Charles Kellaway
Encyclopedia
Charles Halliley Kellaway, MB, BS, MD, MS, MC, FRS, (16 January 1889 – 13 December 1952) was an Australian medical researcher and science administrator.
. His father was an evangelical Anglican minister, and many of Kellaway's siblings were instilled with religious zeal. Kellaway himself was determined to become a medical missionary in Egypt
, but lost his faith during the tragedies of World War I
. He was educated at home until aged 11, attended Caulfield Grammar School
in 1900 and, after receiving a scholarship, went on to complete his high school education at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, 1901–06. Following school he went to the University of Melbourne
in 1907 to study medicine, although he had to turn down the residential Clarke scholarship at Trinity College owing to the family's limited finances. Working through a difficult period in the medical school's curriculum, Kellaway nevertheless completed his MB and BS in 1911, his MD in 1913, and his MS in 1915. On graduating, he was lauded as the most brilliant student ever to have completed a medical degree at the university.
at the University of Adelaide
during 1915. He enlisted that November, serving as a Captain in Egypt
in 1916 with the Australian Army Medical Corps. Kellaway was fortunate that his first posting saw him working with Charles Martin
, the director of London
's Lister Institute, who encouraged Kellaway's scientific ambitions. After working as a regimental medical officer in Flanders
during 1917, Kellaway was awarded a Military Cross
for fortitude under fire, and in 1918 was promoted to Major
. During 1918–19 he was attached to the Australian Flying Corps medical boards in London, concurrently initiating research into problems related to anoxia
under Henry Dale
. Dale was doubtless Kellaway's lifelong scientific mentor and patron, and he is likely to have encouraged Kellaway to apply for the Royal Society
's inaugural Foulerton Studentship in 1919. This Kellaway did after his repatriation to Australia, spending the second half of 1919 as acting professor of physiology at Adelaide University. Winning the Foulerton Studentship allowed Kellaway to return to Britain
, spending the years 1920–23 working with Dale at the National Institute for Medical Research
, with Charles Sherrington at Oxford University, and with Thomas Elliott at the University College Hospital
in London. These years were critical both in forming Kellaway's scientific direction and his conceptions as to how medical research ought to be configured in Australia. Kellaway moved back to Melbourne in August 1923 when invited to become the second director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Research in Pathology and Medicine (now the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
).
(under Cambridge-trained Henry Holden), bacteriology
(under the recent Australian graduate, Frank Macfarlane Burnet
) and physiology
(Kellaway). His own work ranged across various fields during the mid-twenties, including kidney disease and hydatid infection (echinococcosis
). An important contribution to public perceptions of medical research occurred in early 1928, when Kellaway was invited by the Minister of Health to form a Royal Commission
of inquiry into the 'Bundaberg tragedy', in which 12 children died following inoculation with diphtheria
toxin-antitoxin. The rigour of this inquiry was lauded by the medical profession and public alike, both vindicating the Commonwealth's diphtheria immunisation programme and drawing international attention to Kellaway's thoroughgoing scientific investigation.
– then resident at the Hall Institute whilst recuperating from tropical sprue
– a significant research programme was instigated into Australian snake venom
s. This practical and scientific problem had not been substantively addressed since the turn of the century researches by Frank Tidswell and Charles Martin. Kellaway also used the opportunity to negotiate with the Minister for Health one of the first ad-hoc grants for medical research in Australia, preceded only by a limited number of cancer investigations. This grant lasted from 1928–31 and was a milestone in Commonwealth support for independent research in medical science. Working with Fairley, Holden and Eleanor Williams from the Institute, plus Frederick Morgan from the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (now CSL Limited
) and Tom 'Pambo' Eades from the Melbourne Zoo
, Kellway's research encompassed venoms from a plethora of Australian snake species (elapidae
). This work initially focused on characteristing biting apparatus, venom yields, pharmacological activity, lethality and immunology
. Clinical work included investigations into the appropriate first-aid treatment of snakebite
and the development of antivenenes (antivenoms) against tiger snake (Notechis scutatus), copperhead (Austrelaps superbus) and death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) venoms, although only the first was found suitable for manufacture by CSL. In addition to expanding field work on identification and characterisation of a wide range of Australian elapids and their venoms, Kellaway's work through the 1930s broadened to include platypus
, mussel
, Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus) and redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti) venoms. This huge corpus of work, totalling over 70 publications by the end of the programme, resulted in an invitation for Kellaway to review his oeuvre via the prestigious Charles E Dohme Memorial Lectureships at Johns Hopkins University Medical School (now Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
) in 1936 – an impressive international accolade.
The Dohme lectures also coincided with a shift in Kellaway's interest towards tissue injury by venoms, particularly their effects on haemodynamics. His investigations thus returned to the study of histamine
and anaphylaxis
that had characterised his early 1920s work with Dale, while Kellaway was furthermore encouraged by the two-year tenure of expatriate German pharmacologist, Wilhelm Feldberg
, at the Hall Institute (1936–38). During this period, working also with his compatriots Hugh LeMessurier and Everton Trethewie, Kellaway's programme evolved into a study of the release of endogenous mediators in response to tissue injury. The investigations encompassed not only histamine, but also lysocithin (now lysolethicin) and identified a new agent, the slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis
(SRS-A), plus a related SRS that was released in response to direct tissue insult. This work later instigated the substantial field of leukotriene
pharmacology, but for Kellaway the programme was curtailed by the outbreak of World War II
. His final experimental work during the early 1940s progressed on to the response of tissues to other insults including bacterial toxins, radiant heat and anaesthetic agents. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the venom programme earned Kellaway an international scientific reputation – during a period when few researchers of such stature were working in Australia – and contributed to his election to Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1940.
, Kellaway was both committed and adroit in projecting the value of medical research outwards - to the medical profession, to the public and to politicians. In 1934 he instigated an agreement with the Commonwealth Government and the Rockefeller Foundation
to jointly finance the Hall Institute's new virus
research department under Burnet. This was another important precedent that helped inform the legislation that created the National Health and Medical Research Council
(NH&MRC) in 1937. Indeed, Kellaway campaigned for the formation of such a body, extolling its necessity both in his orations and via practical examples. At a more prosaic level, Kellaway was widely recognised for his encouragement of staff members and aspiring researchers, while his experience and the conspicuous success of the Hall Institute meant that he was consulted by other emerging facilities. In particular, the Kanematsu Institute in Sydney sought his advice on the appointment of a new director, and Kellaway championed the selection of the Australian neurophysiologist, Jack Eccles
. An inaugural member of the Association of Physicians of Australasia (1930) and a foundation Fellow of its successor body, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
(1938), Kellaway rose to become Vice-President of the latter from 1942-44: a high honour for a non-clinician.
work of Ian Wood and Lucy Bryce at the Hall Institute. When the war began, he gave over much of the institute's facilities and staff to the Australian Red Cross
for wide-scale blood collection and storage, in addition to the blood typing of hundreds of thousands of service personnel. Having rejoined the Army Medical Directorate first as an honorary Lieutenant Colonel
and Director of Hygiene (1939–40), and then honorary Colonel
and Director of Pathology (1940–42), Kellaway was also inducted into the Royal Australian Air Force
's Flying Personnel Research Committee (FPRC). In 1941–42, at the behest of the British War Cabinet
, Kellaway extensively toured the USA, Canada
and the UK in order to facilitate inter-Allied collaboration on wartime medical research. This led, on his return, to Kellaway adopting the role of Scientific Liaison Officer to the Australian Army
, serving on the Physiological Sub-committee of the Chemical Defence Board and chairing the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Committee, in addition to his ongoing FPRC contribution. While many of these roles were important from a coordination and direction perspective, their outcomes were less visible than other projects such as the Fairley's malaria
research unit in Cairns. Kellaway's own laboratory work finally ceased in 1943. However, he was well aware that wartime demands had opened the coffers of the NH&MRC and fostered a much greater commitment from the Commonwealth to supporting – and indeed nurturing – the Australian medical research culture that he had helped foster.
