Dr Annmarie Hedges-an appreciation.

Abstract

Dr Annmarie Hedges, a long-time member of the British Pharmacological Society, died peacefully on 9 August 2017. As the inaugural Press Editor of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, she set the benchmark for the high production values that have characterised the Journal ever since. Born in Lewes, Sussex, on 22 May 1944, Annmarie moved with her family first to Purley and then to Bristol, where she was to finish her primary education. Having passed her 11-plus examination, she began her secondary education at Colston Girls' School, which she continued to attend when her family moved to Chew Stoke in Somerset. She obtained her tertiary education at the University of Southampton, graduating in 1965 with a BSc Hons in Biochemistry and Physiology. This was to be followed by an MSc a year later. Having joined Professor Paul Turner's Department of Clinical Pharmacology at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, then based at 38 Little Britain, Annmarie, in conjunction with Professors Turner and Harvey, published a paper in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology in November 1971, ‘Preliminary studies on the central effects of lorazepam, a new benzodiazapine’ 1. She continued her research at Barts, which ultimately led to a PhD thesis titled ‘The response of some human isolated smooth muscle preparations to sympathomimetic amines and to beta adrenoceptor blocking drugs’. Having moved with the Department of Clinical Pharmacology to the William Harvey Research Institute in Charterhouse Square, Annmarie devoted much of her professional career to clinical pharmacology, and her final collaborative research paper reported on a new drug for preventing mountain sickness, benzolamide 2. Annmarie was an incredibly kind and respectful person, and all who came into contact with her, clinical and nonclinical colleagues alike, benefited from her wisdom, her patience, and an almost self-effacing desire to help. This desire to help was never more evident than in her dedication to the patients who attended St Bartholomew's weekly blood pressure clinic, many of whom thought that the clinic never felt ‘quite right’ without her, and continued to ask after her long after she had retired. However, Annmarie will be best remembered for her role as the Press Editor of the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, a role that was especially appreciated by all those who were associated with the Journal during her tenure – authors, editors, and publisher alike. The British Pharmacological Society launched the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology in 1974, under the inaugural editorship of Paul Turner, with Annmarie as Press Editor, a role that she would hold for the next 28 years. A painstaking and respectful Press Editor, editing and proofreading every paper before publication, Annmarie was highly respected by the academics with whom she came into contact, and many authors were grateful for her expert, but sensitive, editing of their research papers. Annmarie was equally assiduous when it came to proofreading (word-for-word against copy in those days, the typesetter having rekeyed the entire manuscript), and such was her devotion to the Journal that she would happily deal with multiple revised proofs before being satisfied that the paper could be passed on to production. As a member of the British Pharmacological Society, Annmarie regularly attended Society meetings, four a year in the early days of her role as Press Editor, and was equally painstaking when it came to editing the Clinical Section's abstracts for timely publication in the first available issue of the Journal. Away from the world of clinical pharmacology, Annmarie was a very keen gardener. Secretary of her local Allotment Society for many years, she was also a member of both the Royal Horticultural Society and the Fuchsia Society, volunteering at many highly prestigious London flower shows, including Chelsea and Hampton Court. Having joined the Knitting & Crochet Guild in 1988, Annmarie went on to become a Director, serving for 3 years from 2013 to 2016. Having reinvigorated the Central London branch in 2013, she was a regular attendee at branch meetings in South West London and helped to organise Guild stands at various yarn shows, where, as a fellow member observed, ‘she will be remembered for her calm and unflappable presence and her willingness to help and share her knowledge’. Annmarie also found time to volunteer at her local Oxfam Shop, doing two sessions a week and quickly coming to love meeting people visiting the shop. Annmarie will be greatly missed, but as one of her past colleagues so poignantly said, ‘Her soft power lives on in our culture’.