Life Members

Robert “Bob” Walsh was amongst the first to be involved with blood in Sydney during the Second World War. Transfusions were rare in 1940 with only 400 donors available for the whole of NSW. Bob Walsh was seconded from Sydney Hospital in 1941 and oversaw the recruitment of 10,000 donors in three months.

Roy Simmons was an early pioneer in the study of blood groups in Australia. Largely self-taught, he commenced his research career at the CSL in 1936. Roy’s interest in blood groups began during the war in 1940. He was soon working in establishing the production of anti-Rh (D) following the finding of the high-titre donor by Rachel Jakobowicz in 1943.

Edgar Thomson, began his pathology career in 1929 in NZ, becoming an RACP foundation fellow in 1938. He had a strong commitment to transfusion medicine and was a founding member of the NSW BTS Committee in World War 2. He completed active service in 1946 as lieutenant colonel, having worked as a pathologist and as assistant director of hygiene, pathology and entomology at Land Headquarters. He became an honorary surgeon to HM the Queen and honorary colonel of the RAAMC on discharge.

In 1943, Rachel, who in 1938, fled Germany with the rise of Adolf Hitler, co-authored a landmark paper in the MJA which would positively impact the survival and delivery of Rh D positive babies born to Rh D negative mothers.  Working with Lucy Bryce, Jack Graydon and Roy Simmons (CSL) and Carl Landsteiner she surveyed the incidence of his newly described Rh antigen in blood donors and in mothers delivering babies with haemolytic disease of the new-born (HDNB).  As CSL began to amass anti-D serum from blood donors, the foundation was set for clinical diagnosis and prevention of RhD HDNB.

John Angas McLean was appointed as the first “resident assistant pathologist” at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne and amongst the first to hold a position of “haematologist” in Australia. He was a fellow of RACP and RCPA and served on the HSA and ISH Council. He was noted as an Australian pioneer in combining clinical observation and care with laboratory research and diagnosis. McLean was an early proponent of bone marrow aspiration and became a highly regarded morphologist. His predominant interest was in the use of blood transfusion and in the management of haemophilia.

In 1949, John (Jock) Staveley was appointed as haematologist to the Auckland Hospital (after working as a junior pathologist) and was also the medical officer in charge of the Auckland Blood Transfusion Service before becoming the director of that organisation.

John Dacie qualified in medicine at Kings College Hospital Medical School, London, UK, in 1936 and underwent training in haematology at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School and Manchester Royal Infirmary where he developed a lifelong interest in the field of haemolytic anaemia. He was appointed the first professor of haematology in the UK in 1956, at Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, where he remained until he retired. He published the first edition of his textbook in laboratory practice Practical Haematology (1950) in collaboration with Mitchell Lewis, was the founder and editor of the British Journal of Haematology and a founding member of the British Society for Haematology.

Eric Shaw became a pathologist in 1942, officer in charge of the 103^rd Australian Mobile Laboratory, in northern W.A where he studied the treatment of shock using albumin. On discharge in 1945, he was appointed the first fulltime director of Queensland BTS and member of the National BTS Committee. He was consultant director of the PNG BTS and part-time lecturer at the University of Queensland.

Ron graduated in medicine from University of Adelaide in 1942. After war service he held pathology & clinical registrar positions in Adelaide and Brisbane before going to London in 1951 to work with Sir John Dacie. He settled in Melbourne in 1952 and was awarded an Alfred Hospital research fellowship to work on a haemophilia project with Dr Paul Fantl, an expert biochemist, at the Baker Medical Research Institute. Together they made critical discoveries about the separation and diagnosis of Factor VIII & IX deficiencies. Ron established haemophilia clinical care programs & a registry & co-founded the Haemophilia Society of Victoria with his patients and their families. He became Director of Laboratory Haematology at Alfred in 1963 and continued his excellent support of patients with bleeding disorders until his retirement in 1984. The Ronald Sawers Haemophilia Centre at The Alfred is named in his honour.

Dr Peter Booth arrived in Port Moresby in October 1962 to take up the position of the first Director of the Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service in the Territory of Papua New Guinea.

Gordon Archer began his career as a pathology registrar under Edgar Thomson in 1954. He commenced working at the blood bank in 1957 where he studied the phagocytosis of antibody coated red cells by eosinophils and the relationship between white cells and allergy. His research commitment resulted in his election as president of the Australian Society of Medical Research in 1965.