). Although reluctant to leave Australia, Kellaway accepted the invitation and – with some reservations – offered the directorship of the Hall Institute to Burnet. Kellaway remained in Australia until March 1944, by which time he had gained the rank of honorary Brigadier
in the Army. Kellaway's years at the Wellcome did not permit him the opportunity to return to laboratory work, but his organisational skills, inspirational demeanour and scientific nous all contributed to the slow rebuilding of the company's research policy. Burroughs Wellcome faced near-bankruptcy in the early years after the war, but working with a new administrative team – and fostering research directions at several of the company's locations including Britain, the USA and tropical stations – new compounds came to be identified. These included effective treatments for motion sickness
, malaria and schistosomiasis
, which began to bear commercial fruit for Wellcome just as Kellaway was diagnosed with lung cancer
in 1951. During the post-war years, he also participated actively in the Royal Society, acting as a councillor from 1947–52. Kellaway furthermore continued to promote the efforts and training of Australian researchers where he could. Despite undergoing numerous experimental treatments, however, he gradually succumbed to his inoperable cancer and died on 13 December 1952, never having returned to Australia.
Early years and education
Charles Kellaway was born at the parsonage attached to St James's Old Cathedral, MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. His father was an evangelical Anglican minister, and many of Kellaway's siblings were instilled with religious zeal. Kellaway himself was determined to become a medical missionary in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, but lost his faith during the tragedies of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He was educated at home until aged 11, attended Caulfield Grammar School
Caulfield Grammar School
Caulfield Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, Anglican, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield began admitting girls exactly one hundred years later...
in 1900 and, after receiving a scholarship, went on to complete his high school education at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, 1901–06. Following school he went to the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
in 1907 to study medicine, although he had to turn down the residential Clarke scholarship at Trinity College owing to the family's limited finances. Working through a difficult period in the medical school's curriculum, Kellaway nevertheless completed his MB and BS in 1911, his MD in 1913, and his MS in 1915. On graduating, he was lauded as the most brilliant student ever to have completed a medical degree at the university.
World War I service and research training in Britain
Upon concluding his formal studies in 1914, Kellaway held the acting professorship in anatomyAnatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
during 1915. He enlisted that November, serving as a Captain in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in 1916 with the Australian Army Medical Corps. Kellaway was fortunate that his first posting saw him working with Charles Martin
Charles James Martin
Charles James Martin, FRS, FRCS was a British scientist who did seminal work on protein denaturation, nutrition, snake toxins and other medical topics...
, the director of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Lister Institute, who encouraged Kellaway's scientific ambitions. After working as a regimental medical officer in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
during 1917, Kellaway was awarded a Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
for fortitude under fire, and in 1918 was promoted to Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. During 1918–19 he was attached to the Australian Flying Corps medical boards in London, concurrently initiating research into problems related to anoxia
Hypoxia (medical)
Hypoxia, or hypoxiation, is a pathological condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise...
under Henry Dale
Henry Hallett Dale
Sir Henry Hallett Dale, OM, GBE, PRS was an English pharmacologist and physiologist. For his study of acetylcholine as agent in the chemical transmission of nerve impulses he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Otto Loewi.-Biography:Henry Hallett Dale was born in Islington,...
. Dale was doubtless Kellaway's lifelong scientific mentor and patron, and he is likely to have encouraged Kellaway to apply for the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
's inaugural Foulerton Studentship in 1919. This Kellaway did after his repatriation to Australia, spending the second half of 1919 as acting professor of physiology at Adelaide University. Winning the Foulerton Studentship allowed Kellaway to return to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, spending the years 1920–23 working with Dale at the National Institute for Medical Research
National Institute for Medical Research
The National Institute for Medical Research, commonly abbreviated to NIMR, is a medical research facility situated in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of London, England. It is mainly funded by the Medical Research Council, or MRC, and is its largest establishment and the only one designated as an...
, with Charles Sherrington at Oxford University, and with Thomas Elliott at the University College Hospital
University College Hospital
University College Hospital is a teaching hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London ....
in London. These years were critical both in forming Kellaway's scientific direction and his conceptions as to how medical research ought to be configured in Australia. Kellaway moved back to Melbourne in August 1923 when invited to become the second director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Research in Pathology and Medicine (now the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research is Australia's oldest medical research institute.In 2011, the institute is home to more than 650 researchers who are working to understand, prevent and treat diseases including blood, breast and ovarian cancers; inflammatory diseases such as...
).
Directorship of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
During his first years at the Hall Institute, Kellaway concentrated on organisational and financial aspects. These included securing an increased stipend from the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust, additional income from Melbourne University, and – most importantly – permission to seek benefactions beyond these bodies. Kellaway's networking amongst doctors, medical industrialists and the wider buiness community led to several significant gifts which allowed, amongst other things, the establishment of a library and a new biochemistry department. This accorded with his reorganisation of the scientific activities of the institute from a series of sundry pathology services into three discrete research streams: biochemistryBiochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
(under Cambridge-trained Henry Holden), bacteriology
Bacteriology
Bacteriology is the study of bacteria. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species...
(under the recent Australian graduate, Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, , usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virologist best known for his contributions to immunology....
) and physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
(Kellaway). His own work ranged across various fields during the mid-twenties, including kidney disease and hydatid infection (echinococcosis
Echinococcosis
Echinococcosis, which is often referred to as hydatid disease or echinococcal disease, is a parasitic disease that affects both humans and other mammals, such as sheep, dogs, rodents and horses. There are three different forms of echinococcosis found in humans, each of which is caused by the larval...
). An important contribution to public perceptions of medical research occurred in early 1928, when Kellaway was invited by the Minister of Health to form a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
of inquiry into the 'Bundaberg tragedy', in which 12 children died following inoculation with diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
toxin-antitoxin. The rigour of this inquiry was lauded by the medical profession and public alike, both vindicating the Commonwealth's diphtheria immunisation programme and drawing international attention to Kellaway's thoroughgoing scientific investigation.
Scientific research into Australian snake venoms
Although his early studies garnered a degree of acclaim, it was in late 1927 that Kellaway found his experimental forte. At the suggestion of Neil Hamilton FairleyNeil Hamilton Fairley
Brigadier Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley KBE CStJ FRACP FRCP FRCPE FRS was an Australian physician, medical scientist, and army officer; who was instrumental in saving thousands of Allied lives from malaria and other diseases....
– then resident at the Hall Institute whilst recuperating from tropical sprue
Tropical sprue
Tropical sprue is a malabsorption disease commonly found in the tropical regions, marked with abnormal flattening of the villi and inflammation of the lining of the small intestine.It differs significantly from coeliac sprue.-Symptoms and signs:...
– a significant research programme was instigated into Australian snake venom
Snake venom
Snake venom is highly modified saliva that is produced by special glands of certain species of snakes. The glands which secrete the zootoxin are a modification of the parotid salivary gland of other vertebrates, and are usually situated on each side of the head below and behind the eye,...
s. This practical and scientific problem had not been substantively addressed since the turn of the century researches by Frank Tidswell and Charles Martin. Kellaway also used the opportunity to negotiate with the Minister for Health one of the first ad-hoc grants for medical research in Australia, preceded only by a limited number of cancer investigations. This grant lasted from 1928–31 and was a milestone in Commonwealth support for independent research in medical science. Working with Fairley, Holden and Eleanor Williams from the Institute, plus Frederick Morgan from the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (now CSL Limited
CSL Limited
CSL Limited is a global specialty biopharmaceutical company that researches, develops, manufactures and markets products to treat and prevent serious human medical conditions...
