David Dane: Difference between revisions

During the later part of his professional career he and his [[Virology|Department of Virology]] at the [[Middlesex Hospital Medical School]] wherewere renowned for diagnostic precision irrespective of whether this involved dated technology, for example [[immunodiffusion|immunodiffusion (ID)]] or [[complement fixation tests|complement fixation tests (CFT)]], or state-of-the-art technology including [[radioimmunoassay|radioimmunoassay (RIA)]] and [[electron microscopy|electron microscopy (EM)]]. Whatever investigations were carried out were expected to be precise, accurate, reproducible and of clinical relevance.

David Maurice Surrey Dane was the son of William Surrey Dane (1892–1978), C.B.E., M.C., vice-chairman and managerial consultant of [[Odhams Press]] and chairman/ president of several hospital boards, including [[Great Ormond Street Hospital]] (1957–67), chairman of the [[Daily Herald (UK newspaper)|Daily Herald]] newspaper (1949–60), and a member of the General Advisory Council of the [[BBC]] (1956–62),<ref>Debrett's Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage and Companionage, 1973, Kelly's Directories, p. 2582</ref><ref>Who was Who entry, published online 2007 URL= http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U153703 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180914165852/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U153703 |date=14 September 2018 }} Date accessed= 14 Sep. 2018</ref> and his wife Dorothy Mary, daughter of Rev. William Alexander Armstrong, M.A. (Cantab.), vicar of West Dean, near Chichester; her brother was the artist [[John Armstrong (artist)|John Armstrong]].<ref>John Armstrong: The Paintings, Andrew Lambirth, Philip Wilson Publishing, 2009, p. 13</ref>

Dane attended [[Charterhouse School|Charterhouse School, Surrey]]. He was admitted to [[Clare College, Cambridge]], however, he volunteered instead to join the Army.<ref name="karger">Barbara, John A.J. (1998). David Surrey Dane. Retrieved from https://www.karger.com/Article/PDF/30982</ref> In 1941, heafter enlistedenlisting as a [[private (rank)|private]], Dane was selected for officer training. He joined the [[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|Parachute Regiment]] in 1943, and then the newly formed [[Special Air Service|Special Air Service (SAS)]].<ref>"Second Supplement to The London Gazette - War Office, 16th October, 1942" (1942). Retrieved from: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35746/supplement/4486</ref> In July 1944, he was parachuted into [[France]] as part of [[Operation Bulbasket]].<ref>McCue, Paul (2009). SAS Operation Bulbasket: Behind the Lines in Occupied France. Barnsley, S. Yorks, UK: Pen and Sword Books Ltd. p. 232. {{ISBN|978-1-84884-193-2}}.</ref>

He returned to the UK to read [[Natural Sciences (Cambridge)|Natural Sciences]] at [[Clare College, Cambridge]] and later undertook his clinical medical training at [[St Thomas' Hospital]], London.<ref name="munks">>{{cite web|title=David Maurice Surrey Dane|url=http://munksroll.rcplondon.ac.uk/Biography/Details/4976|website=[[Royal College of Physicians]]|accessdateaccess-date=12 September 2016}}</ref>

Dane joined the [[Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science]], [[Adelaide]], in 1951 supported by a grant from [[NHS|National Health]] and the [[Medical Research Council (United Kingdom)|Medical Research Council]].<ref name="munks" /> He was instrumental in an extensive investigation of an undiagnosed outbreak of [[meningitis|acute meningitis]] and isolated a potential cause. It was inevitable that as a [[virologist|field virologist]] he would also become involved in the [[zoonosis|avian/human zoonosis]] of [[psittacosis]] work led by John Miles, Headhead of the Medical Research Division in the early 1950s.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Miles | first1 = J. A. R. | year = 1954 | title = Benign lymphocytic meningitis | url = | journal = Medical Journal of Australia | volume = 1 | issue = 18| pages = 659–64 | doi = 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1954.tb85712.x | pmid = 13164668 | s2cid = 42301490 }}</ref> Dane continued to work to improve diagnostic methods and published on avian and human psittacosis.<ref>Dane, D. S., Miles, J. A. R., & Stoker, M. G. P. (1953). A disease of Manx Shearwaters: further observations in the field. The Journal of Animal Acology, 123-133.</ref>

