she completed a combined course in Epidemiology & Statistics in 1971–72 under the tutorship of
Donald Reid. Beral felt very comfortable with the move because she had never felt happy in clinical medicine. She says that "she had never been able to understand how her peers could be so certain about making decisions on incomplete evidence. Epidemiology has offered her not an escape from that uncertainty, but the opportunity to tackle it head on."
She was a member of the
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...
.
One of Beral's first epidemiological interests was the
combined oral contraceptive pill
The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), often referred to as the birth control pill or colloquially as "the pill", is a type of birth control that is designed to be taken orally by women. The pill contains two important hormones: progest ...
because of work she had previously done in family planning. Beral moved on to other projects but this is an area in which the data have yet to provide support for her initial instinct that the contraceptive pill, like pregnancy, will eventually be shown to protect against breast cancer.
Later work included the effects of radiation, breast cancer trials and screening, AIDS,
gene therapy
Gene therapy is a medical field which focuses on the genetic modification of cells to produce a therapeutic effect or the treatment of disease by repairing or reconstructing defective genetic material. The first attempt at modifying human DN ...
,
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...
survivors,
Chernobyl
Chernobyl ( , ; russian: Чернобыль, ) or Chornobyl ( uk, Чорнобиль, ) is a partially abandoned city in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, situated in the Vyshhorod Raion of northern Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine. Chernobyl is about no ...
, food toxins, and much else. The ''
British Medical Journal
''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...
'' described her tally of jobs, publications, and committees as reading "like a checklist of the epidemiological causes célebres of the past three decades".
Beral completed her training in 1972 and began working for the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine for a number of years. From there she moved to direct the Cancer Research UK Cancer Epidemiology Unit 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 ...
in 1989. Beral said of being offered the role: "One of the major deterrents when I was offered the
ICRF job in 1989 was the thought of being so much in the public eye. It's not my nature."
Beral served on various international committees for the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
and the
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
. She also chaired the
Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
's Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer Screening.
Million Women Study
Beral was one of the leaders of the
Million Women Study
The Million Women Study is a study of women’s health analysing data from more than one million women aged 50 and over, led by Dame Valerie Beral and a team of researchers at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford. It is a collabo ...
which was opened in 1997, and has recruited more than 1.3 million UK women over 50 via the NHS breast screening centres. The study is investigating how a woman's reproductive history can affect her health, with a particular focus on the effects of
hormone replacement therapy
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), also known as menopausal hormone therapy or postmenopausal hormone therapy, is a form of hormone therapy used to treat symptoms associated with female menopause. These symptoms can include hot flashes, vaginal ...
(HRT). It is the largest such study in the world with one in four of UK women in the target age group participating.
In August 2003, Beral's group published results showing that taking HRT increases a woman's risk of developing breast cancer with an estimated 20,000 UK women aged 50–64 having possibly developed the disease between 1993 and 2003 due to HRT use.
The study also showed that risk increases the longer a woman uses HRT, but drops to the normal level within five years after stopping use.
Honours and awards
*
Donald Reid Medal in 2006 Beral was recognised by the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine.
The inst ...
for her ground-breaking work in cancer epidemiology and women's health, most notably through the Million Women study, as well as her earlier contributions to the School.
*
Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG) since 2000.
*Honorary
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...
degree of the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
in 2005.
*Honorary Fellow at the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
since 2000.
*
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 ...
(FRS) for scientific contributions to epidemiology.
*
Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences
Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences (FMedSci) is an award for medical scientists who are judged by the UK Academy of Medical Sciences for the "excellence of their science, their contribution to medicine and society and the range of th ...
(FMedSci) since 2009.
*
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(DBE) in the
2010 New Year Honours.
*
Companion of the Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
(AC) in the
2010 Queen's Birthday Honours List "for eminent service to medicine and women's health through significant advances in cancer research and epidemiology, through seminal contributions to public health policy and as a mentor to young scientists."
* A portrait of Beral by photographer
Anne-Katrin Purkiss Anne-Katrin Purkiss is a photographer, born in Karl-Marx-Stadt, Germany in 1959 and moving to Britain in 1984 after graduating from University of Leipzig in 1983. Her father Joachim Seyffarth (1928-2014) was a German curator of monuments and photog ...
was acquired by the
National Portrait Gallery, London
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...
for its permanent collection in 2011.
Personal life and death
Beral lived in Oxford with her American husband, Paul Fine, who worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Beral maintained close links with Australia but "could not imagine returning to live there". Aside from concerns that Australia would hold little for her partner, she joked that "The population's too small!" to satisfy her needs as an epidemiologist.
Beral died on 26 August 2022, at the age of 76, after a year-long illness. She was survived by her husband, their two sons, two grandchildren, and her sister.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Beral, Val
1946 births
2022 deaths
Academics of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Australian expatriates in the United Kingdom
Australian Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Companions of the Order of Australia
Donald Reid Medalists
Cancer epidemiologists
Fellows of Green Templeton College, Oxford
Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences (United Kingdom)
Female Fellows of the Royal Society
People educated at North Sydney Girls High School
Sydney Medical School alumni
Australian women medical doctors
Australian medical doctors
Australian women scientists
Australian women epidemiologists
Australian Jews
20th-century British women scientists