Keith Halnan

Keith Edward Halnan (28 March 1920 – 6 February 2006) was a British oncologist and researcher in radiotherapy.

He first studied radioactive isotopes with the Medical Research Council (MRC) at University College Hospital (UCL), where he worked on radioactive iodine. He later became involved in establishing the Beatson Cancer Centre in Glasgow. From 1978 to 1985, he held the position of director of the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London.

In 1986, the Hong Kong Government Working Party on Postgraduate Medical Examination and Training appointed him their chair.

Early life and education
Keith Halnan was born on 28 March 1920 in London. His father was the don Edward Thomas Halnan. He was educated at The Perse School, where he was head boy. Between 1938 and 1940 he studied natural sciences at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Halnan received training in a British Army Officer Cadet Training Unit before being commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals on 26 August 1941. Halnan led an Infantry Brigade Signals Unit at the Battle of Kohima and the Burma campaign. He had been appointed to the temporary rank of captain by the time he was Mentioned in dispatches "in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Burma" on 9 May 1946.

After the Second World War, Halnan returned to Cambridge and gained admission to study medicine at UCL, London, from where he graduated.

Career
Halnan took to the specialty of oncology. He first studied radioactive isotopes with the MRC at UCL, where he worked on radioactive iodine with Edward Pochin. In 1957 he received his MD.

Between 1958 and 1966, he was posted at the Christie Hospital, Manchester. In 1967 he moved to Glasgow, where he later became involved in establishing the Beatson Cancer Centre and received the Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He remained there until 1978.

From 1978 to 1985, he held the position of director of the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London. In 1986, the Hong Kong Government Working Party on Postgraduate Medical Examination and Training appointed him their chair. There, he produced the "Halnan Report".

His book Treatment of cancer was published in 1982. In 1995, the Channel 4 documentary Deadly Experiments featured his 1950s study of giving iodine-132 to 25 healthy pregnant women, published in 1958. What happened to the mothers and babies is not known; no follow-up study was carried out.

Death
He died on 6 February 2006 from metastatic cancer.

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