On returning to the UK, in 1955, Dane was appointed [[lecturer]] in [[microbiology]] at [[Queen’sQueen's University, Belfast]],<ref name="munks" /> where he worked with [[George Frederick Dick|Professor George Dick]] on the recently developed [[Attenuated vaccine|attenuate]] and [[Inactivated vaccine|killed]] [[poliovirus vaccines]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dick | first1 = GWA | last2 = Dane | first2 = DS | year = 1959 | title = Live Poliomyelitis Vaccine | url = | journal = British Medical Journal | volume = 1 | issue = 5125| pages = 853–854 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.1.5125.853 | s2cid = 41758522 }}</ref> Through their research they established that the early live [[polio vaccines]] developed by [[Hilary Koprowski]] were unsafe because they could return to [[virulence]] when excreted by people given the vaccine.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dane | first1 = DS | last2 = Dick | first2 = GWA | last3 = Briggs | first3 = M | last4 = Nelson | first4 = R | year = 1958 | title = Vaccination Against Poliomyelitis with Live Virus Vaccines | url = | journal = British Medical Journal | volume = 2 | issue = 5106| pages = 1187–1188 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.2.5106.1187 | pmid = 13584893 | pmc = 2027199 }}</ref> Professor Dick’s team also initiated studies of combined [[diphtheria]]/[[pertussis]]/[[tetanus]] vaccines.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Haire | first1 = M | last2 = Dane | first2 = DS | last3 = Dick | first3 = G | last4 = Briggs | first4 = EM | last5 = Connor | first5 = TJ | year = 1966 | title = Further studies with a diphtheria-tetanus-poliomyelitis vaccine | url = | journal = The Journal of Hygiene | volume = 64 | issue = 4| pages = 485–488 | doi = 10.1017/s0022172400040791 | pmid = 5224766 | pmc = 2134759 }}</ref>

In 1966, Dane left [[Belfast]] to become the head of the Virology Department, Bland Sutton School of Pathology at the [[Middlesex Hospital Medical School]], [[London]]. At that time this was one of the very few medical schools to have an [[electron microscope]], donated by [[Polio]] charities in recognition of his work in this field. Very much in character, he developed productive collaborations with senior colleagues within the medical school and hospital. Together with Dr Duncan Catterall, head of the [[sexually transmitted disease]] clinic in James Pringle House at [[Middlesex Hospital]], Dane quickly demonstrated the usefulness of the [[electron microscope]] for the rapid [[diagnosis]] of [[HIV|herpes simplex virus infection (HIV)]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Fulford | first1 = K. W. M. | last2 = Dane | first2 = D. S. | last3 = Catterall | first3 = R. D. | last4 = Woof | first4 = R. | last5 = Denning | first5 = J. V. | year = 1973 | title = Australia antigen and antibody among patients attending a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases | url = | journal = The Lancet | volume = 301 | issue = 7818| pages = 1470–1473 | doi = 10.1016/s0140-6736(73)91810-2 | pmid = 4123139 }}</ref> Close collaborations with two senior colleagues in the [[haematology]] field, [[James Wallace Stewart|James Wallace "Jimmie" Stewart]], Professor of Haematology at the [[Middlesex Hospital Medical School|Middlesex Hospital Medical School (MHMS)]], and Tom Cleghorn, Directordirector of the North London Blood Transfusion Centre (NLBTC) at [[Edgware]] led to ground-breaking work in the emerging field of [[transfusion transmitted infection]] and particularly that of post-transfusion hepatitis.<ref>Doniach, D., Del Prete, S., Dane, D. S., & Walsh, J. H. (1972). "Viral hepatitis related antigens in 'autoimmune' hepatic disorders", ''Canadian Medical Association Journal'', 106 (Spec Issue), 513.</ref>

