Sylvia Lawler

Sylvia Dorothy Lawler (née Corben, later Bagshawe; 15 January 1922 – 17 January 1996) From 1939, she studied medicine at University College, London, graduating as the gold medalist of her year in 1945. Other publications during this period included A Genetical Study of the Gm Groups in Human Serum in 1960 and A pedigree showing some rare Rh genotypes.

Lawler was appointed as research scientist at the Institute of Cancer Research in London in 1960 and became the institute's first female professor in 1980. There she developed a broad interest in the genetics of malignancy. She made major contributions to the development of these tissue-typing techniques. Lawler laid the scientific foundation for work in bone-marrow transplantation and became chairman of the transplantation immunology subcommittee of the National Organ-Matching Service. She was a founder member of the International Workshops on Chromosomes in Leukaemia, and also established the first national fetal tissue bank in the UK, with support from the Medical Research Council. Lawler's work on human leukocyte antigens (HLA) provided evidence that choriocarcinomas may arise from an earlier rather than simply the antecedent pregnancy. She went on to use genetic polymorphisms to determine the origins of complete and partial hydatidiform moles. Lawler was also a pioneer in the analysis of the human genome. She was a foundation member and fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists and an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

Selected publications