Maria Bitner-Glindzicz was professor of human and molecular genetics at the Institute of Child Health, University College London (UCL), and an honorary consultant in clinical genetics at Great Ormond Street Hospital. A leading expert in the genetics of medical conditions causing blindness, particularly Norrie Disease and Usher Syndrome, she was also known for her early participation in the 100,000 Genomes Project.
Maria Aniela Katarzyna Bitner-Glindzicz was born on 26 June 1963 in Fleetwood, Lancashire, UK, to Ryszard Bitner-Glindzicz, an engineer, and Helen Ann (née Herron), a lecturer who also wrote a book – A Song for Kresy - about Ryszard and his family’s escape from deportation to Siberia by the Russians. Maria attended Rendcomb College near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, as a boarder while her parents worked in Hong Kong, and gained her medical degree (with honours and distinction) and an intercalated BSc in human genetics (achieving a first) at University College London.
Maria was encouraged to apply for a Medical Research Council Clinical Training Fellowship to fund a PhD by Marcus Pembrey, professor of clinical genetics at the Institute of Child Health, who also introduced her to Sue Malcolm, a newly appointed reader in the department who became her lab supervisor and mentor, together with Marcus. In an interview for the Athena Swan project, Maria described how this helped her:
‘This was, I realize now, a very fortunate set of circumstances: I had both an Academic Clinician and a Scientist as supervisors and both were very supportive of women in science and medicine, Sue having her own family, and Marcus as head of a clinical unit in which one of the trainees was always on, or approaching a period of maternity leave. So I did my PhD, managing the work and a young child at home; it certainly taught me time management skills and the importance of surrounding myself with good colleagues who would step in and help out with things at short notice, knowing that I would do the same.’1
Following her PhD in 1996, she was appointed senior lecturer at the Institute of Child Health, UCL and honorary consultant at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital in 1999, establishing the UK’s first comprehensive diagnostic and follow-up clinic for children with genetically related deafness, and with her team, identifying genes implicated in various forms of deafness.
In 2012 she was promoted to professor of clinical and molecular genetics at UCL in 2012, the same year that the 100 000 Genomes Project began. Maria was the rare disease lead for the North Thames Genomic Medicine Centre, one of 13 such centres set up by Genomics England to run the project. Her obituary in the BMJ states that ‘she encouraged colleagues across the region to enrol more than 16 000 patients and their relatives into the programme. More recently, as the project has come to its close, she was instrumental in building the teams needed to interpret and return results to families, and in establishing a new breed of clinician needed to embed genomic medicine in clinical care.’2
She was the driving force in setting up the Norrie Disease Foundation, and she and Jane Sowden, professor of developmental biology and genetics at the UCL GOS Institute of Child Health had secured funding to increase understanding and develop treatments for the disease. On her death, the Foundation paid tribute to her:
‘Maria went out of her way to meet and listen with families to see how she could help each and every one of them... (she was) passionate about finding ways to help combat the isolation and loneliness that living with a rare disease causes and would join Norrie community events, talking with families to understand more about their lives.’
Her BMJ obituary noted that ‘In addition to her clinical work, Bitner-Glindzicz’s family say that she valued her free time, which she shared with family and friends. She loved her life in Suffolk, spending as many weekends there as possible; walking, gardening, and sharing her dinner table with characteristic generosity.’2
Maria was cycling in Islington on 19 September 2018 when a van driver opened the door of his parked van, knocking her off her bike and into the path of a passing taxi, and she died of her injuries in the Royal London Hospital the next day. The van driver died in his sleep two days before the court case, leading to proceedings being discontinued.3
Maria was survived by her husband, David Miles, a professor of medical oncology and consultant medical oncologist; two children, Helena and Oliver; and her mother.
RCP editor
Sources/further reading
1 https://www.ucl.ac.uk/child-health/about-us/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/athena-swan/maria-bitner-glindzicz (Accessed 11 April 2023)
2 https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k4233 (Accessed 11 April 2023)
4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Bitner-Glindzicz (Accessed 11 April 2023)
5 https://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/21227281.maria-bitner-glindzicz-cycle-death-professor-died-parked-van-driver-opened-door-without-looking-sending-path-black-cab/ (Accessed 11 April 2023)