Michael Mason Prize
Michael
Mason qualified from Oxfordand St Bartholomew’s Hospital London and, after general medical training,
decided to become a rheumatologist. After training under the direction of the
late Dr W S C Copeman and Dr Oswald Savage he was appointed Consultant in
Physical Medicine at The London Hospital, as a second consultant in that
department with Dr W S Tenger, in 1955. Nevertheless his practice was in the
wider aspects of rheumatology and with Dr W S Tegner he set about enlarging the
department at The London, and transforming it into the Department of
Rheumatology. This led to the establishment of an associated academic
professorial unit in Rheumatology in the University of Londonat The London Hospital Medical College. Additionally he was instrumental in the
development of the Bone and Joint Research at The London Hospital Medical
College.
He became
renowned as a clinical rheumatologist and had the honour of presenting the
Heberden Round in 1966. He was subsequently President of the Heberden Society,
President of the British Association of Rheumatology and Rehabilitation and the
first President of the re-constituted British League Against Rheumatism from
1973 until his death in 1977.
Additionally
he was civilian consultant in rheumatology to the Royal Air Force and
consultant rheumatologist to the King Edward VII Hospital for Officers and to the Royal MasonicHospital.
When Dr W s
C Copeman was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Arthritis and
Rheumatism Council, Dr Michael Mason became Chairman of the arc Executive, and subsequently of the
combined Executive and Finance Committees.
He visited Australia on two occasions and determined to try
and foster the exchange of junior rheumatology staff between the United Kingdom and Australia, in both directions, but
regrettably this did not come to fruition during his lifetime.
His
untimely death was during the International Congress of Rheumatology in San Francisco on the 30thJune 1977 just three months before he had planned to retire at the age of 60
years. Two memorial fellowships – The Michael Mason Fellowships – were set up
by the Arthritis Rheumatism Council of Great Britain and the Australian
Rheumatism Association to bring about the exchange of junior staff between the United Kingdom and Australasiaas he would have wished.
The British
Society fir Rheumatology established the Michael Mason Prize to encourage
excellence amongst its younger members. Past winners were:
2009
Dr
K RAZA, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham:
‘Early rheumatoid
arthritis: the window narrows’
2008
Dr
A BARTON, University of Manchester, Manchester:
‘Genetics of
rheumatoid arthritis – where are we up to and how does this impact clinically?’
2007
None
Awarded
2006 None Awarded
2005 Dr I BRUCE, University of Manchester, Manchester:
‘Not only but also”:
factors that contribute to accelerated atherosclerosis and premature coronary
heart disease (CHD) in systemic lupus erythematosus’
2004 Dr A RAHMAN, Centre for Rheumatology, University CollegeLondon:
‘Autoantibodies,
lupus and the science of sabotage’
2003 Dr C BUCKLEY, MRC Centre for Immune
Regulation, Birmingham:
‘Why do leucocytes accumulate within chronically
inflamed joints?’
2002 Dr A COPE, Kennedy Institute for
Rheumatology, London:
‘Exploring the reciprocal relationship between
immunity and inflammation in chronic inflammatory arthritis’
2001 Dr I McINNES, University of Glasgow:
‘Novel Cytokines in
Rheumatoid Arthritis Synovitis: Do Cytokine Networks Offer Therapeutic
Opportunities?’
2000 Dr P BOWNESS, Nuffield Orthopaedic
Centre, Oxford:
‘HLA B27 in Health and
Disease: a double-edged sword?’
1999 Dr J ISAACS, University of Leeds:
‘From Bench to
Bedside’
1998 Dr R MOOTS, Liverpool University:
‘A Fistful of T Cells’
1997 Dr S RALSTON, University of Aberdeen:
‘Nitric Acid and Bone:
What a Gas!’
1996 Dr C PITZALIS, Guy’s Hospital:
‘Role of Adhesion
Mechanisms in the Pathogenisis of Chronic Synovitis’
1995 Dr
K A DAVIES, Rheumatology Unit, RoyalPostgraduate MedicalSchool, Du Cane Road, London:
‘Complement, Immune
Complexes and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus’
1994 Dr
C G MACKWORTH-YOUNG, Riverside Rheumatology Service, Charing Cross Hospital,
Fulham Palace Road, London:
‘Antiphospholipid
Antibodies and Disease.’
1993 Dr
D P M SYMMONS, ARC Epidemiology Research Unit, StopfordBuilding, University of Manchester,
Oxford Road, Manchester:
‘From Alpha to Omega –
Some Epidemiological Insights into the Rheumatoid Arthritis Story’
1992 Dr
B P WORDSWORTH, Molecular Immunology Group, Institute of Molecular Medicine, John RadcliffeHospital, Oxford:
‘Some applications of
the new genetics to the investigation of the Rheumatic Diseases’
1991 Dr M GOWEN, Bath Institute for Rheumatic
Diseases and Universityof Bath:
‘The Control of Bone
Cell Development and Function’
1990 Dr J S H GASTON, Department of
Rheumatology, Universityof Birmingham:
‘T Cell Recognition of
Bacterial Antigens in Inflammatory Arthritis’
1989 Dr D HASKARD, Guy’s Hospital, London:
‘The role of
Endothelium and Cytokines in promoting Lymphocyte Traffic into Inflammatory
Tissues’
1988 Dr K MORGAN, University of Manchester MedicalSchool, Manchester:
‘Anti-Collagen
Antibodies and Inflammatory Arthritis’
1987 Dr A KEAT, Department of Rheumatology, Westminster Hospital,
London:
‘Bacteria in Aseptic
Arthritis’
1986 Dr D L SCOTT, St Barthlolomew’s Hospital, London:
‘Rheumatoid Joint
Damage and Connective Tissue Protein’