{{Short description|British physician}} {{Infobox person | name = Sir David Warrell | honorific_suffix = KCMG FMedSci FRCP FRCPE DTM&H FZS | image = DAW 2018.pdf | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1939|10}} | birth_place = Singapore | education = Portsmouth Grammar School Christ Church, Oxford (MA BM BCh DM DSc) | spouse = {{marriage|Mary J Prentice|1975}} | awards = KCMG, Companion of The Most Exalted Order of The White Elephant (Thailand) }}
'''Sir David Alan Warrell''' (born 6 October 1939) is an English physician, clinical researcher, and teacher, specialising in Tropical Medicine.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Who's Who |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2024 |edition= |pages=WARRELL, Prof. Sir David Alan}}</ref><sup>,</sup><ref>{{Cite news |last=Weatherall |first=DJ |date=2007 |title=Professor David Warrell Retires. |url=https://issuu.com/oxfordmedicalalumninewsletter/docs/final_oxmed6draft19declate_234b20 |archive-date= |work=[The Newsletter of the Oxford Medical Alumni]}}</ref> He is currently emeritus Professor of Tropical Medicine and Honorary Fellow of St Cross College, University of Oxford.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Professor Sir David Warrell St Cross College |url=https://www.stx.ox.ac.uk/people?page-1372331=8}}</ref> He was Founding Director of the highly successful Wellcome-Mahidol University, Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Programme, Thailand (1979-), and Oxford Centre for Tropical Medicine (2001-), and was Head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine (2002–2004).
==Biography== ===Early life and education=== Born in Singapore, Warrell was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-06 |title=Opus issue 4 |url=https://issuu.com/theportsmouthgrammarschool/docs/opus_issue_4/27 |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=Issuu |language=en}}</ref> and studied medicine in Oxford (Christ Church), and London (St Thomas’ Hospital and Royal Postgraduate Medical Schools).
===Career and research=== Warrell enjoys an international reputation for his clinical research on tropical diseases, carried out since 1968 in Africa, South and South-East Asia, Oceania, and Latin America.<ref>The Cutting Edge Programme 3 “ONCE BITTEN…” Central Television ITV broadcast 1 June 1987.</ref> His principal mentors were Moran Campbell, Eldryd Parry, Herbert Gilles, Alistair Reid and David Weatherall. He is a pioneer investigator in the field of snakebite envenoming, helping to establish its importance as a public health problem in many countries, notably India, where snakes kill an average of 58,000 people each year,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Suraweera |first1=Wilson |last2=Warrell |first2=David |last3=Whitaker |first3=Romulus |last4=Menon |first4=Geetha |last5=Rodrigues |first5=Rashmi |last6=Fu |first6=Sze Hang |last7=Begum |first7=Rehana |last8=Sati |first8=Prabha |last9=Piyasena |first9=Kapila |last10=Bhatia |first10=Mehak |last11=Brown |first11=Patrick |last12=Jha |first12=Prabhat |date=2020-07-07 |title=Trends in snakebite deaths in India from 2000 to 2019 in a nationally representative mortality study |journal=eLife |language=en |volume=9 |doi=10.7554/eLife.54076 |doi-access=free |pmid=32633232 |pmc=7340498 |issn=2050-084X}}</ref> and to achieve its recognition as a Neglected Tropical Disease by WHO in 2016. Warrell's ground-breaking research introduced improvements in diagnosis,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Greenwood |first1=B. M. |last2=Warrell |first2=D. A. |last3=Davidson |first3=N. M. |last4=Ormerod |first4=L. D. |last5=Reid |first5=H. A. |date=1974-12-28 |title=Immunodiagnosis of Snake Bite |url=https://www.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bmj.4.5947.743 |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=4 |issue=5947 |pages=743–745 |doi=10.1136/bmj.4.5947.743 |pmid=4216390 |issn=0959-8138}}</ref> emphasising the importance of herpetology. It expanded understanding of underlying mechanisms of organ and tissue involvement,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Warrell |first1=D. A. |last2=Davidson |first2=N. M. |last3=Omerod |first3=L. D. |last4=Pope |first4=H. M. |last5=Watkins |first5=B. J. |last6=Greenwood |first6=B. M. |last7=Ried |first7=H. A. |date=1974-11-23 |title=Bites by the Saw-scaled or Carpet Viper (Echis carinatus): Trial of Two Specific Antivenoms |url=https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.4.5942.437 |journal=BMJ |volume=4 |issue=5942 |pages=437–440 |doi=10.1136/bmj.4.5942.437 |issn=0959-8138}}</ref> and improved treatment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Warrell |first=David A |date=January 2010 |title=Snake bite |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673609617542 |journal=The Lancet |language=en |volume=375 |issue=9708 |pages=77–88 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61754-2|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Warrell |first1=David A |last2=Williams |first2=David J |date=April 2023 |title=Clinical aspects of snakebite envenoming and its treatment in low-resource settings |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673623000028 |journal=The Lancet |language=en |volume=401 |issue=10385 |pages=1382–1398 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00002-8|pmid=36931290 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> He was the first to attempt randomised, controlled clinical trials of antivenom.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Warrell |first1=D. A. |last2=Davidson |first2=N. M. |last3=Omerod |first3=L. D. |last4=Pope |first4=H. M. |last5=Watkins |first5=B. J. |last6=Greenwood |first6=B. M. |last7=Ried |first7=H. A. |date=1974-11-23 |title=Bites by the Saw-scaled or Carpet Viper (Echis carinatus): Trial of Two Specific Antivenoms |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=4 |issue=5942 |pages=437–440 |doi=10.1136/bmj.4.5942.437 |pmid=4154124 |pmc=1612524 |issn=0959-8138}}</ref> After publicising, with David Theakston, the crisis in antivenom supply in Africa,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Theakston |first1=Rdg |last2=Warrell |first2=Da |date=December 2000 |title=Crisis in snake antivenom supply for Africa |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673605743191 |journal=The Lancet |language=en |volume=356 |issue=9247 |pages=2104 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(05)74319-1|pmid=11145528 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> he helped to develop new antivenoms for this region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Abubakar |first1=Isa S. |last2=Abubakar |first2=Saidu B. |last3=Habib |first3=Abdulrazaq G. |last4=Nasidi |first4=Abdulsalam |last5=Durfa |first5=Nandul |last6=Yusuf |first6=Peter O. |last7=Larnyang |first7=Solomon |last8=Garnvwa |first8=John |last9=Sokomba |first9=Elijah |last10=Salako |first10=Lateef |last11=Theakston |first11=R. David G |last12=Juszczak |first12=Ed |last13=Alder |first13=Nicola |last14=Warrell |first14=David A. |last15=for the Nigeria-UK EchiTab Study Group |date=2010-07-27 |editor-last=Lalloo |editor-first=David G. |title=Randomised Controlled Double-Blind Non-Inferiority Trial of Two Antivenoms for Saw-Scaled or Carpet Viper (Echis ocellatus) Envenoming in Nigeria |journal=PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |language=en |volume=4 |issue=7 |pages=e767 |doi=10.1371/journal.pntd.0000767 |doi-access=free |pmid=20668549 |pmc=2910709 |issn=1935-2735}}</ref> His research on malaria focussed on the pathophysiology and treatment of severe ''Plasmodium falciparum'' infection,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Warrell |first=D. A. |date=January 1987 |title=Pathophysiology of severe falciparum malaria in man |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0031182000085826/type/journal_article |journal=Parasitology |language=en |volume=94 |issue=S1 |pages=S53–S76 |doi=10.1017/S0031182000085826 |pmid=3295691 |issn=0031-1820|url-access=subscription }}</ref> especially cerebral malaria,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=MacPherson GG, Warrell MJ, White NJ, Looareesuwan S, Warrell DA |first= |date=1985 |title=Human cerebral malaria. A quantitative ultrastructural analysis of parasitized erythrocyte sequestration |journal=Am J Pathol |volume=119 |issue=3 |pages=385–401 |pmid=3893148}}</ref> leading to the rejection of dexamethasone, a once-popular ancillary treatment that proved deleterious in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Warrell |first1=David A. |last2=Looareesuwan |first2=Sornchai |last3=Warrell |first3=Mary J. |last4=Kasemsarn |first4=Prakit |last5=Intaraprasert |first5=Ravivan |last6=Bunnag |first6=Danai |last7=Harinasuta |first7=Tranakchit |date=1982-02-11 |title=Dexamethasone Proves Deleterious in Cerebral Malaria: A Double-Blind Trial in 100 Comatose Patients |url=http://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJM198202113060601 |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |language=en |volume=306 |issue=6 |pages=313–319 |doi=10.1056/NEJM198202113060601 |issn=0028-4793|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He explored the pathophysiology of rabies encephalomyelitis,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Warrell |first1=David A. |last2=Davidson |first2=Neil McD. |last3=Pope |first3=Helen M. |last4=Bailie |first4=Wayne E. |last5=Lawrie |first5=James H. |last6=Ormerod |first6=L.David |last7=Kertesz |first7=Andrew |last8=Lewis |first8=Paul |date=February 1976 |title=Pathophysiologic studies in human rabies |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/0002934376904277 |journal=The American Journal of Medicine |language=en |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=180–190 |doi=10.1016/0002-9343(76)90427-7|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and, in research led by his wife Mary Warrell, a clinical virologist, he helped improve rabies post-exposure prophylaxis using economical vaccine regimens.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Warrell |first1=M.J. |last2=Warrell |first2=D.A. |last3=Nicholson |first3=K.G. |last4=Suntharasamai |first4=Pravan |last5=Chanthavanich |first5=Pornthep |last6=Viravan |first6=Chaisin |last7=Sinhaseni |first7=Abha |last8=Chiewbambroongkiat |first8=M.K. |last9=Pouradier-Duteil |first9=X. |last10=Phanfung |first10=Rod |last11=Xueref |first11=C. |last12=Udomsakdi |first12=Dusit |date=May 1985 |title=Economical Multiple-Site Intradermal Immunisation with Human Diploid-Cell-Strain Vaccine is Effective for Post-Exposure Rabies Prophylaxis |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673685923670 |journal=The Lancet |language=en |volume=325 |issue=8437 |pages=1059–1062 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(85)92367-0|pmid=2860284 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Warrell is also an internationally renowned physician,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Farrar, J |date=2006 |title=Book Reviews Tropical Infectious disease: Principle, Pathogens, and Practice editors Richard L Guerrant et al.,2nd ed |journal=N Engl J Med |volume=355 |pages=222379–80}}</ref> teacher and lecturer on tropical medicine, infectious diseases,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shakur, Rameen. |date=12 March 2005 |title=Fifteen minutes with…A professor of tropical medicine and infectious diseases. |journal=BMJ Careers |pages=109.}}</ref> and expedition/wilderness medicine, supporting famous explorers,<ref>{{Cite book |last=O’Hanlon, Redmond |title=Congo Journey |date=1996 |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |pages=53}}</ref> and travellers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chatwin, Bruce. |title=What am I doing here |publisher=Jonathan Cape |year=1989 |pages=6–7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Chatwin, Bruce. |title=Under the Sun: the letters of Bruce Chatwin |publisher=Jonathan Cape |year=2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shakespeare, Nicholas. |title=Bruce Chatwin. |date=1999 |publisher=Harvill in association with Jonathan Cape |pages=14, 466, 469, 516–7, 521, 528.}}</ref> He was an editor and/or contributor to many British and American medical textbooks, notably The Oxford Textbook of Medicine.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Oxford Textbook of Medicine |date=2025-05-27 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Oxford_Textbook_of_Medicine&oldid=1292446550 |access-date=2025-06-01 |language=en}}</ref> He continues involvement in research and advocacy, particularly directed at the global snakebite crisis, aiming to improve treatment and prevention strategies worldwide.<ref name="Toxicon2013">{{Cite journal |last=Warrell |first=David A. |date=July 2013 |title=Redi Award Lecture: Clinical Studies of Snake-bite in Four Tropical Continents |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0041010112008082 |journal=Toxicon |issue=69 |pages=3–13 |doi=10.1016/j.toxicon.2012.11.013 |pmid=23200816 |bibcode=2013Txcn...69....3W |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
