Anthony David Malcolm Bryceson (1934–2023) was a British academic.[1]
Bryceson was born in Kohat, North-West Frontier Province of British India, now part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.[2] [1] His parents were Donald, an officer in the British Indian Army, and Muriel, a nurse.[2] [3] He attended Winchester College in Britain before studying natural sciences at Christ's College, Cambridge.[2] [1] He later trained as a doctor at Westminster Hospital Medical School, qualifying in 1959.[2] [1]
In 1969, Bryceson married Ulla Skalts, a Danish architect, and they had two children: William, an orthopaedic surgeon, and Maia, a physiotherapist, both of whom later settled in Australia.[2] After his retirement, he relocated to Australia.[2] [3]
Bryceson made significant contributions to the field of tropical medicine.[2] During the 1960s, while in Laos, he and another British doctor, Colin Prentice, were held captive by the Pathet Lao rebels.[2] [1] They used cricket and chess as means of communication and rapport with their captors, leading to their eventual release.[2] [1]
Bryceson subsequently worked at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London and expanded his career to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Zaria, Nigeria, where he engaged in research activities.[2] [1] Bryceson's research in 1988 identified an early case of HIV-2, highlighting its longer incubation period compared to HIV-1. He published several research papers and books during his career.[2]
Bryceson defended the relevance of tropical medicine during a 1996 debate at the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.[2]
In 1999, Bryceson was appointed as a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.[3]
After retiring in 2000, Bryceson collaborated with Shoreland Travax, producing critiques for the online medical advisory platform.[2] [3]
Bryceson was awarded the Chalmers Medal and Donald Mackay Medal for contributions to tropical health and medicine.[2] [3]