With his colleagues Colin "Sam" Cameron and Moya Briggs he was, in 1970, the first to describe the virus responsible for [[hepatitis B|hepatitis B (HBV)]].<ref>{{cite journal|date=April 1993|title=The discovery of the hepatitis viruses.|journal=Gastroenterology|volume=104|issue=4|pages=955–63|pmid=8385046|last1=Purcell|first1=RH|doi=10.1016/0016-5085(93)90261-a}}</ref> His application of [[electron microscopy|electron microscopy (EM)]] to examine [[Blood plasma|plasma]] from donors implicated in long [[incubation period|incubation]] post-transfusion hepatitis led to identification of the morphological form of the hepatitis: he characterised the particles in the blood of patients with "[[serum hepatitis]]", as [[hepatitis B]] was then known.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dane |first1=D. S. |last2=Cameron |first2=C. H. |last3=Briggs |first3=M. |title=Virus-like particles in serum of patients with Australia-antigen-associated hepatitis |journal=The Lancet |date=4 Apr 1970 |volume=1 |issue=7649 |pages=695–698 |doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(70)90926-8 |pmid=4190997 }}</ref> This [[nanometre|42 nm]] [[particle]] is known now [[eponymous]]ly as the [[hepatitis B#Structure|Dane particle]].<ref>Patlak, M. (2009). The hepatitis B story. © 2000 National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved from http://www.margiepatlak.com/files/quicksiteimages/hepatitis.pdf</ref> Those who trained with him recall with wry amusement the irritation if he was to hear anyone referring to the 42&nbsp;nm form by its eponymous title, even if abbreviated to "DP".

Dane's determination to improve the accuracy of detecting the hepatitis B surface [[antigen]] protein, [[HBsAg]], and his keen interest in blood transfusion led him to accept an honorary [[consultancy]] at NLBTC which he continued to hold after his retirement in 1982, until his death.<ref name ="karger" /> Through this association with the blood services Dane went on both to improve current [[assays]] and to develop more sensitive [[screening (medicine)|screening]] methods. A close collaboration with Ian Cayzer in [[Wellcome Trust|Wellcome Diagnostics]] produced the [[haemagglutination]] assay for HBsAg, "Hepatest".<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Barbara | first1 = J. A. J. | last2 = Howell | first2 = D. R. | last3 = Cleghorn | first3 = T. E. | last4 = Cameron | first4 = C. H. | last5 = Briggs | first5 = M. | last6 = Dane | first6 = D. S. | year = 1977 | title = A comparison of different methods of screening blood donations for HBsAg | url = | journal = Vox sanguinisSanguinis | volume = 32 | issue = 1| pages = 4–9 | doi = 10.1159/000467404 | pmid = 841961 }}</ref> Turkey [[red blood cells]], coated with antibody to HBsAg agglutinate (clump together) in the presence of HBsAg, a sensitive test which was widely used diagnostically.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Barbara | first1 = J. A. | last2 = Harrison | first2 = P. J. | last3 = Howell | first3 = D. R. | last4 = Cleghorn | first4 = T. E. | last5 = Dane | first5 = D. S. | last6 = Briggs | first6 = M. | last7 = Cameron | first7 = C. H. | year = 1979 | title = A sensitive single reverse passive haemagglutination test for detecting both HBsAg and anti-HBs | url = | journal = Journal of Clinical Pathology | volume = 32 | issue = 11| pages = 1180–1183 | doi = 10.1136/jcp.32.11.1180 | pmid = 512031 | pmc = 1145921 | doi-access = free }}</ref> Not content with that, he and his laboratory colleagues produced in collaboration with Brian Combridge at the [[Bio Products Laboratory|Blood Products Laboratory]] the first UK-based [[Radioimmunoassay|RIA]] for HBsAg, the BPL RIA.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Cameron | first1 = C. H. | last2 = Combridge | first2 = B. S. | last3 = Howell | first3 = D. R. | last4 = Barbara | first4 = J. A. J. | year = 1980 | title = A sensitive immunoradiometric assay for the detection of hepatitis B surface antigen | url = | journal = Journal of Virological Methods | volume = 1 | issue = 6| pages = 311–323 | doi = 10.1016/0166-0934(80)90048-8 | pmid = 7228972 }}</ref> They also developed specialised equipment for its use. His colleague Sam Cameron produced the [[iodinated]] label and with John Barabara of NLBTC, merged this with [[microplate]] technology and multichannel [[gamma counter]]s. Methods for selecting high-titre [[antimicrobial]] [[antibodies]] in donors, investigation and surveillance of post transfusion infections became established routine activities.