) and Tom 'Pambo' Eades from the Melbourne Zoo
Melbourne Zoo
The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Melbourne Zoo, contains more than 320 animal species from Australia and around the world. The zoo is north of the centre of Melbourne. It is accessible via Royal Park station on the Upfield railway line, and is also accessible via tram...
, Kellway's research encompassed venoms from a plethora of Australian snake species (elapidae
Elapidae
Elapidae is a family of venomous snakes found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, terrestrially in Asia, Australia, Africa, North America and South America and aquatically in the Pacific and Indian Oceans...
). This work initially focused on characteristing biting apparatus, venom yields, pharmacological activity, lethality and immunology
Immunology
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...
. Clinical work included investigations into the appropriate first-aid treatment of snakebite
Snakebite
A snakebite is an injury caused by a bite from a snake, often resulting in puncture wounds inflicted by the animal's fangs and sometimes resulting in envenomation. Although the majority of snake species are non-venomous and typically kill their prey with constriction rather than venom, venomous...
and the development of antivenenes (antivenoms) against tiger snake (Notechis scutatus), copperhead (Austrelaps superbus) and death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) venoms, although only the first was found suitable for manufacture by CSL. In addition to expanding field work on identification and characterisation of a wide range of Australian elapids and their venoms, Kellaway's work through the 1930s broadened to include platypus
Platypus
The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...
, mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
, Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus) and redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti) venoms. This huge corpus of work, totalling over 70 publications by the end of the programme, resulted in an invitation for Kellaway to review his oeuvre via the prestigious Charles E Dohme Memorial Lectureships at Johns Hopkins University Medical School (now Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine , located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., is the academic medical teaching and research arm of Johns Hopkins University. Hopkins has consistently been the nation's number one medical school in the amount of competitive research grants awarded by the National...
) in 1936 – an impressive international accolade.
The Dohme lectures also coincided with a shift in Kellaway's interest towards tissue injury by venoms, particularly their effects on haemodynamics. His investigations thus returned to the study of histamine
Histamine
Histamine is an organic nitrogen compound involved in local immune responses as well as regulating physiological function in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter. Histamine triggers the inflammatory response. As part of an immune response to foreign pathogens, histamine is produced by...
and anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is defined as "a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death". It typically results in a number of symptoms including throat swelling, an itchy rash, and low blood pressure...
that had characterised his early 1920s work with Dale, while Kellaway was furthermore encouraged by the two-year tenure of expatriate German pharmacologist, Wilhelm Feldberg
Wilhelm Feldberg
Wilhelm Siegmund Feldberg CBE FRS was a German-British-Jewish physiologist and biologist.- Biography :...
, at the Hall Institute (1936–38). During this period, working also with his compatriots Hugh LeMessurier and Everton Trethewie, Kellaway's programme evolved into a study of the release of endogenous mediators in response to tissue injury. The investigations encompassed not only histamine, but also lysocithin (now lysolethicin) and identified a new agent, the slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis
Slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis
The Slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis or SRS-A is a mixture of the leukotrienes LTC4, LTD4 and LTE4. Mast cells secrete it during the anaphylactic reaction, inducing inflammation. It can be found in basophils....
(SRS-A), plus a related SRS that was released in response to direct tissue insult. This work later instigated the substantial field of leukotriene
Leukotriene
Leukotrienes are fatty signaling molecules. They were first found in leukocytes . One of their roles is to trigger contractions in the smooth muscles lining the trachea; their overproduction is a major cause of inflammation in asthma and allergic rhinitis...
pharmacology, but for Kellaway the programme was curtailed by the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His final experimental work during the early 1940s progressed on to the response of tissues to other insults including bacterial toxins, radiant heat and anaesthetic agents. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the venom programme earned Kellaway an international scientific reputation – during a period when few researchers of such stature were working in Australia – and contributed to his election to Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1940.
Fostering an Australian medical research culture
A less prominent, but equally important, aspect of Kellaway's contribution to Australian medical science was his development of models and an infrastructure conducive to the growth and sustenance of a local research culture. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, when there were only a handful of medical research institutes in the country and very little original investigation was undertaken at the universities, the Hall Institute represented a visible, viable exemplar for those wishing to pursue a research career. Although many aspiring Australian scientists continued to travel to England or the USA for their training and to garner experience, an increasing number either remained in Australia or returned home as the 1930s progressed. During this period spanning the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Kellaway was both committed and adroit in projecting the value of medical research outwards - to the medical profession, to the public and to politicians. In 1934 he instigated an agreement with the Commonwealth Government and the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
to jointly finance the Hall Institute's new virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
research department under Burnet. This was another important precedent that helped inform the legislation that created the National Health and Medical Research Council
National Health and Medical Research Council
The National Health and Medical Research Council is Australia's peak funding body for medical research, with a budget of roughly 700 million dollars a year...
(NH&MRC) in 1937. Indeed, Kellaway campaigned for the formation of such a body, extolling its necessity both in his orations and via practical examples. At a more prosaic level, Kellaway was widely recognised for his encouragement of staff members and aspiring researchers, while his experience and the conspicuous success of the Hall Institute meant that he was consulted by other emerging facilities. In particular, the Kanematsu Institute in Sydney sought his advice on the appointment of a new director, and Kellaway championed the selection of the Australian neurophysiologist, Jack Eccles
John Carew Eccles
John Carew Eccles, AC FRS FRACP FRSNZ FAAS was an Australian neurophysiologist who won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the synapse. He shared the prize with Andrew Huxley and Alan Lloyd Hodgkin....
. An inaugural member of the Association of Physicians of Australasia (1930) and a foundation Fellow of its successor body, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Royal Australasian College of Physicians
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, or RACP, is the organisation responsible for training, educating, and representing over 9,000 physicians and paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand. It was founded in 1938....
(1938), Kellaway rose to become Vice-President of the latter from 1942-44: a high honour for a non-clinician.
World War II service and international coordination of research
It is fair to say that by the start of World War II, Charles Kellaway was the most prominent medical research figure in Australia, and – alongside Burnet and Eccles – amongst the most well regarded by the international scientific community. Even before the outbreak of hostilities, however, he moved away from the laboratory and into administrative and consultative roles. In the late 1930s he had supported the nascent blood bankBlood bank
A blood bank is a cache or bank of blood or blood components, gathered as a result of blood donation, stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a division of a hospital laboratory where the storage of blood product occurs and where proper...
work of Ian Wood and Lucy Bryce at the Hall Institute. When the war began, he gave over much of the institute's facilities and staff to the Australian Red Cross
Australian Red Cross
The Australian Red Cross is one of the many national Red Cross societies around the world. The Australian organisation was established in 1914, nine days after the commencement of World War I, by Karen Tenenbaum, when she formed a branch of the British Red Cross.the organisation grew at a rapid rate...
for wide-scale blood collection and storage, in addition to the blood typing of hundreds of thousands of service personnel. Having rejoined the Army Medical Directorate first as an honorary Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
and Director of Hygiene (1939–40), and then honorary Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
and Director of Pathology (1940–42), Kellaway was also inducted into the Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
's Flying Personnel Research Committee (FPRC). In 1941–42, at the behest of the British War Cabinet
War Cabinet
A War Cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers. It is also quite common for a War Cabinet to have senior military officers and opposition politicians as members....
