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Sir Edward Penley Abraham, CBE, FRS (Southampton, June 10, 1913 – 8 May 1999). He was a biochemist instrumental in the development of penicillin.

Life

He attended King Edward VI School, Southampton before achieving a First in Chemistry at The Queen’s College, Oxford.

After completing his doctorate in Oxford, Abraham took up a position at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology.

He became part of a research team led by Professor Howard Florey responsible for the development of penicillin and its medical applications. Sir Edward was specifically involved in the purification process and determination of its chemical structure. Florey formally recognised Abraham’s work in 1948 by nominating him to be one of the first three “penicillin” research Fellows at Lincoln College, Oxford. He was a Fellow of Lincoln until his retirement in 1980.

Abraham was the recipient of many awards over his lifetime, including a CBE in 1973 and a knighthood in 1980. He was elected to the fellowship of the Royal Society in 1958.

He died in May 1999, in Oxford, following a stroke. He was survived by his wife, Asbjörg.

Achievements

He was a noted biochemist, his work on antibiotics producing great clinical advances. His principal work was concerned with the development of penicillin, and also later cephalosporin, an antibiotic capable of destroying penicillin-resistant bacteria. These vital drugs are now used extensively in the treatment of various infections, including pneumonia, bronchitis, septicaemia and infected surgical wounds.

Through the registration of the patent on cephalosporin, he was able to generate a regular income, which he devoted almost entirely to the establishment of a charitable trust for the support of biomedical research. By the end of the twentieth century, the E. P. Abraham Research Fund had donated more than £30m to the University of Oxford, mainly to the Dunn School of Pathology and to Lincoln College. Two recent Oxford buildings — the Edward Abraham research building (on South Parks Road) and the Lincoln EPA Science Centre (on Museum Road) — are named after him.

References

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