Derek Bangham

He was born in Manchester, England on 19 September 1924 and attended The Downs School, near Malvern, where his teachers included W. H. Auden, and Bryanston School.[1]

He was declared medically unfit to serve during World War II, and instead read biological sciences at King's College London, afterwards attending University College Hospital Medical School.[1]

In 1952, he gave up medical practice to join the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), investigating parasites. He was promoted to Head of the Division of Biological Standards at the NIMR in 1961.[1]

From 1972 to 1987 he was Head of the Hormones Division of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC).[2]

He was also a member of the World Health Organization's European committee on biological standardization, the committee of the European Pharmacopoeia and the committee of the British Pharmacopoeia Commission.[1]

Bangham was an accomplished amateur artist.[1] Two of his paintings are in the collection of the Royal Free Hospital.[3]

He died on 2 January 2008. His brother was Alec Bangham.[1]

Bangham was married to Alison Mary Bangham (née Harington), a fellow doctor who he met at University College Hospital. They were married in 1952.[4]

• Silver plate of the Society for Endocrinology (1986; the first awarded) for his "distinguished contribution to British endocrinology"[1]
• Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians (1981)[1]

• A history of biological standardization: the characterization and measurement of complex molecules important in clinical and research medicine : contributions from the UK 1900-1995 : what, why, how, where and by whom. published with the assistance of the Society for Endocrinology. 1999.

• Derek Bangham on the History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group website
• 2 artworks by or after Derek Bangham at the Art UK site