, Kellaway extensively toured the USA, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the UK in order to facilitate inter-Allied collaboration on wartime medical research. This led, on his return, to Kellaway adopting the role of Scientific Liaison Officer to the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
, serving on the Physiological Sub-committee of the Chemical Defence Board and chairing the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Committee, in addition to his ongoing FPRC contribution. While many of these roles were important from a coordination and direction perspective, their outcomes were less visible than other projects such as the Fairley's malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
research unit in Cairns. Kellaway's own laboratory work finally ceased in 1943. However, he was well aware that wartime demands had opened the coffers of the NH&MRC and fostered a much greater commitment from the Commonwealth to supporting – and indeed nurturing – the Australian medical research culture that he had helped foster.
Final years at the Wellcome Research Laboratories in Britain
However, Kellaway did not participate in the large-scale reorganisation and support of medical research in post-war Australia. In 1943 – almost certainly at the instigation of Henry Dale – Kellaway was offered the post as Director of Scientific Policy at the Wellcome Research Laboratories in London (then within the Burroughs Wellcome company, now part of GlaxoSmithKlineGlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline plc is a global pharmaceutical, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare company headquartered in London, United Kingdom...
). Although reluctant to leave Australia, Kellaway accepted the invitation and – with some reservations – offered the directorship of the Hall Institute to Burnet. Kellaway remained in Australia until March 1944, by which time he had gained the rank of honorary Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
in the Army. Kellaway's years at the Wellcome did not permit him the opportunity to return to laboratory work, but his organisational skills, inspirational demeanour and scientific nous all contributed to the slow rebuilding of the company's research policy. Burroughs Wellcome faced near-bankruptcy in the early years after the war, but working with a new administrative team – and fostering research directions at several of the company's locations including Britain, the USA and tropical stations – new compounds came to be identified. These included effective treatments for motion sickness
Motion sickness
Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement...
, malaria and schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by several species of trematodes , a parasitic worm of the genus Schistosoma. Snails often act as an intermediary agent for the infectious diseases until a new human host is found...
, which began to bear commercial fruit for Wellcome just as Kellaway was diagnosed with lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in 1951. During the post-war years, he also participated actively in the Royal Society, acting as a councillor from 1947–52. Kellaway furthermore continued to promote the efforts and training of Australian researchers where he could. Despite undergoing numerous experimental treatments, however, he gradually succumbed to his inoperable cancer and died on 13 December 1952, never having returned to Australia.
Personal qualities
Beyond his scientific and institutional achievements, Charles Kellaway was a talented bird photographer - displaying his images in the Kodak shop in central Melbourne - and became an able fly fisherman. He had an enduring love for the Australian bush and spent many of his holidays away from Melbourne, enjoying rough living in remote terrain. Charles married Eileen Ethel Scantlebury in 1919 and they had three sons: Frank Gerald (1922), Charles William (1926) and Michael Hugh (1929). On his death, Kellaway attracted numerous glowing eulogies, reflecting not only his personal warmth and charm, but his good humour and willingness to help others. Moreover, his contribution in building the Hall Institute to world stature and fostering a supportive culture for medical research in Australia were lauded, although sadly these achievements have been neglected in subsequent years. He is also great Grandfather of Alfred Charles Kellaway.External links
- http://www.leshaigh.co.uk/notesstories/chashalliley.html. Kellaway's genealogy.
- Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Charles Halliley Kellaway, MB, BS, MD, MS, MC, FRS, (16 January 1889 – 13 December 1952) was an Australian medical researcher and science administrator.
Early years and education
Charles Kellaway was born at the parsonage attached to St James's Old Cathedral, MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. His father was an evangelical Anglican minister, and many of Kellaway's siblings were instilled with religious zeal. Kellaway himself was determined to become a medical missionary in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, but lost his faith during the tragedies of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He was educated at home until aged 11, attended Caulfield Grammar School
Caulfield Grammar School
Caulfield Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, Anglican, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield began admitting girls exactly one hundred years later...
in 1900 and, after receiving a scholarship, went on to complete his high school education at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, 1901–06. Following school he went to the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
in 1907 to study medicine, although he had to turn down the residential Clarke scholarship at Trinity College owing to the family's limited finances. Working through a difficult period in the medical school's curriculum, Kellaway nevertheless completed his MB and BS in 1911, his MD in 1913, and his MS in 1915. On graduating, he was lauded as the most brilliant student ever to have completed a medical degree at the university.
World War I service and research training in Britain
Upon concluding his formal studies in 1914, Kellaway held the acting professorship in anatomyAnatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
during 1915. He enlisted that November, serving as a Captain in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in 1916 with the Australian Army Medical Corps. Kellaway was fortunate that his first posting saw him working with Charles Martin
Charles James Martin
Charles James Martin, FRS, FRCS was a British scientist who did seminal work on protein denaturation, nutrition, snake toxins and other medical topics...
, the director of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Lister Institute, who encouraged Kellaway's scientific ambitions. After working as a regimental medical officer in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
during 1917, Kellaway was awarded a Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
for fortitude under fire, and in 1918 was promoted to Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. During 1918–19 he was attached to the Australian Flying Corps medical boards in London, concurrently initiating research into problems related to anoxia
Hypoxia (medical)
Hypoxia, or hypoxiation, is a pathological condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise...
under Henry Dale
Henry Hallett Dale
Sir Henry Hallett Dale, OM, GBE, PRS was an English pharmacologist and physiologist. For his study of acetylcholine as agent in the chemical transmission of nerve impulses he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Otto Loewi.-Biography:Henry Hallett Dale was born in Islington,...
. Dale was doubtless Kellaway's lifelong scientific mentor and patron, and he is likely to have encouraged Kellaway to apply for the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
's inaugural Foulerton Studentship in 1919. This Kellaway did after his repatriation to Australia, spending the second half of 1919 as acting professor of physiology at Adelaide University. Winning the Foulerton Studentship allowed Kellaway to return to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, spending the years 1920–23 working with Dale at the National Institute for Medical Research
National Institute for Medical Research
The National Institute for Medical Research, commonly abbreviated to NIMR, is a medical research facility situated in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of London, England. It is mainly funded by the Medical Research Council, or MRC, and is its largest establishment and the only one designated as an...
, with Charles Sherrington at Oxford University, and with Thomas Elliott at the University College Hospital
University College Hospital
University College Hospital is a teaching hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London ....
in London. These years were critical both in forming Kellaway's scientific direction and his conceptions as to how medical research ought to be configured in Australia. Kellaway moved back to Melbourne in August 1923 when invited to become the second director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Research in Pathology and Medicine (now the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research is Australia's oldest medical research institute.In 2011, the institute is home to more than 650 researchers who are working to understand, prevent and treat diseases including blood, breast and ovarian cancers; inflammatory diseases such as...
).
Directorship of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
During his first years at the Hall Institute, Kellaway concentrated on organisational and financial aspects. These included securing an increased stipend from the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust, additional income from Melbourne University, and – most importantly – permission to seek benefactions beyond these bodies. Kellaway's networking amongst doctors, medical industrialists and the wider buiness community led to several significant gifts which allowed, amongst other things, the establishment of a library and a new biochemistry department. This accorded with his reorganisation of the scientific activities of the institute from a series of sundry pathology services into three discrete research streams: biochemistryBiochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
(under Cambridge-trained Henry Holden), bacteriology
Bacteriology
Bacteriology is the study of bacteria. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species...
(under the recent Australian graduate, Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, , usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virologist best known for his contributions to immunology....
) and physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
(Kellaway). His own work ranged across various fields during the mid-twenties, including kidney disease and hydatid infection (echinococcosis
Echinococcosis
Echinococcosis, which is often referred to as hydatid disease or echinococcal disease, is a parasitic disease that affects both humans and other mammals, such as sheep, dogs, rodents and horses. There are three different forms of echinococcosis found in humans, each of which is caused by the larval...
