Tessa Holyoake
Tessa Holyoake | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 March 1963 Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Died | 30 August 2017 (aged 54) Loch Tummel, Perthshire, UK |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Education | University of Glasgow (MD) |
| Occupation | medical doctor |
| Years active | 1945–2017 |
| Known for | discovered stem cell of chronic myeloid leukaemia |
| Relatives | Andy Holyoake (husband) |
| Medical career | |
| Institutions | University of Glasgow, Terry Fox Laboratory |
| Sub-specialties | oncology |
| Research | chronic myeloid leukaemia |
Tessa Laurie Holyoake was a Scottish haematology-oncology physician. She trained at the University of Glasgow, specialising in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), and discovered its stem cell. She developed drug treatment to target the abnormal CML stem cell, to go beyond the current lifelong tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment, but died of breast cancer at the age of 54 years, before she could see the full success of her discoveries.
Early life and education
Tessa Holyoake was born in Aberdeen, UK, on 17 March 1963. She attended Albyn School.[1] She studied medicine at the University of Glasgow, and graduated in 1985.[2]
Career
After specialisation as an oncologist she joined Cancer Research Campaign's laboratories in Glasgow as a clinical research fellow from 1992-1996. From 1996-1998 she worked at Terry Fox Laboratory in Vancouver and discovered that primitive stem cells in CML existed in a quiescent state, and therefore they did not respond to cell cycle-active agents like imatinib.[3]
In 1999, she returned to Glasgow Royal Infirmary and in 2004 was ordained as Professor of Experimental Haematology, and Director of the Leukaemia Research Centre.[2] In 2005, she first presented work showing that a combination of imatinib or dasatinib with a farnesyl transferase inhibitor was better at eradicating CML stem cells, which was published in 2007.[4]
Awards
Personal life
Holyoake was married to Andy Holoake, a general practicioner, and practised mountain biking, hill walking, and kayaking. They had no children. She died of metastatic breast cancer, diagnosed only one year prior.[2] She fundraised for the Leukaemia Research Centre by cycling and climbing munros.[6]
External links
- Interview 2014 YouTube
References
- ^ BMJ 2017; 358 Obituaries Tessa Holyoake 12 September 2017
- ^ a b c Geoff Watts (7 October 2017). "Obituary Tessa Laurie Holyoake". The Lancet. 390: 1640. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32557-6.
- ^ Holyoake T1, Jiang X, Eaves C, Eaves A.Isolation of a highly quiescent subpopulation of primitive leukemic cells in chronic myeloid leukemia.Blood. 1999 Sep 15;94(6):2056-64.
- ^ Copland M, Pellicano F, Richmond L, Allan EK, Hamilton A, Lee FY, Weinmann R, Holyoake TL. BMS-214662 potently induces apoptosis of chronic myeloid leukemia stem and progenitor cells and synergizes with tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Blood. 2008 Mar 1;111(5):2843-53. Erratum in: Blood. 2008 May 1;111(9):4830.
- ^ Connie J.Eaves (20 September 2017). "Tessa Laurie Holyoake, (March 17, 1963 – August 30, 2017): Remembering a Life That Knew No Boundaries". Experimental Hematology. doi:10.1016/j.exphem.2017.09.005.
- ^ "'A brilliant lady in every sense of the word' tributes paid to ground breaking University of Glasgow professor". Glasgow live. 7 September 2017.
| Authority control databases: Academics |
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