Remembering Emeritus Professor Robin Warren AC

Nobel Laureate Emeritus Professor Robin Warren AC will be remembered as a giant of pathology and medicine.

Professor Warren was born in Adelaide in 1937 and attended St Peter’s College in the Sturt electorate, followed by the University of Adelaide, graduating with an MB and BS in 1961.

He became a Junior Resident Medical Officer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and a Registrar in Haematology and Clinical Pathology at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, attached to the old Royal Adelaide Hospital. By 1967, he was a senior pathologist at the Royal Perth Hospital and was part of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. 

Professor Warren and gastroenterologist Professor Barry Marshall were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2005 for their groundbreaking research on peptic ulcer disease.

Their work on the bacterial basis for stomach ulcers revolutionised the treatment of gastro-duodenal ulcers.

As a result of their research, an antibiotic cure for peptic ulcers was developed that has led to a significant reduction worldwide in the prevalence of gastric cancer.

I extend my condolences to Professor Warren's family, friends and colleagues.

Vale Robin Warren.