It is with great sadness that we announce that Stephen (Ben) Walsh passed away on 30 September after dealing with advanced cancer for over a year and a half. He would have been 54 next month.
He insisted on keeping the news from his colleagues and the wider kidney community so that his work would not be affected. He was concerned that it could impact his ability to apply for, and get grants and that he might be treated differently. So, he continued at a pace that most of us cannot match even being in full health. After an initial response to therapy, the disease lost control, was complicated by infection, and there was a fairly rapid deterioration in the last few weeks.
Many will not have had the chance to see him in person recently but will have the memory of the whirlwind that he was while he was still relatively well. A much better memory I think.
Ben qualified from St Georges and did his renal training in North Thames. He received his PhD from UCL and became a senior lecturer at UCL and Honorary Consultant at the Royal Free Hospital. He developed an expertise in renal physiology and tubular diseases, becoming an international opinion leader in the field with extensive international collaborations, and ran a highly regarded annual physiology course. More recently he established the London Tubular Centre at the Royal Free and had success with work analysing the impact of space travel on kidney function and physiology.
- Prof Alan Salama, UKKA Trustee and Honorary Secretary.
Both Ben's family and the UCL Centre for Kidney and Bladder Health are raising funds to find a way to honour his memory and achievements: https://justgiving.com/page/in-memory-of-prof-ben-walsh
