professor Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik I, Klinikum der Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilians- University Munich, Germany Munich, Bayern, Germany
About the memorial lecture honoree: Gus Born (1921-2018) fled Germany in 1933 and settled in the UK, with his family, headed by his father Max Born, who in 1954 won the Nobel Prize for Physics for his “fundamental research in quantum mechanics”. As a doctor serving with the Royal Army Medical corps, Gus Born was one of the first to witness the after-effects of the atomic bomb at Hiroshima. He was struck by the severe bleeding disorders seen in the survivors, which was due to lack of platelets due to radiation damage. This drove much of his later research. He invented the light transmission aggregometer in the 1960s, transforming platelet function testing and still a key investigation for platelet function today. He did not patent the device, saying that scientific advances with medical implications should not be exploited for commercial gain.
