Prof. J. H. Burn

Abstract

PROF. J. H. BURN has been appointed to the chair' of pharmacology in the University of Oxford. At Cambridge, Burn was president of the Union. After serving as a temporary lieutenant in the Royal Engineers he obtained his M.B. degree in 1920, and joined the staff of the National Institute for Medical Research under Sir Henry Dale. In 1925, he was appointed director of the Pharmacological Department of the College of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Later he became Dean of the College, and was given the title of professor of pharmacology in the University of London. During the last twelve years he has been responsible for thousands of pharmacological tests carried out on behalf of manufacturing firms. This work has given him an unrivalled experience of the fundamental scientific work upon which a great industry depends. Through his own work, and that of his colleagues, he has devised new tests and improved old ones for a large number of hormones, vitamins, synthetic chemo-therapeutic agents, and plant extracts. Besides all this, he has found time to do fundamental pharmacological work, particularly on vasoconstrictor and vasodilator nerves, and to write several books. He has built up a department which is not only famous for its contributions to knowledge, but has also had a direct effect in raising the standard of pharmaceutical products in Great Britain. With the appointment of Prof. Burn, Oxford should look forward to a period of great activity in her Department of Pharmacology.