Elizabeth Innes

Elizabeth Marion Innes FRCPE (10 April 1921 - 10 April 2015) was a Scottish paediatric haematologist.^[1][2]

Early life and education

Elizabeth Marion Innes (nickname, "Elma") was born in Adrossan, 10 April 1921. She grew up in Burntisland, Scotland.^[1][3]

Innes attended The Mary Erskine's School in Edinburgh, commuting by train each day from her home in Fife.^[3] She studied for her medical degree at the University of Edinburgh in 1943 and was the most distinguished woman graduate in her year.^[1]

Career and research

As a junior doctor, she treated soldiers returning from the World War II at Gogarburn Emergency medical services hospital, going on to later specialise in paediatrics and community child health.^[2][3] In 1962, she established the paediatric haematology unit in Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Sick Children, and was unpaid for the first two years of this work.^[1][2][3] Innes became a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1946, and a Fellow in 1966.^[2][3]

Innes spent a year working as a haematology research fellow in St Louis, United states in the late 1940s.^[1][3] She participated in multi-centre trials of chemotherapy and radiotherapy for children with leukaemia, and became a member of the Medical Research Council's working party on childhood leukaemia in 1969.^[1][3] Innes was appointed as a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in 1976.^[1]

Personal life

She married her husband, James, in 1946 who had told her that he would only marry her if she passed the Royal College of Physicians examinations.^[1][3] Together the couple had two daughters and a son. After retiring in 1981, she enjoyed travelling with James, particularly to Barra, and spending time with her family, gardening, reading and playing piano.^[1][3] Innes was widowed in 2009, after 63 years of marriage. She died on her 94th birthday,^[3] on 10 April 2015.

References