PROFESSOR SIR RICHARD DOLL, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.S.
Sir William Richard Doll was a physician specializing in thoracic medicine. He served as Professor of Medicine at the University of Oxford and as a consulting physician at the Radcliffe Infirmary in England.
His most significant academic contribution was the research demonstrating the association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. This study, based on patients, was first reported more than 40 years ago. Following that, Sir William Richard Doll continued his detailed investigations and was able to show that smokers are at increased risk of developing several other diseases, such as heart disease and lung disease, and that they also face higher mortality rates at younger ages compared to non-smokers.
His research not only established the harmful effects of smoking but also highlighted epidemiology as a crucial medical and public health science, on par with other fundamental disciplines.