Leslie Lars Iversen CBE FRS MAE (31 October 1937 – 30 July 2020), was a British pharmacologist, known for his work on the neurochemistry of neurotransmission.[1]

Leslie Iversen
Born
Leslie Lars Iversen

(1937-10-31)31 October 1937
Exeter, England
Died30 July 2020(2020-07-30) (aged 82)
CitizenshipUnited Kingdom
SpouseSusan Iversen (1961)
AwardsFerrier Lecture
Scientific career
FieldsPharmacology
Institutions

Early life edit

Of Norwegian descent, he attended Hele's School, Exeter.[2][3]

Career and research edit

From 1971 to 1982, Iversen was Director of the MRC Neurochemical Pharmacology Unit in Cambridge. Between 1982 and 1995 he worked as Director of the Merck, Sharp & Dohme Neuroscience Research Centre. In 1995 he became Visiting Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford.[4]

In 2000, Iversen published the book The Science of Marijuana by Oxford University Press, Inc.[5] In 2010 he was accused of plagiarism. Consequently one of his books now credits the original author of the plagiarized work.[6]

Awards and honours edit

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1980[7][8] and gave the Society's Ferrier Lecture in 1983.[9] He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours, "for services to pharmacology".[10]

He died on 30 July 2020, survived by his wife of over 60 years, Susan Iversen.[11]

References edit

  1. ^ Leslie Iversen on the History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group website
  2. ^ Express & Echo Tuesday 12 June 1956, page 6
  3. ^ Express & Echo Monday 20 August 1956, page 3
  4. ^ Tilli Tansey; Pippa Catterall; Sonia V Willhoft; Daphne Christie; Lois Reynolds, eds. (1997). Technology Transfer in Britain: The Case of Monoclonal Antibodies; Self and Non-Self: A History of Autoimmunity; Endogenous Opiates; The Committee on Safety of Drugs. Wellcome Witnesses to Contemporary Medicine. History of Modern Biomedicine Research Group. ISBN 978-1-869835-79-8. OL 9320034M. Wikidata Q29581528.
  5. ^ The science of marijuana, LL Iversen. "Google Scholar". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Plagiarism by British Drug Tsar". 11 November 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  7. ^ Robbins, Trevor W. (2023). "Leslie Lars Iversen. 31 October 1937—30 July 2020". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 75: 263–278. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2023.0008. S2CID 258312871.
  8. ^ "Leslie Iversen". Royal Society.
  9. ^ "Ferrier Medal and Lecture". Royal Society.
  10. ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 28 December 2012. p. 8.
  11. ^ "In Memory of Leslie Iversen". British Neuroscience Association. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.