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Dr denis burkit biography

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This biography of Dr. Denis Parsons Burkitt, after whom the childhood cancer Burkitt's lymphoma was named, and who was a pioneer of the dietary fiber movement, paints a personal but holistic portrait of both the man and his life's work. Featuring excerpts from Dr. Burkitt's personal diaries, spanning seven decades from his boyhood to just before his passing, and extensive family archives, this book invites readers to follow Burkitt's journey through life and experience his tribulations and successes. Prof. John Cummings was a colleague of Dr. Burkitt and weaves the tale of his life through the lens of family, faith, and science.
The journey takes Burkitt from his childhood in Ireland, a country undergoing major social upheaval, through his medical studies in Dublin, to army service in Africa in the midst of WWII and the independence movements that swept the continent in the following years. During his two decades spent in Uganda, working for the Colonial Medical Service, Burkitt made his first major contribution to cancer research - the characterization of Burkitt's lymphoma and

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Biography
  • Born on February 28, 1911 in Enniskillen, Ireland (became Northern Ireland, UK in 1921)
  • 1933 – BA, Trinity College, Dublin
  • 1935 – MB, Trinity College, Dublin
  • 1938 – Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh following surgical training jobs in Chester, Dublin, Preston, and Poole
  • 1941 – Volunteered for the Royal Army Medical Corps but declined as he had previously lost his right eye in an accident in 1922
  • 1942 – Served as surgeon with the 219 Field Ambulance near Norwich
  • 1943 – Posted to a military hospital in Mombasa, Kenya. Burkitt decided his future lay in providing surgical service in the developing world, and was intent on being a missionary as well as a surgeon. He continued to work as a medical officer in Uganda after the war.
  • 1946 – Returned to the UK to complete his MD. Then joined the British Colonial Service and served first as a public health officer in Lira, in the Lango District of Central Uganda. Burkitt suggested an association between the prevalence of hydrocele, its geograph
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    Denis Burkitt and the African lymphoma

    Abstract

    Burkitt lymphoma has provided a model for the understanding of the epidemiology, the molecular abnormalities that induce tumours, and the treatment of other lymphomas. It is important to remember that the early phases of this work were conducted in Africa where today, unfortunately, the disease usually results in death because of limited resources, even though most children in more developed countries are cured. This must be changed. In addition, it is time to re-explore, with modern techniques, some of the questions that were raised some 50 years ago shortly after Burkitt’s first description, as well as new questions that can be asked only in the light of modern understanding of the immune system and the molecular basis of tumor development. The African lymphoma has taught us much, but there is a great deal still to be learned.

    Discovery of the tumour

    Denis Parsons Burkitt was born in 1911 in Enniskillen, the picturesque county town of Fermanagh, now in Northern Ireland. ‘Enniskillen’ is derived from a Gaelic word meaning Ceithl

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