Dane identified [[sexual transmission]] of the [[hepatitis B]] and the role of the persistently infected person as a reservoir of infection in the community, identifying the individual whose [[blood plasma|plasma]] contained large amounts of virus, coining the term "super-carriers".<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Lim | first1 = K. S. | last2 = Catterall | first2 = R. D. | last3 = Simon | first3 = R. | last4 = Dane | first4 = D. S. | last5 = Briggs | first5 = M. | last6 = Tedder | first6 = R. S. | year = 1979 | title = A reservoir of hepatitis B | url = | journal = Journal of Infection | volume = 1 | issue = 2| pages = 163–170 | doi = 10.1016/s0163-4453(79)80009-2 }}</ref> He also described the dynamics of the virus particle in [[acute infection]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Lim | first1 = KS | last2 = Wong | first2 = VT | last3 = Fulford | first3 = KW | last4 = Catterall | first4 = RD | last5 = Briggs | first5 = M | last6 = Dane | first6 = DS | year = 1977 | title = Role of sexual and non-sexual practices in the transmission of hepatitis B | url = | journal = British Journal of Venereal Diseases | volume = 53 | issue = 3| pages = 190–192 | doi = 10.1136/sti.53.3.190 | pmid = 871896 | pmc = 1045389 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Dane was a strong advocate of self sufficiency for the manufacture of [[blood products]] in Britain from freely donated blood, rather than from imported blood from the US where donors were paid.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Domen | first1 = R. E. | year = 1995 | title = Paid-versus-volunteer blood donation in the United States: a historical review | url = | journal = Transfusion medicineMedicine reviewsReviews | volume = 9 | issue = 1| pages = 53–59 | doi = 10.1016/s0887-7963(05)80030-6 | pmid = 7719038 }}</ref> The consequences of not following this advice, and Britain’s failure to be self-sufficient for treatment of [[haemophiliacs]] made the UK reliant upon [[importation]] of the then "new" treatment of [[factor VIII]] concentrate. Potentially disastrous for groups such as haemophiliacs, who early on became infected with HIV, his advice to [[James Wallace Stewart|James Wallace "Jimmie" Stewart]] to reserve concentrate use to those whose management absolutely depended on it saved many from HIV infection. He also was early to recognise the occurrence of hepatitis other than [[hepatitis A]] and [[hepatitis B|B]] following treatment with the anti-haemophiliac concentrate.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dane |first1=D. S. |last2=Cameron |first2=C. H. |year=1975 |title=Factor-VIII Concentrate and Hepatitis |journal=The Lancet |volume=306 |issue=7929 |pages=328–329 |doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(75)92769-5 |pmid=50542 |s2cid=54238230 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last=Martin | first=Lorna | date=16 April 2016 | title=Left to die: the hidden victims of an NHS blunder | newspaper=The Guardian | url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2006/apr/16/health.aids | accessdateaccess-date=22 June 2019 }}</ref>

In 1955, Dane married Veronica (née Tester), widow of Maj. Iain Herford Hope (1918–1951);<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Advertiser (Adelaide) |date=4 August 1951 |page=3 |title=Military funeral for R.A. Officer |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/45726903 |accessdateaccess-date=14 September 2018 }}</ref> she had two children, Kerin and Alex. They had met in Australia. Together they had three children: [[Roland Dane|Roland]], Penelope and Thomas. Dane died in April 1998.