). An important contribution to public perceptions of medical research occurred in early 1928, when Kellaway was invited by the Minister of Health to form a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
of inquiry into the 'Bundaberg tragedy', in which 12 children died following inoculation with diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
toxin-antitoxin. The rigour of this inquiry was lauded by the medical profession and public alike, both vindicating the Commonwealth's diphtheria immunisation programme and drawing international attention to Kellaway's thoroughgoing scientific investigation.
Scientific research into Australian snake venoms
Although his early studies garnered a degree of acclaim, it was in late 1927 that Kellaway found his experimental forte. At the suggestion of Neil Hamilton FairleyNeil Hamilton Fairley
Brigadier Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley KBE CStJ FRACP FRCP FRCPE FRS was an Australian physician, medical scientist, and army officer; who was instrumental in saving thousands of Allied lives from malaria and other diseases....
– then resident at the Hall Institute whilst recuperating from tropical sprue
Tropical sprue
Tropical sprue is a malabsorption disease commonly found in the tropical regions, marked with abnormal flattening of the villi and inflammation of the lining of the small intestine.It differs significantly from coeliac sprue.-Symptoms and signs:...
– a significant research programme was instigated into Australian snake venom
Snake venom
Snake venom is highly modified saliva that is produced by special glands of certain species of snakes. The glands which secrete the zootoxin are a modification of the parotid salivary gland of other vertebrates, and are usually situated on each side of the head below and behind the eye,...
s. This practical and scientific problem had not been substantively addressed since the turn of the century researches by Frank Tidswell and Charles Martin. Kellaway also used the opportunity to negotiate with the Minister for Health one of the first ad-hoc grants for medical research in Australia, preceded only by a limited number of cancer investigations. This grant lasted from 1928–31 and was a milestone in Commonwealth support for independent research in medical science. Working with Fairley, Holden and Eleanor Williams from the Institute, plus Frederick Morgan from the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (now CSL Limited
CSL Limited
CSL Limited is a global specialty biopharmaceutical company that researches, develops, manufactures and markets products to treat and prevent serious human medical conditions...
) and Tom 'Pambo' Eades from the Melbourne Zoo
Melbourne Zoo
The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Melbourne Zoo, contains more than 320 animal species from Australia and around the world. The zoo is north of the centre of Melbourne. It is accessible via Royal Park station on the Upfield railway line, and is also accessible via tram...
, Kellway's research encompassed venoms from a plethora of Australian snake species (elapidae
Elapidae
Elapidae is a family of venomous snakes found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, terrestrially in Asia, Australia, Africa, North America and South America and aquatically in the Pacific and Indian Oceans...
). This work initially focused on characteristing biting apparatus, venom yields, pharmacological activity, lethality and immunology
Immunology
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...
. Clinical work included investigations into the appropriate first-aid treatment of snakebite
Snakebite
A snakebite is an injury caused by a bite from a snake, often resulting in puncture wounds inflicted by the animal's fangs and sometimes resulting in envenomation. Although the majority of snake species are non-venomous and typically kill their prey with constriction rather than venom, venomous...
and the development of antivenenes (antivenoms) against tiger snake (Notechis scutatus), copperhead (Austrelaps superbus) and death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) venoms, although only the first was found suitable for manufacture by CSL. In addition to expanding field work on identification and characterisation of a wide range of Australian elapids and their venoms, Kellaway's work through the 1930s broadened to include platypus
Platypus
The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...
, mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
, Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus) and redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti) venoms. This huge corpus of work, totalling over 70 publications by the end of the programme, resulted in an invitation for Kellaway to review his oeuvre via the prestigious Charles E Dohme Memorial Lectureships at Johns Hopkins University Medical School (now Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine , located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., is the academic medical teaching and research arm of Johns Hopkins University. Hopkins has consistently been the nation's number one medical school in the amount of competitive research grants awarded by the National...
) in 1936 – an impressive international accolade.
The Dohme lectures also coincided with a shift in Kellaway's interest towards tissue injury by venoms, particularly their effects on haemodynamics. His investigations thus returned to the study of histamine
Histamine
Histamine is an organic nitrogen compound involved in local immune responses as well as regulating physiological function in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter. Histamine triggers the inflammatory response. As part of an immune response to foreign pathogens, histamine is produced by...
and anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is defined as "a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death". It typically results in a number of symptoms including throat swelling, an itchy rash, and low blood pressure...
that had characterised his early 1920s work with Dale, while Kellaway was furthermore encouraged by the two-year tenure of expatriate German pharmacologist, Wilhelm Feldberg
Wilhelm Feldberg
Wilhelm Siegmund Feldberg CBE FRS was a German-British-Jewish physiologist and biologist.- Biography :...
, at the Hall Institute (1936–38). During this period, working also with his compatriots Hugh LeMessurier and Everton Trethewie, Kellaway's programme evolved into a study of the release of endogenous mediators in response to tissue injury. The investigations encompassed not only histamine, but also lysocithin (now lysolethicin) and identified a new agent, the slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis
Slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis
The Slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis or SRS-A is a mixture of the leukotrienes LTC4, LTD4 and LTE4. Mast cells secrete it during the anaphylactic reaction, inducing inflammation. It can be found in basophils....
(SRS-A), plus a related SRS that was released in response to direct tissue insult. This work later instigated the substantial field of leukotriene
Leukotriene
Leukotrienes are fatty signaling molecules. They were first found in leukocytes . One of their roles is to trigger contractions in the smooth muscles lining the trachea; their overproduction is a major cause of inflammation in asthma and allergic rhinitis...
pharmacology, but for Kellaway the programme was curtailed by the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His final experimental work during the early 1940s progressed on to the response of tissues to other insults including bacterial toxins, radiant heat and anaesthetic agents. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the venom programme earned Kellaway an international scientific reputation – during a period when few researchers of such stature were working in Australia – and contributed to his election to Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1940.
Fostering an Australian medical research culture
A less prominent, but equally important, aspect of Kellaway's contribution to Australian medical science was his development of models and an infrastructure conducive to the growth and sustenance of a local research culture. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, when there were only a handful of medical research institutes in the country and very little original investigation was undertaken at the universities, the Hall Institute represented a visible, viable exemplar for those wishing to pursue a research career. Although many aspiring Australian scientists continued to travel to England or the USA for their training and to garner experience, an increasing number either remained in Australia or returned home as the 1930s progressed. During this period spanning the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Kellaway was both committed and adroit in projecting the value of medical research outwards - to the medical profession, to the public and to politicians. In 1934 he instigated an agreement with the Commonwealth Government and the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
to jointly finance the Hall Institute's new virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
research department under Burnet. This was another important precedent that helped inform the legislation that created the National Health and Medical Research Council
National Health and Medical Research Council
The National Health and Medical Research Council is Australia's peak funding body for medical research, with a budget of roughly 700 million dollars a year...
(NH&MRC) in 1937. Indeed, Kellaway campaigned for the formation of such a body, extolling its necessity both in his orations and via practical examples. At a more prosaic level, Kellaway was widely recognised for his encouragement of staff members and aspiring researchers, while his experience and the conspicuous success of the Hall Institute meant that he was consulted by other emerging facilities. In particular, the Kanematsu Institute in Sydney sought his advice on the appointment of a new director, and Kellaway championed the selection of the Australian neurophysiologist, Jack Eccles
John Carew Eccles
John Carew Eccles, AC FRS FRACP FRSNZ FAAS was an Australian neurophysiologist who won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the synapse. He shared the prize with Andrew Huxley and Alan Lloyd Hodgkin....
