- Email: [email protected]
Remembering Jerry Morris on his 100th birthday
Preventive Medicine 51 (2010) 197–198
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Preventive Medicine j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / y p m e d
In Memoriam
Remembering Jerry Morris on his 100th birthday Professor Jeremy Noah Morris, physician: born Liverpool 6 May 1910; Professor of Public Health, University of London, at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 1967–78, Hon. Research Officer, 1978-; died London 28 October 2009 (Alcantara, 2009). When I came to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in 1973 in search of further training in epidemiology and public health, the chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the time, Professor Donald Reid, asked me whether I was prepared to dedicate more than a year to this training. He strongly advised me to take a new course for a Master of Science in Social Medicine which had just been developed by Professor Jerry Morris. Little did I know at the time how strongly this choice would influence my thinking, my understanding of public health and its function, and my scientific expectations. Nor did I know then (as I learned from a recent obituary of Jerry Morris in The Independent) that this was the course through which he intended to create: “…community physicians responsible for community diagnosis and intended to be the linchpin of the National Health Service in the UK” (Alcantara, 2009). Our training at the time included intensive courses in epidemiology and statistics complemented by a broad and at that time (and maybe even today) unusual understanding of the needs of public health specialists. Thus we were also taught sociology, social administration, health economics, and health services research. Although we did not see too much of Jerry Morris during the course, I remain deeply grateful for his vision of public health which probably influenced us more than we realised at the time. His research on the effects of physical activity on cardiovascular health became part of our lives - at a time when this did not attract as much interest as nowadays. This influenced not only our daily behaviour, but became increasingly important in an ever less active European population. He himself lived the way he considered healthy: walking, biking, and swimming in his free time, he travelled to and from the LSHTM on his bike or on foot until his very last year. Our class met him in 2008 at a class reunion. We were impressed by his lively accounts of how he became involved in clinical trials and how helpful statistical developments were for him especially when he initiated his major cohort studies after WWII. Not only the content, but also the methodology of his studies was exemplary: “In 1949 Morris made one of the most significant discoveries in post-war health – the link between lack of exercise and ill-health, specifically heart disease. His research among London bus drivers and conductors showed that, though both jobs were routinely filled by men with similar social backgrounds and status, yet there was a discrepancy in the heart-attack rate.Today it seems clear to all of us that exercise can help us avoid a
doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2010.06.005
number of illnesses, from heart disease to diabetes and obesity related illnesses, but then the link was unthought of. Rigorously tested and analysed, his paper, “Coronary heart disease and physical activity of work”, was only published in The Lancet in 1953, when Morris was truly convinced of the results” (Alcantara, 2009). Jerry Morris grew up in Glasgow, the son of an immigrant family. He studied medicine in London, where he qualified in 1934. He started his unusual career in public health at the Department of Public Health in Nottingham and moved on to become the Assistant Medical Officer of Health in Middlesex from 1939 to 1941. During the war he served as a clinical specialist in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Burma and India, and was one of the first to use penicillin clinically. After the war, he began his research career at the Medical Research Council's Social Medicine Unit in Northwest London, moving to the LSHTM in 1967, where his contract was eventually extended until the end of his life. As the director of the LSHTM, Professor Sir Andrew Haines, has said of Jerry Morris: "He was a towering figure in the history of epidemiology and public health. His work on the role of physical activity in preventing cardiovascular disease has had a worldwide impact. The elegance of design of his landmark study, comparing the incidence of heart disease in bus conductors and bus drivers, who were similar in many respects apart from the differences in exercise as a result of their occupational roles, provided early and persuasive evidence of the protective effect of physical activity. His book The Uses of Epidemiology influenced generations of students and remains a valuable text to this day. His continued commitment to reducing inequalities was evidenced by his recent work on the minimum income for healthy living, which deserves to be acted upon by policy-makers. He continued to work at LSHTM almost until the end of his life and was an abiding inspiration to colleagues. He will be sorely missed but has left a legacy of outstanding research and scholarship that will continue to influence future generations” (Alcantara, 2009). More could be said and has been written about Jerry Morris. He should be remembered as an outstanding epidemiologist, who laid the scientific foundation for many important preventive strategies - or as they are perhaps more fashionablly known today, health promotion activities. And for those of us who were his students, he will remain someone we will remember with great appreciation and gratitude. Reference Alcantara, S., 2009. Professor Jerry Morris: Scientist who first demonstrated the link between exercise and health. The Independent, Tuesday, 1 December 2009. http:// www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-jerry-morris-scientist-whofirst-demonstrated-the-link-between-exercise-and-health-1831678.html Accessed 16 May 2010.
198
In Memoriam
Ursula A. Ackermann-Liebrich University of Basel Swiss, TPH, Socinstrasse 57, PO Box Basel, 4002, Switzerland E-mail address: [email protected].
