In the course of his professional life, Tim Clark was a professor of thoracic medicine and dean of Guy’s Hospital Medical School, pro vice chancellor of medicine and dentistry at the University of London, dean of the National Heart and Lung Institute, and, towards end of his career, provost of Imperial College at Wye in Kent and pro rector (admissions) at Imperial College London.
The son of John Clark and Kathleen Clark née Peacock, he attended Christ’s Hospital boarding school at Horsham, West Sussex on a scholarship. He then studied medicine at Guy’s Hospital Medical School, showing an early interest in breathing and receiving the Laidlaw prize for an essay on dyspnoea in 1959. After qualifying, he held house officer positions at Guy’s, the Brompton and Hammersmith hospitals, where he and other contemporary young physicians were influenced by E J Moran Campbell to pursue careers in thoracic medicine. These appointments were followed by a year as a fellow in medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Maryland, USA and then as a registrar at the Hammersmith Hospital (from 1964 to 1966) and as a senior registrar at Guy’s Hospital (from 1966 to 1968), where he set up an intensive care ward.
As the youngest consultant in London when appointed at Guy’s Hospital in 1968, and through his subsequent appointment at the Brompton Hospital in 1970, Tim Clark embarked on an illustrious career as a remarkable clinician, academic and educator committed to the welfare of his patients, his colleagues, the institutions in which he worked so diligently, and to all the tasks he undertook. He was internationally recognised for his academic contributions to thoracic medicine at Guy’s and the Brompton hospitals. I recall him as a much-admired, wise, unflappable, hard-working physician, an excellent teacher and mentor, with a cheerful personality, a good sense of humour and effective diplomatic and organisational skills. He inspired those junior staff whose careers he fostered, and senior colleagues with whom he collaborated so effectively.
His interest in asthma led to early work on the use of new inhaler therapies introduced during the 1960s and to studies of nocturnal asthma and asthma deaths. A sharp peak in the number of deaths attributed to asthma led to the establishment of the Medical Research Council’s committee on deaths from asthma in 1968, on which he served. Potential causes of death considered by the committee included the potential toxicity of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the inhalers, or overuse of active bronchodilator drugs. Tim Clark’s postulate, that it was the under-use of steroids that had led to a spike in deaths, became widely accepted. His work included some of the earliest studies into the use of steroids to control asthma through regular therapy between attacks, and developing treatment regimens that could protect against potentially life-threatening attacks. The establishment of training centres that enabled medical practitioners to treat asthma more effectively, and the consequent waning of the epidemic of deaths supported this theory.
In 1977 Tim Clark and Simon Godfrey published their book, Asthma (London, Chapman and Hall), which became a leading text for specialists, family practitioners and nurses. Three further editions followed with updated and expanded content. Tim Clark was the author of more than 200 papers, textbooks and articles on respiratory medicine (including physiological studies of the control of breathing and airway function), clinical and therapeutic aspects of asthma. He served as vice chairman of the National Asthma Campaign from 1993 to 2000, and travelled widely, lecturing on asthma and the therapeutic use of inhaled steroids.
His many and varied other positions included specialist adviser to the House of Commons’ social services committee (in 1981 and 1985), chairman of the RCP committee on thoracic medicine and of the manpower panel, and dean of Guy’s Hospital Medical School (from 1984 to 1986). In the latter capacity he and Brian Creamer, dean of St Thomas’s Hospital Medical School, successfully negotiated a merger between these two schools in 1987. He was pro vice chancellor of medicine and dentistry at the University of London (from 1987 to 1989) and then dean of the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI) (from 1990 to 1997), where he was also professor of pulmonary medicine.
Another merger he successfully negotiated was between NHLI and Imperial College in 1995. Under his guidance, the NHLI developed a strategic approach to research and achieved a five-star rating. As dean of NHLI within Imperial College he facilitated the foundation of the Imperial College School of Medicine in 1997. Other notable appointments included presidency of the British Thoracic Society (from 1990 to 1991) and chair of the World Health Organization’s Global Initiative for Asthma (from 2000 to 2004).
In 2000, his diplomatic and organisational qualities led to his appointment as provost of the newly-named Imperial College at Wye in Kent with the mandate to undertake the complex task of linking the old agricultural college to Imperial’s environmental and bioresearch facilities. When this project ran into unforeseen difficulties, he decided it was best to leave it to others more expert in the field of academic agriculture to carry on, and stepped down as provost in 2001. He concluded his career as a pro rector (admissions) at Imperial College London, until his retirement in July 2002.
Tim Clark’s full academic/professional life was sustained by his loving wife (Elizabeth) Ann (née Day), whom he met when she was student nurse and he a first-year medical student, and mutually supportive interactions within a warm and growing family, in whom he took great pride. He was especially close to his grandchildren, who gave him much pleasure during his retirement. He was an avid reader, and had a passion for watching and playing cricket. He was a member of the MCC, played for Guy’s as a student and subsequently as a veteran. On family car journeys, Test Match Special was required listening. He died after a prolonged illness that he bore stoically at home and then, in its last phases, in a hospice, sadly without family contact due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. He leaves Ann, his wife of 59 years, sons James and Nick, daughters Sarah and Lucy, two grandsons and four granddaughters. He is remembered with affection, respect and admiration.
Solomon Benatar
[Christ’s Hospital Tim Clark – BAA46-54 www.christs-hospital.org.uk/tim-clark-baa-46-54/ – accessed 17 December 2020; The Telegraph 16 August 2020 www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2020/08/16/tim-clark-doctor-pioneered-study-inhaled-steroids-asthma-obituary/ – accessed 17 December 2020; The Argus 18 August 2020 www.theargus.co.uk/news/18657159.obituary-horsham-educated-professor-tim-clark/ – accessed 17 December 2020; BMJ 2020 370 3194 www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3194 – accessed 17 December 2020]