Obituary - Anthony Lever, cardiovascular scientist who pioneered new forms of research

Died: March 25, 2018

PROFESSOR Anthony Lever, who has died aged 89, was the director and driving force of the Medical Research Council Blood Pressure Unit in Glasgow between 1967 and 1994 and, latterly, Professor Emeritus in the department of cardiovascular and medical sciences at the University of Glasgow.

Born in Surrey and educated in London, Professor Lever graduated BSc in 1952 and Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery in 1955. An outstanding student, he was awarded gold medals in pathology and medicine.

His postgraduate career was equally impressive and he became a house physician to the legendary Sir George Pickering, the father of British hypertension and cardiovascular research, at St Mary’s Hospital in London. A research fellowship, a lectureship and senior lectureship, together with membership and then fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of London, all followed in rapid succession.

In 1967, the Medical Research Council recognised the need to improve the understanding of mechanisms of hypertension and its complications. Tony Lever was invited to become director of the newly created MRC Blood Pressure Unit in Glasgow. When he came to Glasgow, he brought with him two young physicians interested in hypertension, Dr Ian Robertson and Dr Jehoida Brown. Working together, they introduced in Glasgow new ways of pursuing clinical research, with clinicians and scientists working together at the bench and then translating this knowledge to solve complex clinical problems at the bedside.

Under Professor Lever's leadership, the MRC Blood Pressure Unit became a major international centre of excellence known and respected in the UK, Europe and worldwide. Research fellows came from Australia, New Zealand, the Americas and many European countries. His trainees are now leaders of cardiovascular research throughout the world. Without exception, they have vivid recollections and fond memories of hard work combined with an excellent social life within Glasgow’s Blood Pressure Unit. With his notebook for original scientific ideas, Professor Lever was the life and soul of all these activities.

He also shared with many of his research fellows his great enthusiasm for salmon and trout fishing. Although the unit reached its natural end with Professor Lever’s retirement in 1994, research continued within the University of Glasgow’s department of medicine and therapeutics and its two externally funded blood pressure groups. In 2000, these two groups became the core of the BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre followed, in 2006, by the official opening of its new building at the University of Glasgow, which continues the tradition of excellence established by Professor Lever in the unit.

In 2006, Professor Lever was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the University of Glasgow. He was the author of over 400 published papers and book chapters. His research excellence has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Merck Sharp & Dohme Award of the International Society of Hypertension, as well as prestigious invited lectures, including the Croonian Lecture of the Royal College of Physicians and the Pickering Lecture of the British Hypertension Society.

A truly international cardiovascular scientist, Professor Lever will be sadly missed by his colleagues and friends at the University of Glasgow and across the UK as well as the international hypertension community. He is survived by his beloved wife, Rosemary, children, Catherine and Michael, and grandchildren, Lulu and Sam.

ANNA DOMINICZAK