Background
He was born on the island of Islay of the western Scottish coast on 8 October 1921. He was the son of John Currie and Maggie Mactaggart.
He was born on the island of Islay of the western Scottish coast on 8 October 1921. He was the son of John Currie and Maggie Mactaggart.
He attended Portuguese Ellen Primary School then Bowmore High School. He was then sent to the mainland to attend Glasgow High School for his final school years, from whence he studied Medicine at Glasgow University graduating Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery in 1944. He then studied as a postgraduate at Edinburgh University.
He was eminent in the field of cancer research and humanitarian causes. From 1947 he lectured in Pathology at Glasgow University. In 1959 he took a job in London with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund as Head of Pathology, beginning a lifelong connection with cancer research.
In 1962 he was offered the Regius Professor chair in Pathology at Aberdeen University.
His research began to concentrate on cell death. During this he did joint research with the Australian, John Kerr, and Andrew Wyllie.
They called this process apoptosis, publishing their results in 1972. Glasgow University and Aberdeen Universities each awarded him an honorary doctorate: Doctor of Laws from Glasgow and Doctor of Science from Aberdeen.
In 1964 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
His proposers were George L Montgomery, James Norman Davidson, Thomas Symington and Richard H A Swain. He served as their Vice-President 1988-1990 and President 1991-1993
He died in Edinburgh on 12 January 1994. Chairman of the Medical Research Council 1976-1980
Chairman of the Cancer Research Campaign Scientific Committee 1979-1983
Vice President of the Cancer Research Campaign Scientific Committee 1988-1990
Vice Chairman of the Caledonian Research Foundation 1989-1994
Chairman of the Board of Governors, Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, in Glasgow 1984-1991
Chairman, Paterson Institute for Cancer Research, Manchester 1990-1992
Advisor to Canada"s Scientific Advisory Council 1982-1988.