Person
Thorp, Roland Herbert (1915 - 1987)
- Born
- 29 November 1915
Guildford, United Kingdom - Died
- 9 May 1987
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia - Occupation
- Pharmacologist
Summary
Roland Thorp was foundation Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Sydney and did much to promote pharmacology in Australia. As well as teaching, he worked to establish pharmacology as a discipline in its own right rather than ancillary to medicine, pharmacy, veterinary medicine and dentistry. To foster research in his Department Thorp attracted financial support from commercial pharmaceutical companies to establish research fellowships in the Department. Research was conducted on the mechanisms of platelet aggregation, the relationship between structure and pharmacological activity of adenyl nucleosides and nucleotides, and cardiac stimulant substances particularly those derived from Digitalis species. Until the Australian Government established its own facilities for testing pharmaceutical products, this work was done under contract by Thorp's Department and the equivalent department at University of Melbourne. The departments also involved in analytical work for the racing industry. To increase the exposure of Australian pharmacologists of international developments, Thorp initiated a program of visiting Professors to University of Sydney, and travel fellowships for University of Sydney students to study overseas.
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Details
Chronology
- 1934
- Education - BSc, Chelsea College of Science and Technology, London
- 1936 - 1949
- Career position - Pharmacologist, Wellcome Physiological Laboratories, United Kingdom
- 1940
- Education - BSc (Hons), University of London
- 1947
- Education - PhD, University of London
- 1949 - 1975
- Career position - Foundation Professor of Pharmacology and Director of Pharmacy, University of Sydney
- 1953
- Award - Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal
- 1975
- Life event - Retired
- 1976
- Career position - Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney
- 1977
- Award - Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
Published resources
Book Sections
- Einstein, Rosemarie and Starmer, Graham, 'Thorp, Roland Herbert (1915-1987), Pharmacologist' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 18 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2012), pp. 507-8. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/thorp-roland-15920. Details
Journal Articles
- Anon, 'Roland Herbert Thorp: his contribution to Australian pharmacology', Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology and Physiology, 4 (2) (1977), 103-6. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q24228627. Details
- 'Thorp, Roland (19151129-19870509)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1515881. Details
Helen Cohn
Last modified: 3 July 2018