. An inaugural member of the Association of Physicians of Australasia (1930) and a foundation Fellow of its successor body, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Royal Australasian College of Physicians
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, or RACP, is the organisation responsible for training, educating, and representing over 9,000 physicians and paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand. It was founded in 1938....
(1938), Kellaway rose to become Vice-President of the latter from 1942-44: a high honour for a non-clinician.
World War II service and international coordination of research
It is fair to say that by the start of World War II, Charles Kellaway was the most prominent medical research figure in Australia, and – alongside Burnet and Eccles – amongst the most well regarded by the international scientific community. Even before the outbreak of hostilities, however, he moved away from the laboratory and into administrative and consultative roles. In the late 1930s he had supported the nascent blood bankBlood bank
A blood bank is a cache or bank of blood or blood components, gathered as a result of blood donation, stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a division of a hospital laboratory where the storage of blood product occurs and where proper...
work of Ian Wood and Lucy Bryce at the Hall Institute. When the war began, he gave over much of the institute's facilities and staff to the Australian Red Cross
Australian Red Cross
The Australian Red Cross is one of the many national Red Cross societies around the world. The Australian organisation was established in 1914, nine days after the commencement of World War I, by Karen Tenenbaum, when she formed a branch of the British Red Cross.the organisation grew at a rapid rate...
for wide-scale blood collection and storage, in addition to the blood typing of hundreds of thousands of service personnel. Having rejoined the Army Medical Directorate first as an honorary Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
and Director of Hygiene (1939–40), and then honorary Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
and Director of Pathology (1940–42), Kellaway was also inducted into the Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
's Flying Personnel Research Committee (FPRC). In 1941–42, at the behest of the British War Cabinet
War Cabinet
A War Cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers. It is also quite common for a War Cabinet to have senior military officers and opposition politicians as members....
, Kellaway extensively toured the USA, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the UK in order to facilitate inter-Allied collaboration on wartime medical research. This led, on his return, to Kellaway adopting the role of Scientific Liaison Officer to the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
, serving on the Physiological Sub-committee of the Chemical Defence Board and chairing the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Committee, in addition to his ongoing FPRC contribution. While many of these roles were important from a coordination and direction perspective, their outcomes were less visible than other projects such as the Fairley's malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
research unit in Cairns. Kellaway's own laboratory work finally ceased in 1943. However, he was well aware that wartime demands had opened the coffers of the NH&MRC and fostered a much greater commitment from the Commonwealth to supporting – and indeed nurturing – the Australian medical research culture that he had helped foster.
Final years at the Wellcome Research Laboratories in Britain
However, Kellaway did not participate in the large-scale reorganisation and support of medical research in post-war Australia. In 1943 – almost certainly at the instigation of Henry Dale – Kellaway was offered the post as Director of Scientific Policy at the Wellcome Research Laboratories in London (then within the Burroughs Wellcome company, now part of GlaxoSmithKlineGlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline plc is a global pharmaceutical, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare company headquartered in London, United Kingdom...
). Although reluctant to leave Australia, Kellaway accepted the invitation and – with some reservations – offered the directorship of the Hall Institute to Burnet. Kellaway remained in Australia until March 1944, by which time he had gained the rank of honorary Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
in the Army. Kellaway's years at the Wellcome did not permit him the opportunity to return to laboratory work, but his organisational skills, inspirational demeanour and scientific nous all contributed to the slow rebuilding of the company's research policy. Burroughs Wellcome faced near-bankruptcy in the early years after the war, but working with a new administrative team – and fostering research directions at several of the company's locations including Britain, the USA and tropical stations – new compounds came to be identified. These included effective treatments for motion sickness
Motion sickness
Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement...
, malaria and schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by several species of trematodes , a parasitic worm of the genus Schistosoma. Snails often act as an intermediary agent for the infectious diseases until a new human host is found...
, which began to bear commercial fruit for Wellcome just as Kellaway was diagnosed with lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in 1951. During the post-war years, he also participated actively in the Royal Society, acting as a councillor from 1947–52. Kellaway furthermore continued to promote the efforts and training of Australian researchers where he could. Despite undergoing numerous experimental treatments, however, he gradually succumbed to his inoperable cancer and died on 13 December 1952, never having returned to Australia.
Personal qualities
Beyond his scientific and institutional achievements, Charles Kellaway was a talented bird photographer - displaying his images in the Kodak shop in central Melbourne - and became an able fly fisherman. He had an enduring love for the Australian bush and spent many of his holidays away from Melbourne, enjoying rough living in remote terrain. Charles married Eileen Ethel Scantlebury in 1919 and they had three sons: Frank Gerald (1922), Charles William (1926) and Michael Hugh (1929). On his death, Kellaway attracted numerous glowing eulogies, reflecting not only his personal warmth and charm, but his good humour and willingness to help others. Moreover, his contribution in building the Hall Institute to world stature and fostering a supportive culture for medical research in Australia were lauded, although sadly these achievements have been neglected in subsequent years. He is also great Grandfather of Alfred Charles Kellaway.External links
- http://www.leshaigh.co.uk/notesstories/chashalliley.html. Kellaway's genealogy.
- Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Charles Halliley Kellaway, MB, BS, MD, MS, MC, FRS, (16 January 1889 – 13 December 1952) was an Australian medical researcher and science administrator.
Early years and education
Charles Kellaway was born at the parsonage attached to St James's Old Cathedral, MelbourneMelbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
. His father was an evangelical Anglican minister, and many of Kellaway's siblings were instilled with religious zeal. Kellaway himself was determined to become a medical missionary in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, but lost his faith during the tragedies of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He was educated at home until aged 11, attended Caulfield Grammar School
Caulfield Grammar School
Caulfield Grammar School is an independent, co-educational, Anglican, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as a boys' school, Caulfield began admitting girls exactly one hundred years later...
in 1900 and, after receiving a scholarship, went on to complete his high school education at Melbourne Church of England Grammar School, 1901–06. Following school he went to the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
in 1907 to study medicine, although he had to turn down the residential Clarke scholarship at Trinity College owing to the family's limited finances. Working through a difficult period in the medical school's curriculum, Kellaway nevertheless completed his MB and BS in 1911, his MD in 1913, and his MS in 1915. On graduating, he was lauded as the most brilliant student ever to have completed a medical degree at the university.
World War I service and research training in Britain
Upon concluding his formal studies in 1914, Kellaway held the acting professorship in anatomyAnatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
at the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
during 1915. He enlisted that November, serving as a Captain in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in 1916 with the Australian Army Medical Corps. Kellaway was fortunate that his first posting saw him working with Charles Martin
Charles James Martin
Charles James Martin, FRS, FRCS was a British scientist who did seminal work on protein denaturation, nutrition, snake toxins and other medical topics...
, the director of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Lister Institute, who encouraged Kellaway's scientific ambitions. After working as a regimental medical officer in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
during 1917, Kellaway was awarded a Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
for fortitude under fire, and in 1918 was promoted to Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. During 1918–19 he was attached to the Australian Flying Corps medical boards in London, concurrently initiating research into problems related to anoxia
Hypoxia (medical)
Hypoxia, or hypoxiation, is a pathological condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise...
under Henry Dale
Henry Hallett Dale
Sir Henry Hallett Dale, OM, GBE, PRS was an English pharmacologist and physiologist. For his study of acetylcholine as agent in the chemical transmission of nerve impulses he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Otto Loewi.-Biography:Henry Hallett Dale was born in Islington,...
