John Mallard: his last ten years of professional work

The 2003 Nobel Prize was very controversial and there were many wild claims, counter claims and questions asked as to why scientists with significant direct patient related MRI achievements (such as the MRI whole-body diagnostic imaging tool for cancer patients) were not considered.

Like many, I wondered why wasn’t Professor John Mallard included in the Nobel Prize Awardees?

There’s no doubt that Mallard’s Aberdeen research group designed and built the very first whole-body MRI scanner. It was so successful, it was immediately fully booked for many years to come, diagnosing the patient’s cancer location and spread.

Question

Why did it take eleven years after the Aberdeen whole-body cancer case was first internationally reported?

Co-incidentally, the 2003 Nobel Prize for MRI occurred virtually the same time as when John Mallard retired from his Aberdeen work.

Having met and established a distant professional connection with John Mallard in 1977, I decided to research the literature and discover a more detailed history of the NMR to MRI evolution into clinical practice. The previous chapters of this article provide many in-depth stories of scientists involved in NMR (later called MRI) who received International Award recognition.

Sadly, I found that John Mallard’s last ten years of work at the Aberdeen Hospital and University were far from happy times, despite the very high accolades that came with inventing the first MRI whole-body CT scanner. The Aberdeen university and hospital administrators had caused him and his staff many bitter experiences that lasted until his eventually retirement.

During that time, the UK economy had slumped into severe recession. The top priority for the Government and associated departments was to cut funding. Consequently, the Aberdeen administrators were intent on reducing the medical physics budget and relocate Mallard’s staff to other medical and university departments.

To read the full story, click ……………more

Lessons learnt – have we?

For clinical and university health professional researchers, this story is a lesson to be learnt.

No matter how good or how earth-shattering the research in an institution may be at the time, on-going work is still heavily reliant on the complex administrative networks that control budgeting – nationally and locally.

Maintaining solid trust and mutual respect between administrators and Heads of hospital and/or university research centres (as part of the clinical work), is an art for us all to learn and never take for granted.

Lyn D. Oliver AM PhD MSc, 24 August 2022

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