John Freeman Loutit

Who was John Freeman Loutit?

John Freeman Loutit CBE FRS FRCP Also known as 'Ian'. was an Australian haematologist and radiobiologist.

He was born in Western Australia, the son of a locomotive engineer.

He contributed significantly to the development of improved techniques for the storage and transfusion of blood during the Second World War. After the war he became a leading researcher in the then novel field of radiobiology. He established and ran the Medical Research Council's Radiobiology Unit at Harwell from 1947 to 1969. He gave the 1969 Bradshaw Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians on the subject of malignancies caused by radium.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1963. His candidature citation read:

Distinguished for his experimental studies of tissue transplantation after lethal doses of ionising radiation. Skilful experiments led Loutit to form the opinion that, contrary to the prevailing view, the survival of irradiated mice after the implantation of haematropoietic tissue was due to colonization by living cells. The truth of this interpretation has been rapidly confirmed.