Vale Dr Basil S. Hetzel 1922 – 2017
The research community at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (TQEH) is saddened by the death of Dr Basil Hetzel AC. In 2001 the long-standing research activities of TQEH were renamed as the Basil Hetzel Institute. Basil was a proud supporter of all research endeavours and regularly attended the annual TQEH Research Day. He was a great mentor and active supporter of research and of people doing research. Long-term colleague and friend Emeritus Professor Richard Ruffin (photo, left) says Basil was "... a unique person with a research track record that very few will emulate, unless they are on their way to receiving a Nobel Prize". In 1959 Basil was the first Michell Professor of Medicine at TQEH, University of Adelaide, a position that Dick was appointed to three decades later and which Professor John Beltrame (photo, right) holds today.
Dr Basil Hetzel will be remembered around the world for his pioneering work on iodine deficiencies and thyroid disease. Since visiting the highland villages of Papua New Guinea in 1964, Basil became an international advocate for iodine supplementation and ultimately co-founded the International Council for Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) which had its inaugural meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1986. Today this organisation is known as the Iodine Global Network (IGN).
A list of stories and tributes about Basil can be found on the IGN website: http://www.ign.org/hetzel-tribute.htm
