Obituary: A Tribute to Professor Gavin Donaldson

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Gavin Donaldson, Emeritus Professor of Respiratory Studies at the NHLI, Imperial.

Professor Gavin Donaldson has sadly died at the age of 62, his principal area of research was the study of the development and impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Including the London COPD cohort that has shown a relationship between COPD exacerbations and quality of life and disease progression, and that early treatment of exacerbations reduces the severity and prevents hospital admission. This led to the development of early intervention strategies. They were the first to show the relationship between airway inflammatory markers and decline in lung function, and to define the presence of COPD patients with a history of frequent exacerbations. Finding that these patients are more prone to have recurrent COPD admissions which impose considerable costs on the NHS. 

"Gavin was a great team player and always prepared to help anyone who came to his office with issues with data analysis and he gave much valuable advice to the members of the research group" Professor Wisia Wedzicha

Gavin was also involved in a collaborative study of the development of bronchitis (mucus hyper-secretion) and early life smoking on later adult lung development in the MRC1947 birth cohort. The partnership involved eight academic institutions (Imperial, Southampton, Leicester, Nottingham, Liverpool, Belfast, Edinburgh and Birmingham) and the British Lung Foundation. His other research interest was the study of the physiological effects of cold and heat on the body. In a series of human experiments, he showed that cold increases the concentration of clotting factors in the blood and thus explain the rise in cardiovascular deaths in winter. This led to an interest into the effects of climate on UK mortality and hospital admissions. Much cold exposure is due to a person’s behaviour and this was investigated with a pan-European survey of home heating and outdoor clothing. The findings were incorporated into Department of Health heatwave and winter planning strategies for the UK.

A tribute

Gavin was a remarkable and gifted scientist, who lived for his work and was admired through the respiratory scientific community. He studied for a PhD on the ‘physiology of temperature regulation’ at Queen Mary, University of London, and soon after joined Professor Wisia Wedzicha’s group at Barts and the London School of Medicine, which set his life-time interest in COPD exacerbations. He was intimately involved in establishing the famous ‘London Exacerbation Cohort’ that is internationally recognised and continues to this day. He moved with the above research group to UCL/Royal Free in 2005 and to the NHLI/Imperial in April 2014.

Gavin was exceptionally good at managing and analysing complex data, and his skills were instrumental in the development of the more recent UK Early COPD Cohort, which is the first cohort worldwide studying the early development of COPD. This cohort has completed the first 4-years of follow up and is set to run and run. Gavin was also on the Management Committee of the European CADSET collaboration that is involved in studying the trajectories of lung disease and was due to be co-director of the consortium. Gavin was also very involved in clinical trial analysis, most recently in the COVID PIONEER therapy trial with Professor Pallav Shah. He also served for 8 years as the statistical editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and was much valued for his expertise by the editorial team. 

Gavin was a great team player and always prepared to help anyone who came to his office with issues with data analysis and he gave much valuable advice to the members of the research group. He was extremely conscientious and hardly missed a day at work until his final illness. Even a few days ago he was answering queries from various collaborators. Last, and not least, Gavin adored working with our students and was the model academic: committed, honest, collegiate, analytical and data driven; a ‘truth-seeker’ with a heart for those around him and ultimately the patients he served. We will miss him, very much.

Words by Professor Wisia Wedzicha

Gavin remembered 

“Gavin, the big friendly giant, will be greatly missed for his enthusiasm, wise counsel and his insights into data handling and statistics. It was a great pleasure to know and work with him over many years” Professor Peter Barnes 

“As a supervisor and senior member of our research group Gavin was kind, supportive and generous with his time. He was fantastic at recognising the contributions of all members of the group including nurses, students and technicians. I will miss being able to chat through problems and his fair and reliable presence in the group” Dr Lydia Finney 

“I was extremely fond of Gavin. He was always generous with his time, which he shared with everybody in the group. We looked to him for his kind and generous leadership. I couldn’t have completed my PhD without him and for this I will be forever in his debt. The world was a better place with Gavin in it. He made his mark and I will miss him dearly” Dr Andrew Ritchie

Leaving a legacy

The Professor Gavin Donaldson Memorial Fund has been set up to enable family, friends, colleagues, patients, current and former students to give in memory of Gavin. The fund has been established to carry forward Gavin's legacy through future generations of students and researchers. The proceeds of the fund will be used to support and encourage future PhD students or early career researchers to attend the American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society meetings.

Donate on Gavin's JustGiving page set up in his tribute.