Judith graduated in medicine from University of Sydney in 1950. She worked in many disciplines and institutions in the USA & UK before undertaking training at the UK National Blood Transfusion Service in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1955. In 1959 she was appointed as a serologist at the Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service in Adelaide, with subsequent ancillary hospital appointments. She established a tissue typing laboratory, the third in Australia, initially in support of local renal transplantation programs. Her laboratory developed a large reference collection of HLA antigens & antibodies, including the first such characterisations in Australian indigenous peoples. Judith was President of the Australian Tissue Typing Association from 1981-83 and of the Australian and South East Asian Tissue Typing Association.

Bob Beal was one of the most recognised people in Australian haematology and blood transfusion. He commenced his career as a research fellow in 1959 at RPAH.  Appointed as Director of the Red Cross BTS in Adelaide in 1964. He was a Clinical Professor at Flinders Medical School and a founding member of the Society.

James P. Isbister graduated from the University of NSW in 1967. He undertook postgraduate training in haematology at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney and Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London. Returning to Australia he became a consultant at  St Vincent’s Hospital and in 1983 was appointed as head of haematology at Royal North Shore Hospital and later emeritus Physician from 2004.

Harry Kronenberg was key in establishing and nourishing the new specialty of haematology in Australia. Committed to education and focussing on laboratory haematology, for more than a decade, he was Chairman of the Education Board and Chief haematology examiner for the RCPA. In 1971 he chaired the NSW BTS Scientific Committee (1971-2001). He insisted on trainee exposure to transfusion medicine and covered the hosting of the XIXth ISBT Congress in Sydney. Harry was recognised with an AM in 2001 for services to haematology, transfusion medicine and education. The RCPA recognised Harry as a Distinguished Fellow in 2000.

Peter graduated from Sydney University with  BSc( Med) and MB BS degrees (in 1957 and 1959 respectively), and obtained a PhD from ANU in 1965. He joined CSL in 1965 and held positions of Chief of Research, R & D Director and Medical Director of the Bioplasma Division over a 34 year career with the company. His contribution was recognised in 1999 by the establishment of the Peter Schiff Award.

After post-graduate studies in transfusion in Edinburgh, Graeme went to Libya and then Papua New Guinea to establish and develop national transfusion services. He was the Medical Director of the Auckland Blood Transfusion Services from 1976 to 1998. After retirement from the Auckland Blood Service, he was appointed as an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Pathology at Auckland University from 1998-2020.

Derek qualified in Microbiology, Haematology and Blood Transfusion in England. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1961 to work at the University of Otago Medical School. In 1971 he moved to Australia becoming the Director of the WHO National Blood Group Reference Laboratory.

Richard began his training in Medicine in the late 1950s and undertook early specialist training in Haematology at St Thomas’ Hospital, London. In 1967 he migrated Australia and continued his training in Adelaide. In 1975, he was appointed to a specialist position in Canberra responsible for both promoting the development of cancer services for the ACT and overseeing the development of the ACT Division of the ARC Blood Transfusion Service until its incorporation into the ARCBS in 1996.   Following retirement in 2000, he spent time with the newly created NZBS. Then from 2004 to 2019 he was employed as a medical officer by the TGA attached to the Office of Devices, Blood and Tissues.

Dawn was awarded the Order of Australia (AO) in 2019 for ‘service to Nursing and to Medicine in the Field of Haematology as an expert clinician and as a mentor’. This peak Australian recognition was well deserved after a lifetime of historic contributions; she was also made a life Governor of the Haemophilia Foundation of Australia and was awarded the Flinders University Medal (1993).  Stem cell collection remains a passion and she has published extensively.

Robyn Barlow had a long association with the Society commencing with her employment in 1969 at the Red Cross NSW Blood Transfusion Service as it then was, until her retirement in 2006.  Robyn became the Coordinator of the NSW Rh Anti-D Programme in which special donors donated plasma containing high levels of anti-D for the prophylaxis of Rh Haemolytic Disease of the Newborn. Robyn  served as Executive Officer of the Joint Congress of the International Society of Haematology and the International Society of Blood Transfusion which was held in Sydney in 1986. Robyn’s contribution to the Rh Program was extraordinary. She built very strong relationships with each of the Rh donors  leading to a faithful and long-standing commitment by those donors which ensured adequate supplies of anti-D plasma over decades.  Robyn’s passion and contribution to the Rh Project was recognised by her selection as Ruth Sanger Orator in 2005.