===Honours and awards=== Warrell was awarded the Sir Patrick Manson Medal (Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene); Mary Kingsley Centenary Medal (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine);<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mary Kingsley Medal |url=https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/about/125/the-lstm-story/mary-kingsley-medal |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=LSTM |language=en}}</ref> Sir William Osler Memorial Medal (University of Oxford); The Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher & Further Education (2000); and Redi Award (International Society on Toxinology (2012).<ref name="Toxicon2013" /> In recognition of his research in Thailand, he was made a Companion of The Most Exalted Order of The White Elephant by King Bhumibol Adulyadej (2003). In the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) for services to global health research and clinical practice.<ref>{{Cite web |title=LSTM collaborator and recipient of the Mary Kingsley Medal, Professor David Warrell awarded knighthood in the Queen's birthday honours list |url=https://www.lstmed.ac.uk/news-events/news/lstm-collaborator-and-recipient-of-the-mary-kingsley-medal-professor-david-warrell |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=LSTM |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Birthday Honours 2022 Overseas and International List: notes on higher awards |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/birthday-honours-2022-overseas-and-international-list/birthday-honours-2022-overseas-and-international-list-notes-on-higher-awards |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Birthday Honours 2022 for services to the UK overseas and internationally |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/birthday-honours-2022-for-services-to-the-uk-overseas-and-internationally |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=2022 Birthday Honours |date=2025-06-10 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2022_Birthday_Honours&oldid=1294894931 |access-date=2025-06-12 |language=en}}</ref>
At the Royal College of Physicians, he delivered the Marc Daniels, Bradshaw, and Croonian Lectures, and Harveian Oration (2001),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Warrell |first=David A |date=December 2001 |title=To search and Studdy out the secrett of Tropical Diseases by way of Experiment |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0140673601069665 |journal=The Lancet |language=en |volume=358 |issue=9297 |pages=1983–1988 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(01)06966-5|pmid=11747941 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and served as International Director and Hans Sloane Fellow (2012–16).<ref>{{Cite web |title=RCP elects academic vice-president and appoints two new senior officers |url=https://www.rcp.ac.uk/news-and-media/news-and-opinion/rcp-elects-academic-vice-president-and-appoints-two-new-senior-officers/ |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=www.rcp.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> He was President of the International Federation for Tropical Medicine (1996–2000),<ref>{{Cite web |title=IFTM - International Federation for Tropical Medicine |url=https://www.iftm-hp.org/past_presidents |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=www.iftm-hp.org}}</ref> and Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (1997–9); chairman of the UK Medical Research Council's AIDS Therapeutic Trials Committee (1987–93), and UK-China Ethics Committee (2006–8). He was a founding co-director of the Global Snakebite Initiative (2012-).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Global Snakebite Initiative USA Foundation |url=https://www.globalsnakebite.org/ |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=Global Snakebite Initiative USA Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== <references />
==External links== * [https://www.tropicalmedicine.ox.ac.uk/team/david-warrell David Warrell] * [https://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/find-an-expert/professor-david-warrell Professor David Warrell | University of Oxford] * [https://www.rstmh.org/professor-david-warrell Professor David Warrell | RSTMH] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rronzg6zIbA David Warrell: The biggest public health crisis you’ve never heard of]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Warrell, David}} Category:British academics Category:1939 births Category:Living people Category:British tropical medicine doctors Category:Infectious diseases specialists Category:Malariologists Category:People educated at The Portsmouth Grammar School Category:Alumni of St Thomas's Hospital Medical School