Submitted by Emily Rigby on Tue, 17/12/2024 - 16:22
We are saddened by news of the passing of Emeritus Professor of Physiology, Roger Thomas. Roger became Head of Physiology at the University Cambridge in 1996 - having moved from Bristol where he had been both Head of Physiology and Dean of Medical Sciences. He oversaw the merger with Anatomy, and continued as Head of Physiology until his retirement in 2006.
PDN Senior Lecturer, Dr Christof Schwiening, shared his personal memories of Professor Thomas.
"I first met him in 1985 when, as a first-year undergraduate, I walked into his office (the door was always propped open) and enquired whether I could swap from Anatomy to Physiology - 1 minute and a phone call later I was a Physiology student! I have had a soft spot for him ever since (and did my undergraduate project, PhD and held a Fellowship in his lab as well as coming here with him).
Despite going to school (Perse) in Cambridge and being offered a place at St Catherines, Roger did his undergraduate degree at Southampton where he met his wife Monica. With time in London (his PhD external was Bernard Katz) and New York he eventually arrived in Bristol where he remained until moving back to Cambridge to be close to his mother.
Roger had a very warm heart and always said what he thought - I liked that. He was very straightforward. Not everyone seemed to appreciate it, but it did make being around him fun. At Physiological Society Meetings he knew everyone and took pleasure in introducing me, and his lab to anyone he met. He could also easily be persuaded to do the things we, as youngsters, lacked the courage to do.
Roger's scientific work encompasses mitochondrial calcium handling, Renshaw cells, electrogenicity of the sodium pump, pH regulation (muscle, nerve and glia), proton channel (with Bob Meech), pH buffering, calcium regulation and calcium buffering with some electrical excitability thrown in. I think he was most proud of beating Walter Boron to the ionic dependence of the Na+-dependent Chloride Bicarbonate exchanger (SLC4, I think). He was a great believer in trying new things, travelling and squeezing in time for another experiment."