Peter Harper (geneticist)

Sir Peter Harper
CBE
Sir Peter Harper; CBE
Born	Peter Stanley Harper; 28 April 1939; Barnstaple, Devon, England
Died	23 January 2021 (aged 81)
Known for	Work on muscular dystrophy and Huntington's disease
	Scientific career
Fields	Neurogenetics
Institutions	Cardiff University; University of Wales College of Medicine; UK Human Genetics Commission; Advisory Committee on Genetic testing; Nuffield Council on Bioethics

Sir Peter Stanley Harper CBE FLS FRCP (28 April 1939 – 23 January 2021^[1]) was a British physician and academic who was University Research Professor (Emeritus) in Human Genetics at Cardiff University. His work focused on researching neurogenetics and has resulted in discoveries concerning muscular dystrophies and Huntington's disease. He was knighted in 2004 for services to medicine.

Work

Until 2004, Sir Peter was Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff. He helped to develop the All Wales Medical Genomics Service (AWMGS) and has been a member of the UK Human Genetics Commission and Advisory Committee on Genetic testing. He was a member of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics 2004-2010. As a consultant to the History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group, he has contributed to several oral histories which address recent developments in clinical genetics in the UK.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Honours and awards

He delivered the Lumleian Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians in 1995. He was appointed a Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1995 Birthday Honours for services to Medical Genetics and was knighted in the 2004 Birthday Honours, for services to Medicine.^[5]

Books

Practical Genetic Counselling, 1998 Hodder Arnold
Myotonic Dystrophy: The Facts, 2002
Landmarks in Medical Genetics, 2004 OUP
First Years of Human Chromosomes, 2006 Scion Press
A Short History of Medical Genetics, 2008. OUP

References

^ Offord, Catherine (2 February 2021). "Respected Medical Geneticist Sir Peter Harper Dies at 81". The Scientist. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^ Harper P S, Reynolds L A and Tansey E M, ed. (2010). Clinical genetics in Britain: origins and development : the transcript of a Witness Seminar held by the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, London, on 23 September 2008 (Wellcome Witnesses to Contemporary Medicine, vol. 39 ed.). London: Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL. ISBN 9780854841271.
^ Jones E M and Tansey E M, ed. (2013). Clinical Cancer Genetics: Polyposis and familial colorectal cancer c.1975-c.2010 (Wellcome Witnesses to Contemporary Medicine, vol. 46. ed.). UK: Queen Mary, University of London.
^ Jones E M and Tansey E M, ed. (2014). Clinical Molecular Genetics in the UK c. 1975-c.2000 (Wellcome Witnesses to Contemporary Medicine, vol. 48 ed.). UK: Queen Mary, University of London.
^ "Prof. Peter Stanley Harper archive". Cardiff University. Retrieved 5 April 2019.

External links

Genetics and Medicine Historical Network
Peter Harper's personal archive and library are held at Special Collections and Archives, Cardiff University.
Peter Harper on the History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group website

[1] Offord, Catherine (2 February 2021). "Respected Medical Geneticist Sir Peter Harper Dies at 81". The Scientist. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

[2] Harper P S, Reynolds L A and Tansey E M, ed. (2010). Clinical genetics in Britain: origins and development : the transcript of a Witness Seminar held by the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, London, on 23 September 2008 (Wellcome Witnesses to Contemporary Medicine, vol. 39 ed.). London: Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL. ISBN 9780854841271.

[3] Jones E M and Tansey E M, ed. (2013). Clinical Cancer Genetics: Polyposis and familial colorectal cancer c.1975-c.2010 (Wellcome Witnesses to Contemporary Medicine, vol. 46. ed.). UK: Queen Mary, University of London.

[4] Jones E M and Tansey E M, ed. (2014). Clinical Molecular Genetics in the UK c. 1975-c.2000 (Wellcome Witnesses to Contemporary Medicine, vol. 48 ed.). UK: Queen Mary, University of London.

[5] "Prof. Peter Stanley Harper archive". Cardiff University. Retrieved 5 April 2019.

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