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David Warrell

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Professor Sir David Warrell
BornOctober 1939 (age 85)
Singapore
EducationPortsmouth Grammar School Christ Church, Oxford (MA BM BCh DM DSc)
Spouse
Mary J Prentice
​
(m. 1975)​
AwardsKCMG, Companion of The Most Exalted Order of The White Elephant (Thailand)

Professor Sir David Alan Warrell (born October 1939) is an English physician, clinical researcher, and teacher, specialising in Tropical Medicine.[1] He is currently Emeritus Professor of Tropical Medicine and Honorary Fellow of St Cross College, University of Oxford.[2] He was Founding Director of the Wellcome-Mahidol University, Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Programme, Thailand (1979–present), and Oxford Centre for Tropical Medicine (2001–present), and was Head of the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine (2002–2004).

Biography

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Early life and education

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Born in Singapore, Warrell was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School,[3] and studied Medicine in Oxford (Christ Church), and London (St Thomas’ Hospital and Royal Postgraduate Medical Schools).

Career and research

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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. 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,[4] and to achieve its recognition as a Neglected Tropical Disease by WHO in 2016. Warrell's ground-breaking research introduced improvements in diagnosis,[5] emphasising the importance of herpetology. It expanded understanding of underlying mechanisms of organ and tissue involvement,[6] and improved treatment.[7][8] He was the first to attempt randomised, controlled clinical trials of antivenom.[9] After publicising, with David Theakston, the crisis in antivenom supply in Africa,[10] he helped to develop new antivenoms for this region.[11] His research on malaria focussed on the pathophysiology and treatment of severe Plasmodium falciparum infection,[12] especially cerebral malaria,[13] leading to the rejection of dexamethasone, a once-popular ancillary treatment that proved deleterious in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.[14] He explored the pathophysiology of rabies encephalomyelitis,[15] and, in research led by his wife Mary Warrell, a clinical virologist, he helped improve rabies post-exposure prophylaxis using economical vaccine regimens.[16]

Warrell is also an internationally-renowned teacher and lecturer on tropical medicine, infectious diseases, and expedition/wilderness medicine, and an editor and contributor to many British and American medical textbooks, notably The Oxford Textbook of Medicine.[17] He continues involvement in research and advocacy, particularly directed at the global snakebite crisis, aiming to improve treatment and prevention strategies worldwide.

Honours and awards

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Warrell was awarded the Sir Patrick Manson Medal (Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene); Mary Kingsley Centenary Medal (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine);[18] 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).[19] 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.[20][21][22][23]

At the Royal College of Physicians, he delivered the Marc Daniels, Bradshaw, and Croonian Lectures, and Harveian Oration (2001),[24] and served as International Director and Hans Sloane Fellow (2012-16).[25] He was President of the International Federation for Tropical Medicine (1996–2000),[26] 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-).[27]

