Well, the thing is John, when I first left school, I started to work as a VERY, VERY junior member of staff at the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory when it was in London. At that time Dr Kenneth Goldsmith was the Director, but others working there were Dr Carolyn Giles, Dr Elizabeth (Jan) Ikin, and a VERY young Joyce Poole. Across the carpark was the MRC Blood Group Unit, run by Drs Rob Race and Ruth Sanger, where Dr Patricia Tippett worked, along with Geoff Daniels, for a while Christine Lomas (before she went to the USA and became Christine Lomas-Francis) and, for a short time, Dr Marcela Contreras (before she became a Dame and a Professor). Just up the corridor was another set of laboratories run by Profs Walter Morgan and Winifred Watkins (and the janitor was one Sid Smith - after whom the SID Blood Group System was named).
As you can imagine, with all those "NAMES" working in such a small area of London, it was like a magnet for all of the other world's greats to come and visit (I even met Dr Arthur Mourant and Dr Philip Levine on visits).
With all these people, ALL of whom were amazingly helpful to even me, as someone who had just left school, what else could I do but fall deeply in love with the profession, and count my blessings from day one until I retired 43 years later. I have been one lucky man.
holly4874 reacted to Malcolm Needs in Dr Patricia Tippett.Well, the thing is John, when I first left school, I started to work as a VERY, VERY junior member of staff at the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory when it was in London. At that time Dr Kenneth Goldsmith was the Director, but others working there were Dr Carolyn Giles, Dr Elizabeth (Jan) Ikin, and a VERY young Joyce Poole. Across the carpark was the MRC Blood Group Unit, run by Drs Rob Race and Ruth Sanger, where Dr Patricia Tippett worked, along with Geoff Daniels, for a while Christine Lomas (before she went to the USA and became Christine Lomas-Francis) and, for a short time, Dr Marcela Contreras (before she became a Dame and a Professor). Just up the corridor was another set of laboratories run by Profs Walter Morgan and Winifred Watkins (and the janitor was one Sid Smith - after whom the SID Blood Group System was named).