Peter Kynaston Thomas, 28 June 1926–25 January 2008

Professor P. K. Thomas, who was Editor of Journal of Anatomy from 1990 to 2001, died on 25 January at home after a long illness. PK's interest in science developed early. The notice on the garden shed at his boyhood home in Wales said ‘Laboratory – Keep out.’ He did not have a medical background (the family firm imported timber), but after leaving school he decided to study Medicine and obtained a bursary to University College London where he was awarded a First in Anatomy in 1947. He was very fortunate in studying under J. Z. Young who was head of the Anatomy Department and who sparked his interest in peripheral nerves, beginning with the lateral line nerve of the trout, which could conveniently be removed without damaging the dietary value of the remains of the fish. Even at this early stage, he made significant advances in understanding the process of nerve growth during development. PK qualified in 1950 and then undertook an MD on ‘Pubic and facial hair growth in white women’ in 1956 – a somewhat strange choice for such a shy person. During this time he held a variety of house jobs in London Hospitals. In 1957 he became a Senior Registrar in Neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, starting an association which continued for the rest of his life. There he became interested in electrophysiological investigations of peripheral nerve function, adding a new dimension to his earlier anatomical studies. In 1961 he went to Canada and spent a year at Montreal General Hospital and McGill University. Whilst there he was fortunate to have the opportunity of learning the new technique of electron microscopy with David Robertson. He saw the value of its application to the study of nerve structure and so, on his return to England and Consultant posts at the Royal Free Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, he and Michael Kidd set up the Electron Microscopy Lab in Maida Vale Hospital. The first electron microscope was a Siemens 1a, which is now in the Science Museum in Kensington. In those early years he had an ultramicrotome in his office so that he could cut his own sections, but, to his regret, he rapidly became too busy to continue such time-consuming work. He was a proponent of the use of nerve biopsies in the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy combined with electrophysiological and clinical studies and was unusual in carrying out all these investigations himself. At this time, he became particularly interested in diabetic neuropathy and Guillain-Barré syndrome and started experimental work on the latter disease. In the early years he was doing clinical sessions and taking nerve biopsies in many London Hospitals. When the opportunity arose in 1969, he consolidated his activities in one centre and set up the Department of Neurology at the Royal Free Hospital in Gray's Inn Road. Funds were raised to convert adjacent office space and buy a new Siemens 101 electron microscope. Here the combination of light and electron microscopy and electrophysiology continued with a flow of interesting nerve and muscle biopsies. Difficult cases were referred to him because of his growing reputation as a first class clinician. He also led research projects on degeneration of myelinated fibres and unmyelinated axons, vitamin E deficiency, Friedreich's ataxia and many other pathologies. His guidance of a succession of PhD students and visiting research fellows from all over the world made the lab a vibrant and exciting place to work. In 1974 the Royal Free Hospital moved to a new building in Hampstead and PK was awarded a personal chair in the University of London. Four years later the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine moved in its entirety to the Hampstead site. The Department of Neurology moved finally to the Medical School adjoining the Hospital Building. As the new science of Neurogenetics developed (led by his wife, Anita Harding), he became very involved with this approach, especially in relation to hereditary demyelinating diseases. This extended to include investigations of several inherited diseases found in the Roma populations of Eastern Europe; he would travel to very remote regions to study rare syndromes. He also became involved in a study of altitude neuropathy, which meant climbing 15 000 feet up the Andes to remote regions of Peru to do nerve biopsies and nerve conduction studies. PK was very pleased to be awarded a CBE in 1997 and to be made a Fellow of his old University, UCL. He belonged to numerous scientific societies all over the world, had eight honorary memberships of national neurological organisations and an honorary Doctorate from the Military Medical Academy of Łodź, Poland. He always had a special interest in anatomy from his undergraduate days and edited the Journal of Anatomy from 1990 to 2001. He was a superb editor, being both obsessive about the details and also able to see their wider importance. He also edited the journal Brain and wrote over 300 original papers on a wide range of topics related to the peripheral nervous system as well as numerous reviews, chapters and books. He was well known for taking papers to be written and edited on his travels – no moment was ever wasted. Despite being always very busy, he found time for a vibrant social life and travelled extensively to scientific and medical meetings all over the world. Even after his stroke, he still managed to go to Canada. There seemed to be nowhere he hadn't been! He loved good food, wine and music (he taught himself to play the piano as a boy) and had a huge collection of CDs. He was particularly fond of very esoteric modern music. He was married three times, first in 1952 to Mary who died in 1977, secondly to Anita, who unfortunately also predeceased him in 1995. Lastly he married Sam in 1999. His boundless enthusiasm for life never faltered and led, for example, to careering down mountainsides with his young stepson and breaking his shoulder when he was well into his 70s. Although he was disabled for nearly 7 years as a result of a severe stroke in 2001, he never lost his sense of humour and ability to enjoy life. Sam was an enormous comfort to him in his last years and cared for him devotedly at home. He is survived by his sons, Adrian and Nicolas, and their children and by Sam and his stepson Mark.

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