Dr Anthony Keller graduated from Sydney University and after spending 7 years in the U.K, pursued a career in Immunology and Transfusion Medicine. Following his appointment as head of the Hunter Valley in 1980 he became Director of the West Australian Blood Transfusion Service in 1984. In 1996 after the establishment of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service he served on the National Executive before taking on the role of National Donor and Product Safety Manager for the organisation as well as taking on the role of Manager of the Northern Territory Blood Service He has published over 60 peer-reviewed research papers and was a member of the Council of Europe Expert Committee on Transfusion (SP-GTS) for several years.

Kevin Rickard began his career in haematology at St Vincent’s hospital Melbourne before moving overseas to work at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London and St Elisabeth’s Hospital and Tufts University in Boston USA. Moving back to Australia, He was appointed as a specialist at the Royal Prince Alfred hospital in Sydney. In 1986, following many years of advocacy, he founded the Haemophilia Centre at the RPAH, Sydney. This Centre remains the focus of adult haemophilia care in NSW and is recognised worldwide as a World Federation of Haemophilia International Training Centre.

Wendy trained in medicine and haematology in Sydney and completed her PhD on a Rhodes Scholarship at the University of Oxford.  She has worked as a Consultant Haematologist in Perth and Cambridge (UK). In these positions she has been Head of Haematology (WA Centre for Pathology and Medical Research, Perth) and Addenbrooke’s Hospital (Cambridge University NHS Foundation Trust).

Anne studied at the University of Sydney achieving a BSc, MSc and PhD. In 1969 she began work for the NSW Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service from 1969) and in 1997 became a senior executive in the newly established Australian Red Cross Blood Service with responsibility for the strategic direction of R&D, ethics, and haemovigilance.

John trained in medical science at King Edward Hospital in Perth and developed an interest in blood group serology while working on HDNB cases. He subsequently took a position as scientist in charge of the blood bank at the Repatriation hospital followed by senior positions in Transfusion Medicine at Royal Perth Hospital from 1977 to retirement in 2007. John gained a Fellowship in Blood Transfusion from the AIMS in 1974 and was an examiner in that programme from 1987 to 2016. He was an inaugural member of the committee established to develop pre-transfusion testing guidelines and subsequently the inaugural WA representative on the Scientific Sub-committee. He chaired the NPAAC drafting committee for the establishment of Standards for Transfusion Laboratory Practice and was a transfusion laboratory assessor for NATA from 1987 until retirement.

Ken Davis was born in Scotland moving to Australia where he had a distinguished career in transfusion science. He was the chief biomedical scientist in the blood bank at Royal Adelaide hospital for over 30 years. Ken was committed to education and improving transfusion practice throughout his career. He was a Fellow of the Faculty of Science of the RCPA. He was a member of the ANZSBT Scientific sub-committee and closely involved in the drafting of Guidelines on both pretransfusion testing and blood grouping in the antenatal and perinatal setting. He was the Society President from 2003 to 2007.

Blandina graduated from RMIT (major: Immunohaematology) and in 1980 started work at the Red Cross Blood Bank in Victoria which later became part of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (now ARC Lifeblood).

Following completion of training in medical laboratory science, Jennifer worked in hospital transfusion laboratories in Melbourne, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London and the National Blood Group Reference Laboratory CSL, Melbourne.

Alison’s first encounter with ASBT was attending the 1987 HSA/ASBT meeting on Hamilton Island during a Queensland cyclone. At that time, she was Director of the Haemophilia Centre at Alfred Health, focussing on preventing and managing transfusion transmitted HIV/HBV/HCV. She worked closely with governments and blood and blood product providers to improve product safety, advocating strongly for the early adoption of recombinant FVIII products. She was a foundation member of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service board and chaired their Research Advisory Committee before being appointed to the National Blood Authority Advisory Board and Chair of their Haemovigilance Advisory Committee. Alison was honoured with life membership of ANZSBT in 2015.

