Gian Franco Bottazzo, 1946–2017

Excerpt

Professor Gian Franco Bottazzo (‘Franco’) left this stage on the evening of September 16th 2017 and his departure brought the curtain down on a small group of individuals who transformed our understanding of the nature of diabetes. Franco died suddenly from complications of endocarditis in his beloved Venice, at the age of 71. Born in Venice, he obtained his MD degree in 1971 at the nearby University of Padua. Shortly after, fate drew him to London to join one of the brightest and most generous of stars in the firmament, the scientist Deborah Doniach. He began a research fellowship with Professor Doniach at Middlesex Hospital and remained in London for over 20 years, becoming a senior lecturer at Middlesex Hospital, then Professor of Immunology, in 1991, at the Royal London Hospital Medical School. He returned to Italy in 1998, taking the role of Scientific Director of the paediatric hospital Bambino Gesù, in Rome, until 2010. …