References

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  1. ^ "Cox, Prof. Sir David (Roxbee), (born 15 July 1924), Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, 1988–94, Hon. Fellow, 1994", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 2007-12-01, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.12128, retrieved 2025-06-01
  2. ^ "People". www.stx.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  3. ^ "Opus issue 4". Issuu. 2015-03-06. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  4. ^ Suraweera, Wilson; Warrell, David; Whitaker, Romulus; Menon, Geetha; Rodrigues, Rashmi; Fu, Sze Hang; Begum, Rehana; Sati, Prabha; Piyasena, Kapila; Bhatia, Mehak; Brown, Patrick; Jha, Prabhat (2020-07-07). "Trends in snakebite deaths in India from 2000 to 2019 in a nationally representative mortality study". eLife. 9. doi:10.7554/eLife.54076. ISSN 2050-084X. PMC 7340498. PMID 32633232.
  5. ^ Greenwood, B. M.; Warrell, D. A.; Davidson, N. M.; Ormerod, L. D.; Reid, H. A. (1974-12-28). "Immunodiagnosis of Snake Bite". BMJ. 4 (5947): 743–745. doi:10.1136/bmj.4.5947.743. ISSN 0959-8138. PMID 4216390.
  6. ^ Warrell, D. A.; Davidson, N. M.; Omerod, L. D.; Pope, H. M.; Watkins, B. J.; Greenwood, B. M.; Ried, H. A. (1974-11-23). "Bites by the Saw-scaled or Carpet Viper (Echis carinatus): Trial of Two Specific Antivenoms". BMJ. 4 (5942): 437–440. doi:10.1136/bmj.4.5942.437. ISSN 0959-8138.
  7. ^ Warrell, David A (January 2010). "Snake bite". The Lancet. 375 (9708): 77–88. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61754-2.
  8. ^ Warrell, David A; Williams, David J (April 2023). "Clinical aspects of snakebite envenoming and its treatment in low-resource settings". The Lancet. 401 (10385): 1382–1398. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00002-8. PMID 36931290.
  9. ^ Warrell, D. A.; Davidson, N. M.; Omerod, L. D.; Pope, H. M.; Watkins, B. J.; Greenwood, B. M.; Ried, H. A. (1974-11-23). "Bites by the Saw-scaled or Carpet Viper (Echis carinatus): Trial of Two Specific Antivenoms". BMJ. 4 (5942): 437–440. doi:10.1136/bmj.4.5942.437. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 1612524. PMID 4154124.
  10. ^ Theakston, Rdg; Warrell, Da (December 2000). "Crisis in snake antivenom supply for Africa". The Lancet. 356 (9247): 2104. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)74319-1. PMID 11145528.
  11. ^ Abubakar, Isa S.; Abubakar, Saidu B.; Habib, Abdulrazaq G.; Nasidi, Abdulsalam; Durfa, Nandul; Yusuf, Peter O.; Larnyang, Solomon; Garnvwa, John; Sokomba, Elijah; Salako, Lateef; Theakston, R. David G; Juszczak, Ed; Alder, Nicola; Warrell, David A.; for the Nigeria-UK EchiTab Study Group (2010-07-27). Lalloo, David G. (ed.). "Randomised Controlled Double-Blind Non-Inferiority Trial of Two Antivenoms for Saw-Scaled or Carpet Viper (Echis ocellatus) Envenoming in Nigeria". PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. 4 (7): e767. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000767. ISSN 1935-2735. PMC 2910709. PMID 20668549.
  12. ^ Warrell, D. A. (January 1987). "Pathophysiology of severe falciparum malaria in man". Parasitology. 94 (S1): S53 – S76. doi:10.1017/S0031182000085826. ISSN 0031-1820. PMID 3295691.
  13. ^ Chanthavanich, Pornthep; Warrell, M. J.; DiGiovanni, Joseph H.; White, Nicholas J.; Warrell, David A.; Looareesuwan, Sornchai; Von Bredow, Jurgen (1985-11-01). "Intragastric Mefloquine is Absorbed Rapidly in Patients with Cerebral Malaria". The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 34 (6): 1028–1036. doi:10.4269/ajtmh.1985.34.1028. ISSN 0002-9637. PMID 3879657.
  14. ^ Warrell, David A.; Looareesuwan, Sornchai; Warrell, Mary J.; Kasemsarn, Prakit; Intaraprasert, Ravivan; Bunnag, Danai; Harinasuta, Tranakchit (1982-02-11). "Dexamethasone Proves Deleterious in Cerebral Malaria: A Double-Blind Trial in 100 Comatose Patients". New England Journal of Medicine. 306 (6): 313–319. doi:10.1056/NEJM198202113060601. ISSN 0028-4793.
  15. ^ Warrell, David A.; Davidson, Neil McD.; Pope, Helen M.; Bailie, Wayne E.; Lawrie, James H.; Ormerod, L.David; Kertesz, Andrew; Lewis, Paul (February 1976). "Pathophysiologic studies in human rabies". The American Journal of Medicine. 60 (2): 180–190. doi:10.1016/0002-9343(76)90427-7.
  16. ^ Warrell, M.J.; Warrell, D.A.; Nicholson, K.G.; Suntharasamai, Pravan; Chanthavanich, Pornthep; Viravan, Chaisin; Sinhaseni, Abha; Chiewbambroongkiat, M.K.; Pouradier-Duteil, X.; Phanfung, Rod; Xueref, C.; Udomsakdi, Dusit (May 1985). "Economical Multiple-Site Intradermal Immunisation with Human Diploid-Cell-Strain Vaccine is Effective for Post-Exposure Rabies Prophylaxis". The Lancet. 325 (8437): 1059–1062. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(85)92367-0. PMID 2860284.
  17. ^ "The Oxford Textbook of Medicine", Wikipedia, 2025-05-27, retrieved 2025-06-01
  18. ^ "Mary Kingsley Medal". LSTM. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  19. ^ Warrell, David A. (July 2013). "Redi award lecture: Clinical studies of snake-bite in four tropical continents". Toxicon. 69: 3–13. Bibcode:2013Txcn...69....3W. doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2012.11.013. PMID 23200816.
  20. ^ "LSTM collaborator and recipient of the Mary Kingsley Medal, Professor David Warrell awarded knighthood in the Queen's birthday honours list". LSTM. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
  21. ^ "Birthday Honours 2022 Overseas and International List: notes on higher awards". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
  22. ^ "Birthday Honours 2022 for services to the UK overseas and internationally". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
  23. ^ "2022 Birthday Honours", Wikipedia, 2025-06-10, retrieved 2025-06-12
  24. ^ Warrell, David A (December 2001). ""To search and Studdy out the secrett of Tropical Diseases by way of Experiment"". The Lancet. 358 (9297): 1983–1988. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(01)06966-5. PMID 11747941.
  25. ^ "RCP elects academic vice-president and appoints two new senior officers". www.rcp.ac.uk. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
  26. ^ "IFTM - International Federation for Tropical Medicine". www.iftm-hp.org. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
  27. ^ "Global Snakebite Initiative USA Foundation". Global Snakebite Initiative USA Foundation. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
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