Whiteside, Maxwell George (Max) (1927 - 2000)

Summary

Maxwell George (Max) Whiteside was a pioneer and expert of the treatment of leukaemia and other cancers. He spent twenty-five years at the Alfred Hospital where he improved the management and treatment regimes for sufferers of leukaemia and lymphomas. Whiteside also established Victoria's first adult bone marrow transplant program; fought for the establishment of the Australian Leukaemia Study Group and the Victorian Co-operative Oncology Group; was a Chair of the Executive Committee of the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria; and was an active member of the Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service and its committees. The Australian Leukaemia Foundation has named one of its Melbourne accommodation blocks and a fellowship in his honour.

Details

After completing his medical training in 1949 at the University of Melbourne, Maxwell George (Max) Whiteside spent a year at the Royal Perth Hospital followed by five years at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. In 1956 and 1957 he carried out postgraduate training in the United Kingdom which is where he became interested in haematology. When he returned to Melbourne he worked at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (1958-1961) and the Royal Women's Hospital (1958-c.1975). In 1962 Whiteside was appointed honorary haematologist at the Alfred Hospital where he remained for twenty-five years turning the hospital into Victoria's major adult leukaemia research and treatment hospital. He also trained many doctors in the field of haematology.

In the late 1970s his work inspired the creation of the Victorian Co-operative Oncology Group and the Australian Leukaemia Study Group. In the early 1980s he established the first adult bone marrow transplant program. After retiring from the Alfred, Whiteside worked at St Vincent's Hospital and remained a chair of the medical and scientific advisory committee of the Leukaemia Foundation of Victoria.

Chronology

1949

Education - Bachelor of Medicine (MB) and Bachelor of Surgery (BS), University of Melbourne

1950

Career position - Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Perth Hospital

1951 - 1955

Career position - Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital

1956 - 1957

Career position - Research Associate at West Middlesex Hospital and the Postgraduate Medical School at Hammersmith, UK

1958 - 1960

Career position - Research Fellow at the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne

1958 - 1961

Career position - Associate Physician then honorary Out-patient Physician at the Royal Melbourne Hospital

c. 1961 - c. 1975

Career position - Haematologist and Honorary Physician at the Royal Women's Hospital

1962 - c. 1986

Career position - Honorary Haematologist at the Alfred Hospital in Prahran, Victoria

1980s - 1999

Career position - Clinical Haematologist at St Vincent's Hospital in Fitzroy, Victoria

1992

Award - Carl de Gruchy Medal, Haematology Society of Australia

1994

Award - Honorary life member of the Australian Leukaemia Study Group

1995

Award - Australian Red Cross Society's Distinguished Service Award received

Published resources

Resources

• 'Whiteside, Maxwell George (1927-2000)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1475662. Details