Smoking causes cancer MRC scientist behind the revolutionary discovery
28 October 2009
Family, friends and eminent former colleagues joined members of the Medical Research Council (MRC) on Wednesday 28 October at the Royal Society in London to celebrate the launch of a new biography on Professor Sir Richard Doll, the world-renowned epidemiologist.
Conrad Keating pictured with MRC Chief Executive Sir Leszek Borysiewicz
The book, ‘Smoking Kills: The revolutionary life of Richard Doll’ by Conrad Keating, commemorates Doll’s long and illustrious career, including his ground-breaking work on smoking and cancer with Austin Bradford Hill in the 1950s, his working relationship with the MRC and his time spent as Director of the MRC Statistics Unit in the 1960s.
Born in 1912, Doll’s life covered much of the twentieth century and fulfilled his early ambition to be ‘a valuable member of society.’ He rejected his Establishment background and joined the Communist Party as a reaction against what he saw as the ‘anarchy and waste’ of the 1930’s. He treated the blistered feet of the Jarrow Hunger Marchers and served as a medical officer at the retreat of Dunkirk.
In 1950, Doll concluded in a research paper that smoking cigarettes was a ‘cause and an important cause’ of the rapidly increasing epidemic in lung cancer. His historic and contentious finding marked the beginning of a life-long crusade against premature death and the big tobacco companies and his legacy to public health research is staggering.
Author Conrad Keating said of Doll: “He ushered in a new era in medicine, shaped by the intellectual ascendancy of medical statistics, a revolution based substantially on his scientific contribution.”
Over several decades, Doll and his international collaborators identified the full hazards of smoking and the benefits of stopping, which has influenced public policy and behaviour. This has prevented millions of untimely deaths and culminated in government bans on smoking in enclosed places in many countries across the world.
The MRC continues to support the outputs and impact of Doll’s research: carrying out and funding a wide range of public-health research in the UK and worldwide. This work includes: epidemiology; investment in cohorts and biobanks; population research methodologies; and developing strategies for improving translational public health research including development and evaluation of interventions for disease prevention and health policy relevant to the UK through the MRC's partnership with NIHR.
