William Cramer (pathologist)

William Cramer (2 June 1878 – 10 August 1945) was a German-born British pathologist, best known for his work with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.

Biography

William Cramer was born in Germany on 2 June 1878.^[1] He received his first tertiary education at the University of Munich,^[2] and received his Ph.D. at the University of Berlin in 1901.^[2] He achieved his D.Sc. at the University of Edinburgh in 1908,^[2] during which time he had worked under Swale Vincent.^[3] Cramer took the English Conjoint qualification after nine years as a chemical physiology lecturer at Edinburgh.^[2] He had worked briefly for the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in 1904;^[1] he rejoined the organisation in 1914.^[2]

Shortly after the outbreak of World War I, Cramer became a naturalised British citizen. He was elected a Foreign Member of the German Society for the Investigation of Cancer.^[2] In 1933, he was an official British delegate at the International Cancer Congress in Madrid,^[2] and again in 1934 at the International Cancer Research conference in Paris.^[2] In 1939, after 25 years with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Cramer relocated to St. Louis, Missouri,^[2] where he was head pathologist at the Barnard Skin and Cancer Hospital,^[2] and a research associate at Washington University.^[2]

Throughout his career, Cramer authored numerous papers on cancer, physiology, and biochemistry.^[2] His textbook, Practical Course in Chemical Physiology, had reached its fourth edition by 1920.^[2] Cramer belonged to the Physiological Society, the Pathological Society, and the Biochemical Society.^[2]

References