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Preventive Medicine j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / y p m e d
In Memoriam
Remembering Jerry Morris on his 100th birthday Professor Jeremy Noah Morris, physician: born Liverpool 6 May 1910; Professor of Public Health, University of London, at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 1967–78, Hon. Research Officer, 1978-; died London 28 October 2009 (Alcantara, 2009). When I came to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in 1973 in search of further training in epidemiology and public health, the chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the time, Professor Donald Reid, asked me whether I was prepared to dedicate more than a year to this training. He strongly advised me to take a new course for a Master of Science in Social Medicine which had just been developed by Professor Jerry Morris. Little did I know at the time how strongly this choice would influence my thinking, my understanding of public health and its function, and my scientific expectations. Nor did I know then (as I learned from a recent obituary of Jerry Morris in The Independent) that this was the course through which he intended to create: “…community physicians responsible for community diagnosis and intended to be the linchpin of the National Health Service in the UK” (Alcantara, 2009). Our training at the time included intensive courses in epidemiology and statistics complemented by a broad and at that time (and maybe even today) unusual understanding of the needs of public health specialists. Thus we were also taught sociology, social administration, health economics, and health services research. Although we did not see too much of Jerry Morris during the course, I remain deeply grateful for his vision of public health which probably influenced us more than we realised at the time. His research on the effects of physical activity on cardiovascular health became part of our lives - at a time when this did not attract as much interest as nowadays. This influenced not only our daily behaviour, but became increasingly important in an ever less active European population. He himself lived the way he considered healthy: walking, biking, and swimming in his free time, he travelled to and from the LSHTM on his bike or on foot until his very last year. Our class met him in 2008 at a class reunion. We were impressed by his lively accounts of how he became involved in clinical trials and how helpful statistical developments were for him especially when he initiated his major cohort studies after WWII. Not only the content, but also the methodology of his studies was exemplary: “In 1949 Morris made one of the most significant discoveries in post-war health – the link between lack of exercise and ill-health, specifically heart disease. His research among London bus drivers and conductors showed that, though both jobs were routinely filled by men with similar social backgrounds and status, yet there was a discrepancy in the heart-attack rate.Today it seems clear to all of us that exercise can help us avoid a
doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2010.06.005
number of illnesses, from heart disease to diabetes and obesity related illnesses, but then the link was unthought of. Rigorously tested and analysed, his paper, “Coronary heart disease and physical activity of work”, was only published in The Lancet in 1953, when Morris was truly convinced of the results” (Alcantara, 2009). Jerry Morris grew up in Glasgow, the son of an immigrant family. He studied medicine in London, where he qualified in 1934. He started his unusual career in public health at the Department of Public Health in Nottingham and moved on to become the Assistant Medical Officer of Health in Middlesex from 1939 to 1941. During the war he served as a clinical specialist in the Royal Army Medical Corps in Burma and India, and was one of the first to use penicillin clinically. After the war, he began his research career at the Medical Research Council's Social Medicine Unit in Northwest London, moving to the LSHTM in 1967, where his contract was eventually extended until the end of his life. As the director of the LSHTM, Professor Sir Andrew Haines, has said of Jerry Morris: "He was a towering figure in the history of epidemiology and public health. His work on the role of physical activity in preventing cardiovascular disease has had a worldwide impact. The elegance of design of his landmark study, comparing the incidence of heart disease in bus conductors and bus drivers, who were similar in many respects apart from the differences in exercise as a result of their occupational roles, provided early and persuasive evidence of the protective effect of physical activity. His book The Uses of Epidemiology influenced generations of students and remains a valuable text to this day. His continued commitment to reducing inequalities was evidenced by his recent work on the minimum income for healthy living, which deserves to be acted upon by policy-makers. He continued to work at LSHTM almost until the end of his life and was an abiding inspiration to colleagues. He will be sorely missed but has left a legacy of outstanding research and scholarship that will continue to influence future generations” (Alcantara, 2009). More could be said and has been written about Jerry Morris. He should be remembered as an outstanding epidemiologist, who laid the scientific foundation for many important preventive strategies - or as they are perhaps more fashionablly known today, health promotion activities. And for those of us who were his students, he will remain someone we will remember with great appreciation and gratitude. Reference Alcantara, S., 2009. Professor Jerry Morris: Scientist who first demonstrated the link between exercise and health. The Independent, Tuesday, 1 December 2009. http:// www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/professor-jerry-morris-scientist-whofirst-demonstrated-the-link-between-exercise-and-health-1831678.html Accessed 16 May 2010.
198
In Memoriam
Ursula A. Ackermann-Liebrich University of Basel Swiss, TPH, Socinstrasse 57, PO Box Basel, 4002, Switzerland E-mail address: [email protected].