Pizzas galore!

During his thirteen years at Wellcome Vanee had no more time for lab work as such, but he continued to exert his influence on research in different ways. He believed that if the most motivated scientists were recruited and allowed to work on problems of their own choice in a well-supported environment, then new ideas about disease mechanisms and ultimately new drugs would ensue. To implement this vision, he invited several of his old colleagues to form the nucleus of his personal research group.

Working mainly through Moncada, R. Gryglewski and S. Bunting, in 1976 this group discovered prostacyclin, a short-lived hormone that dilates blood vessels and prevents platelet aggregation. A chemical derivative was later commercialised for the treatment of hypertension. Under his guidance Wellcome produced several other important drugs during this time, including anti-viral agents, anti-gout drugs and muscle relaxants.

Vane’s contributions were increasingly recognised. In 1974 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society, in 1977 he won the Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award and in 1982 he shared with Bengt Samuelsson and Sune Bergstrom (obituary, August 21) the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on aspirin. In 1984 he was knighted in the New Year’s Honours List for services to pharmaceutical science. More than 50 other honorary degrees and fellowships followed over the years.

In 1986, aged 59, he left the Wellcome Foundation, but he had no intention of retiring. An invitation from St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School and an offer of some start-up funding from Glaxo Group Research gave him the chance to start up a new lab. He accepted with alacrity.

As always, his technique was to surround himself with colleagues whom he trusted and respected. Within a few years, the William Harvey Research Institute was born. Funding from Ono Pharmaceuticals in Japan enabled it to expand as more groups joined with Vane to promote his vision of a free-standing body dedicated to research into inflammation and cardiovascular topics. Though he rarely undertook lab work, Vane continued to influence the direction of the science, focusing again mainly on hormones affecting the heart and blood vessels, as well as the pharmacology of a new generation of anti-inflammatory drugs.

He retired as a full-time director of the institute in 1995, but still kept an office there. After the merger of the institute with the medical school in 2000 he took over the role of honorary chairman of the charitable William Harvey Research Foundation.

With its uncompromising regard for facts and evidence rather than beliefs, science is one area where people can work together unhindered by considerations of race, colour, creed or gender. Like most scientists Vane was a committed internationalist. His labs were full of researchers from around the world, and UK scientists usually constituted a minority. Of particular significance was his relationship with the Polish scientific community, which began in the late 1960s. He made many trips to Poland during the Cold War, often taking hard-toobtain scientific equipment and reagents with him and offering Polish scientists the opportunity to visit the West and to work in his laboratory. In 2003, his contribution was recognised by the award of the Polish Order of Merit.

As in many fields of medical research, Vane’s studies often depended on laboratory animals. This drew attention from animal rights extremists, who pursued a particularly vindictive campaign against him. Hate mail was sent, firebombs were thrown at his house and graffiti were daubed on his outbuildings. Vane remained an eloquent advocate for the responsible use of animals in scientific research, and offered moral support to others who had suffered in a similar way.

Although by nature rather a shy man, Vane was immensely sociable. He, his wife Daphne and his daughters Nicki and Miranda frequently entertained their friends and colleagues with enormous panache at their home, in restaurants and at scientific meetings around the world.

His wife and daughters survive him.

Sir John Vane, FRS, pharmacologist, was born on March 29, 1927. He died of pneumonia on November 19, 2004, aged 77.