'In the 1950s, we understood little about hemoglobin's biochemistry. Thalassemia was, and is, a terrible disease.'.

Q. YOU GREW UP IN LIVERPOOL. HOW DID TROPICAL GENETIC BLOOD DISEASES BECOME YOUR LIFE'S WORK? A. In 1956, after I'd finished my medical training, I was drafted for compulsory military service. At the time, there was an insurgency in Malaya, where the Commonwealth forces were fighting the Communists, and I was not anxious to get involved with that. Nonetheless, I soon found myself on a troop ship for Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]