. Dale was doubtless Kellaway's lifelong scientific mentor and patron, and he is likely to have encouraged Kellaway to apply for the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
's inaugural Foulerton Studentship in 1919. This Kellaway did after his repatriation to Australia, spending the second half of 1919 as acting professor of physiology at Adelaide University. Winning the Foulerton Studentship allowed Kellaway to return to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, spending the years 1920–23 working with Dale at the National Institute for Medical Research
National Institute for Medical Research
The National Institute for Medical Research, commonly abbreviated to NIMR, is a medical research facility situated in Mill Hill, on the outskirts of London, England. It is mainly funded by the Medical Research Council, or MRC, and is its largest establishment and the only one designated as an...
, with Charles Sherrington at Oxford University, and with Thomas Elliott at the University College Hospital
University College Hospital
University College Hospital is a teaching hospital located in London, United Kingdom. It is part of the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is closely associated with University College London ....
in London. These years were critical both in forming Kellaway's scientific direction and his conceptions as to how medical research ought to be configured in Australia. Kellaway moved back to Melbourne in August 1923 when invited to become the second director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Research in Pathology and Medicine (now the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research is Australia's oldest medical research institute.In 2011, the institute is home to more than 650 researchers who are working to understand, prevent and treat diseases including blood, breast and ovarian cancers; inflammatory diseases such as...
).
Directorship of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
During his first years at the Hall Institute, Kellaway concentrated on organisational and financial aspects. These included securing an increased stipend from the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust, additional income from Melbourne University, and – most importantly – permission to seek benefactions beyond these bodies. Kellaway's networking amongst doctors, medical industrialists and the wider buiness community led to several significant gifts which allowed, amongst other things, the establishment of a library and a new biochemistry department. This accorded with his reorganisation of the scientific activities of the institute from a series of sundry pathology services into three discrete research streams: biochemistryBiochemistry
Biochemistry, sometimes called biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes in living organisms, including, but not limited to, living matter. Biochemistry governs all living organisms and living processes...
(under Cambridge-trained Henry Holden), bacteriology
Bacteriology
Bacteriology is the study of bacteria. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classification, and characterization of bacterial species...
(under the recent Australian graduate, Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, , usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virologist best known for his contributions to immunology....
) and physiology
Physiology
Physiology is the science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system. The highest honor awarded in physiology is the Nobel Prize in Physiology or...
(Kellaway). His own work ranged across various fields during the mid-twenties, including kidney disease and hydatid infection (echinococcosis
Echinococcosis
Echinococcosis, which is often referred to as hydatid disease or echinococcal disease, is a parasitic disease that affects both humans and other mammals, such as sheep, dogs, rodents and horses. There are three different forms of echinococcosis found in humans, each of which is caused by the larval...
). An important contribution to public perceptions of medical research occurred in early 1928, when Kellaway was invited by the Minister of Health to form a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
of inquiry into the 'Bundaberg tragedy', in which 12 children died following inoculation with diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
toxin-antitoxin. The rigour of this inquiry was lauded by the medical profession and public alike, both vindicating the Commonwealth's diphtheria immunisation programme and drawing international attention to Kellaway's thoroughgoing scientific investigation.
Scientific research into Australian snake venoms
Although his early studies garnered a degree of acclaim, it was in late 1927 that Kellaway found his experimental forte. At the suggestion of Neil Hamilton FairleyNeil Hamilton Fairley
Brigadier Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley KBE CStJ FRACP FRCP FRCPE FRS was an Australian physician, medical scientist, and army officer; who was instrumental in saving thousands of Allied lives from malaria and other diseases....
– then resident at the Hall Institute whilst recuperating from tropical sprue
Tropical sprue
Tropical sprue is a malabsorption disease commonly found in the tropical regions, marked with abnormal flattening of the villi and inflammation of the lining of the small intestine.It differs significantly from coeliac sprue.-Symptoms and signs:...
– a significant research programme was instigated into Australian snake venom
Snake venom
Snake venom is highly modified saliva that is produced by special glands of certain species of snakes. The glands which secrete the zootoxin are a modification of the parotid salivary gland of other vertebrates, and are usually situated on each side of the head below and behind the eye,...
s. This practical and scientific problem had not been substantively addressed since the turn of the century researches by Frank Tidswell and Charles Martin. Kellaway also used the opportunity to negotiate with the Minister for Health one of the first ad-hoc grants for medical research in Australia, preceded only by a limited number of cancer investigations. This grant lasted from 1928–31 and was a milestone in Commonwealth support for independent research in medical science. Working with Fairley, Holden and Eleanor Williams from the Institute, plus Frederick Morgan from the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (now CSL Limited
CSL Limited
CSL Limited is a global specialty biopharmaceutical company that researches, develops, manufactures and markets products to treat and prevent serious human medical conditions...
) and Tom 'Pambo' Eades from the Melbourne Zoo
Melbourne Zoo
The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Melbourne Zoo, contains more than 320 animal species from Australia and around the world. The zoo is north of the centre of Melbourne. It is accessible via Royal Park station on the Upfield railway line, and is also accessible via tram...
, Kellway's research encompassed venoms from a plethora of Australian snake species (elapidae
Elapidae
Elapidae is a family of venomous snakes found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, terrestrially in Asia, Australia, Africa, North America and South America and aquatically in the Pacific and Indian Oceans...
). This work initially focused on characteristing biting apparatus, venom yields, pharmacological activity, lethality and immunology
Immunology
Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders ; the...
. Clinical work included investigations into the appropriate first-aid treatment of snakebite
Snakebite
A snakebite is an injury caused by a bite from a snake, often resulting in puncture wounds inflicted by the animal's fangs and sometimes resulting in envenomation. Although the majority of snake species are non-venomous and typically kill their prey with constriction rather than venom, venomous...
and the development of antivenenes (antivenoms) against tiger snake (Notechis scutatus), copperhead (Austrelaps superbus) and death adder (Acanthophis antarcticus) venoms, although only the first was found suitable for manufacture by CSL. In addition to expanding field work on identification and characterisation of a wide range of Australian elapids and their venoms, Kellaway's work through the 1930s broadened to include platypus
Platypus
The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...
, mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
, Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robustus) and redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti) venoms. This huge corpus of work, totalling over 70 publications by the end of the programme, resulted in an invitation for Kellaway to review his oeuvre via the prestigious Charles E Dohme Memorial Lectureships at Johns Hopkins University Medical School (now Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine , located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S., is the academic medical teaching and research arm of Johns Hopkins University. Hopkins has consistently been the nation's number one medical school in the amount of competitive research grants awarded by the National...
) in 1936 – an impressive international accolade.
The Dohme lectures also coincided with a shift in Kellaway's interest towards tissue injury by venoms, particularly their effects on haemodynamics. His investigations thus returned to the study of histamine
Histamine
Histamine is an organic nitrogen compound involved in local immune responses as well as regulating physiological function in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter. Histamine triggers the inflammatory response. As part of an immune response to foreign pathogens, histamine is produced by...
and anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is defined as "a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death". It typically results in a number of symptoms including throat swelling, an itchy rash, and low blood pressure...
that had characterised his early 1920s work with Dale, while Kellaway was furthermore encouraged by the two-year tenure of expatriate German pharmacologist, Wilhelm Feldberg
Wilhelm Feldberg
Wilhelm Siegmund Feldberg CBE FRS was a German-British-Jewish physiologist and biologist.- Biography :...
, at the Hall Institute (1936–38). During this period, working also with his compatriots Hugh LeMessurier and Everton Trethewie, Kellaway's programme evolved into a study of the release of endogenous mediators in response to tissue injury. The investigations encompassed not only histamine, but also lysocithin (now lysolethicin) and identified a new agent, the slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis
Slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis
The Slow-reacting substance of anaphylaxis or SRS-A is a mixture of the leukotrienes LTC4, LTD4 and LTE4. Mast cells secrete it during the anaphylactic reaction, inducing inflammation. It can be found in basophils....
