William Ewart Gye FRS (born William Ewart Bullock; 11 August 1889,

Breaston Breaston ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Erewash district, in the south-east of Derbyshire and lies approximately east of the city of Derby and west of the city of Nottingham. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2 ...

– 14 October 1952) was a British pathologist and cancer researcher.

Career

After a difficult financial struggle, Bullock matriculated at

University College, Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

and, after studying chemistry under Kipping, graduated there with a BSc in 1906. In 1911, Bullock married his first wife,

Elsa Gye Elsa Gye (1881–1943) was a music student at Guildhall who became a suffragette and involved in disruptive events in London and Scotland and was imprisoned for the cause of women's suffrage. She married the brother of fellow suffragette Daisy ...

, who was a dedicated

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

. Bullock studied medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and in 1912 graduated there MBChB. In 1913 he received his

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 ...

qualification from the university, and won a gold medal for his medical thesis. He also won the Ellis Prize in Physiology for his essay, “The chemistry of nerve degeneration.” In 1913, he joined the staff of the

Imperial Cancer Research Fund 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 ...

, which at that time was under the direction of

Ernest Francis Bashford Ernest Francis Bashford OBE (1873 – 23 August 1923) was an influential English oncologist who pioneered the biological approach to the study of cancer. Early life Ernest Bashford was born in Bowdon, Cheshire, as the eldest son of William ...

. When

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

started, Bullock joined the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps a ...

and served in France and then Italy in charge of a field ambulance unit. He was reassigned to London as a hospital pathologist and worked with William Cramer on

gas gangrene Gas gangrene (also known as clostridial myonecrosis and myonecrosis) is a bacterial infection that produces tissue gas in gangrene. This deadly form of gangrene usually is caused by ''Clostridium perfringens'' bacteria. About 1,000 cases of gas g ...

. After demobilization with the rank of captain, he joined the

National Institute for Medical Research The National Institute for Medical Research (commonly abbreviated to NIMR), was a medical research institute based in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of north London, England. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC); In 2016, the NIMR b ...

at Hampstead, where he worked with Edgar Hartley Kettle on

silicosis Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneumoconiosis. Silicos ...

. In June 1919, William Bullock's wife retook her maiden name, and William Ewart Bullock changed his surname to "Gye", perhaps because he wanted to please his wife and perhaps because he was irritated by having to often explain that he was not the bacteriologist William Bulloch — there is a theory that the name change was in gratitude to a benefactor (not Bullock's wife or father-in-law). With W. J. Purdy, Gye conducted experiments confirming

Peyton Rous Francis Peyton Rous () (October 5, 1879 – February 16, 1970) was an American pathologist at the Rockefeller University known for his works in oncoviruses, blood transfusion and physiology of digestion. A medical graduate from the Johns Hopki ...

's claims concerning the Rous sarcoma virus. Gye was the director of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund's laboratories at Mill Hill from 1934 to 1949, when he resigned due to ill health. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1938 and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in 1940. Gye's and his first wife, Elsa, had three sons together. She died of cancer in 1943. On 30 December 1944, Gye married

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgery, surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Followin ...

Ida Mann (later Dame Ida Mann) and, in 1949, they moved to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gye, William Ewart 1889 births 1952 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British pathologists Cancer researchers Fellows of the Royal Society People from Breaston