Merrole Cole-Sinclair trained in clinical and laboratory haematology in Australia and is currently Head, Laboratory Haematology, and Chair of the Transfusion Committee at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne; with an honorary appointment in the Department of Pathology at the University of Melbourne. She has been closely involved with the RCPA as a Board member, Chief Examiner for Haematology and received the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2009. She has also been the Chair of the Transfusion Outcomes Research Collaborative and Chair of the Australian Committee of Joint College Training in Haematology (RACP/RCPA). She is a member of the National Pathology Accreditation Advisory Council, the Serious Transfusion Incident Reporting Expert Group [DHHS Victoria] and the Council of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Jim Faed graduated in medicine from the University of Otago in 1969. He undertook postgraduate training in haematology and blood transfusion in Dunedin and Edinburgh. He returned to New Zealand to take up an academic position at the University of Otago and Head of the Blood Transfusion Service in Dunedin. He was a member of the New Zealand Blood Transfusion Advisory Committee in the 1990s and an active contributor to the New Zealand Blood Service following its establishment in 1998.

Peter trained in medicine and haematology in the UK. He worked for the blood service in England from 1987 to 1998 when he moved to New Zealand to take up the role of National Medical Director in the newly established New Zealand Blood Service. He was a member of the WHO Expert panel in Transfusion and an expert in Council of Europe committees.  He was closely involved with the International Society of Blood Transfusion as President in 2012-14 and then Chair of the Standing Committee on Ethics for many years. He was responsible for a major review of the Society’s Code of Ethics.

Beverleigh is the Education Manager in Transfusion Policy and Education at Lifeblood to promote safe and appropriate blood transfusion practice and the implementation of patient blood management strategies. She is a Transfusion Nurse Educator with an extensive background in haematology and bone marrow transplant nursing. She completed a PhD that explored recipient recovery after Blood Stem Cell Transplantation and a Masters of Nursing (Advanced Practice). Beverleigh is the Nursing advisor to the SA Department of Health’s BloodSafe program. She is an active member of the Transfusion Practitioners group of the ANZSBT.

John trained in Medicine at Monash University and completed Haematology training at Geelong Hospital, Alfred Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He took a position of Staff Haematologist at the Royal Brisbane Hospital (RBH) and, after a period of study leave at University Hospital of Wales (Molecular Genetics of Haemophilia), was appointed Director of Haematology at RBH and later Director of Haematology for the statewide service. He was Chairman of Australian Haemophilia Centre Directors Organisation 2003-2007.

Training in medical science at the Department of Immunology, University of Melbourne, Robyn majored in haematology and immunology at RMIT. She reached ‘escape velocity’ from Australia to work at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Transfusion Unit in London in 1977, specializing in transfusion science. Her PhD studies were in the emerging field of platelet and neutrophil immunology, with Prof Alan Waters with regular, critical review by Sir John Dacie. Graduating from the University of London in 1983, Robyn returned home with an unquenchable passion for transfusion research. She moved from academia at RMIT to Chief Scientist in the QLD Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service. She received ANZSBT Presidential Symposium awards (1985, 1991). Serving two separate terms as ANZSBT Council member, including one as Treasurer, she convened the 2001 Brisbane ASM.

David completed his undergraduate Medical Science training at RMIT, Melbourne, followed by Master of Applied Science post-graduate studies at the University of South Australia, and subsequently completing his PhD at Flinders University. His career involved work in Transfusion laboratories and for many years he was Head of the SA Pathology Transfusion Service. He was a very active member of the ANZSBT serving as Secretary between 1993 and 1995, Treasurer from 1995 to 1999 and 2003 to 2009 and chaired The TSSC from 2007 to 2017. He was a member of the ISBT Clinical Transfusion Working Party, chair of the Transfusion RCPAQAP and numerous other national committees and working groups.

Amanda trained in medicine in Sydney and then completed haematology training becoming a dual FRACP/FRCPA fellow. After working at the North London Blood Transfusion Centre for several years, she returned to the NSW Blood Service, subsequently taking up haematology appointments in Sydney. She also continued roles as specialist with the ARC Lifeblood and as medical editor/writer with BloodSafe eLearning Australia.

ANZSBT acknowledges Australia’s and New Zealand’s First Nations Peoples as the traditional owners and custodians of these two lands and their surrounding waters, also acknowledging and paying respect to their elders, past, present, and emerging.