(SRS-A), plus a related SRS that was released in response to direct tissue insult. This work later instigated the substantial field of leukotriene
Leukotriene
Leukotrienes are fatty signaling molecules. They were first found in leukocytes . One of their roles is to trigger contractions in the smooth muscles lining the trachea; their overproduction is a major cause of inflammation in asthma and allergic rhinitis...
pharmacology, but for Kellaway the programme was curtailed by the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His final experimental work during the early 1940s progressed on to the response of tissues to other insults including bacterial toxins, radiant heat and anaesthetic agents. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the venom programme earned Kellaway an international scientific reputation – during a period when few researchers of such stature were working in Australia – and contributed to his election to Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1940.
Fostering an Australian medical research culture
A less prominent, but equally important, aspect of Kellaway's contribution to Australian medical science was his development of models and an infrastructure conducive to the growth and sustenance of a local research culture. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, when there were only a handful of medical research institutes in the country and very little original investigation was undertaken at the universities, the Hall Institute represented a visible, viable exemplar for those wishing to pursue a research career. Although many aspiring Australian scientists continued to travel to England or the USA for their training and to garner experience, an increasing number either remained in Australia or returned home as the 1930s progressed. During this period spanning the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Kellaway was both committed and adroit in projecting the value of medical research outwards - to the medical profession, to the public and to politicians. In 1934 he instigated an agreement with the Commonwealth Government and the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
to jointly finance the Hall Institute's new virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
research department under Burnet. This was another important precedent that helped inform the legislation that created the National Health and Medical Research Council
National Health and Medical Research Council
The National Health and Medical Research Council is Australia's peak funding body for medical research, with a budget of roughly 700 million dollars a year...
(NH&MRC) in 1937. Indeed, Kellaway campaigned for the formation of such a body, extolling its necessity both in his orations and via practical examples. At a more prosaic level, Kellaway was widely recognised for his encouragement of staff members and aspiring researchers, while his experience and the conspicuous success of the Hall Institute meant that he was consulted by other emerging facilities. In particular, the Kanematsu Institute in Sydney sought his advice on the appointment of a new director, and Kellaway championed the selection of the Australian neurophysiologist, Jack Eccles
John Carew Eccles
John Carew Eccles, AC FRS FRACP FRSNZ FAAS was an Australian neurophysiologist who won the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the synapse. He shared the prize with Andrew Huxley and Alan Lloyd Hodgkin....
. An inaugural member of the Association of Physicians of Australasia (1930) and a foundation Fellow of its successor body, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Royal Australasian College of Physicians
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, or RACP, is the organisation responsible for training, educating, and representing over 9,000 physicians and paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand. It was founded in 1938....
(1938), Kellaway rose to become Vice-President of the latter from 1942-44: a high honour for a non-clinician.
World War II service and international coordination of research
It is fair to say that by the start of World War II, Charles Kellaway was the most prominent medical research figure in Australia, and – alongside Burnet and Eccles – amongst the most well regarded by the international scientific community. Even before the outbreak of hostilities, however, he moved away from the laboratory and into administrative and consultative roles. In the late 1930s he had supported the nascent blood bankBlood bank
A blood bank is a cache or bank of blood or blood components, gathered as a result of blood donation, stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a division of a hospital laboratory where the storage of blood product occurs and where proper...
work of Ian Wood and Lucy Bryce at the Hall Institute. When the war began, he gave over much of the institute's facilities and staff to the Australian Red Cross
Australian Red Cross
The Australian Red Cross is one of the many national Red Cross societies around the world. The Australian organisation was established in 1914, nine days after the commencement of World War I, by Karen Tenenbaum, when she formed a branch of the British Red Cross.the organisation grew at a rapid rate...
for wide-scale blood collection and storage, in addition to the blood typing of hundreds of thousands of service personnel. Having rejoined the Army Medical Directorate first as an honorary Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
and Director of Hygiene (1939–40), and then honorary Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
and Director of Pathology (1940–42), Kellaway was also inducted into the Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
's Flying Personnel Research Committee (FPRC). In 1941–42, at the behest of the British War Cabinet
War Cabinet
A War Cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers. It is also quite common for a War Cabinet to have senior military officers and opposition politicians as members....
, Kellaway extensively toured the USA, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the UK in order to facilitate inter-Allied collaboration on wartime medical research. This led, on his return, to Kellaway adopting the role of Scientific Liaison Officer to the Australian Army
Australian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
, serving on the Physiological Sub-committee of the Chemical Defence Board and chairing the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Committee, in addition to his ongoing FPRC contribution. While many of these roles were important from a coordination and direction perspective, their outcomes were less visible than other projects such as the Fairley's malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
research unit in Cairns. Kellaway's own laboratory work finally ceased in 1943. However, he was well aware that wartime demands had opened the coffers of the NH&MRC and fostered a much greater commitment from the Commonwealth to supporting – and indeed nurturing – the Australian medical research culture that he had helped foster.
Final years at the Wellcome Research Laboratories in Britain
However, Kellaway did not participate in the large-scale reorganisation and support of medical research in post-war Australia. In 1943 – almost certainly at the instigation of Henry Dale – Kellaway was offered the post as Director of Scientific Policy at the Wellcome Research Laboratories in London (then within the Burroughs Wellcome company, now part of GlaxoSmithKlineGlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline plc is a global pharmaceutical, biologics, vaccines and consumer healthcare company headquartered in London, United Kingdom...
). Although reluctant to leave Australia, Kellaway accepted the invitation and – with some reservations – offered the directorship of the Hall Institute to Burnet. Kellaway remained in Australia until March 1944, by which time he had gained the rank of honorary Brigadier
Brigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
in the Army. Kellaway's years at the Wellcome did not permit him the opportunity to return to laboratory work, but his organisational skills, inspirational demeanour and scientific nous all contributed to the slow rebuilding of the company's research policy. Burroughs Wellcome faced near-bankruptcy in the early years after the war, but working with a new administrative team – and fostering research directions at several of the company's locations including Britain, the USA and tropical stations – new compounds came to be identified. These included effective treatments for motion sickness
Motion sickness
Motion sickness or kinetosis, also known as travel sickness, is a condition in which a disagreement exists between visually perceived movement and the vestibular system's sense of movement...
, malaria and schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis
Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by several species of trematodes , a parasitic worm of the genus Schistosoma. Snails often act as an intermediary agent for the infectious diseases until a new human host is found...
, which began to bear commercial fruit for Wellcome just as Kellaway was diagnosed with lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in 1951. During the post-war years, he also participated actively in the Royal Society, acting as a councillor from 1947–52. Kellaway furthermore continued to promote the efforts and training of Australian researchers where he could. Despite undergoing numerous experimental treatments, however, he gradually succumbed to his inoperable cancer and died on 13 December 1952, never having returned to Australia.
Personal qualities
Beyond his scientific and institutional achievements, Charles Kellaway was a talented bird photographer - displaying his images in the Kodak shop in central Melbourne - and became an able fly fisherman. He had an enduring love for the Australian bush and spent many of his holidays away from Melbourne, enjoying rough living in remote terrain. Charles married Eileen Ethel Scantlebury in 1919 and they had three sons: Frank Gerald (1922), Charles William (1926) and Michael Hugh (1929). On his death, Kellaway attracted numerous glowing eulogies, reflecting not only his personal warmth and charm, but his good humour and willingness to help others. Moreover, his contribution in building the Hall Institute to world stature and fostering a supportive culture for medical research in Australia were lauded, although sadly these achievements have been neglected in subsequent years. He is also great Grandfather of Alfred Charles Kellaway.External links
- http://www.leshaigh.co.uk/notesstories/chashalliley.html. Kellaway's genealogy.
- Walter and Eliza Hall Institute