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Struan Keith Sutherland
Struan Keith Sutherland
Born	17 June 1936; Sydney
Died	11 January 2002 (aged 65)
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Known for	Antivenoms and other treatments for funnel-web spider and snakebite
Awards	AMA Prize for Medical Research (1977), James Cook Medal of the Royal Society of NSW (1984)
	Scientific career
Fields	Toxicology, Pharmacology, Immunology
Institutions	Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (1966–1994), University of Melbourne (1994–1999)

Struan Keith Sutherland AO (17 June 1936 – 11 January 2002) was an Australian medical researcher who developed effective antivenoms and other treatments for people bitten or stung by venomous Australian wildlife.

Early life

Sutherland was born in Sydney and grew up in Bendigo, Victoria. He studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1960, and served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1962 to 1965.^[1]

The CSL years

In 1966, Sutherland joined the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories and was soon appointed Head of Immunology Research, a position which he held for 28 years. The death in January 1979 of a young girl, Christine Sturges, from a funnel-web spider bite prompted Sutherland to look for a funnel-web spider antivenom.^[2] Many previous researchers had failed to develop such an antivenom, but Sutherland persevered.

In January 1980, a two-year-old boy James Cully was bitten by a funnel-web spider, and died three days later. This was the spider's 13th recorded victim. Later that year, Sutherland's team produced an effective antivenom;^[1] since then, no deaths have been recorded from funnelweb spider bites.^[3] The antivenom had its first success when it was used to treat a 49-year-old Sydney man, Gordon Wheatley, who was bitten by a funnel-web spider on 31 January 1981. He completely recovered after 2 days in hospital.

Sutherland also led research into snakebite treatment, working on antivenoms and developing venom detection kits to help hospital staff determine appropriate treatment for a bite.^[4]

In the 1970s, he developed the pressure immobilisation technique (a first-aid procedure) for both snake and funnelweb bites,^[5]^[6] replacing treatments such as tourniquets that were often harmful to the patient.^[7]

Later years

In 1994, CSL was privatised and the antivenom research program was closed, prompting Sutherland to leave the organisation for the University of Melbourne. Here he founded the Australian Venom Research Unit, where he worked until 1999 when striatonigral degeneration, a condition similar to Parkinson's disease, forced him to retire. Even in retirement he continued to work, co-authoring three books,^[2] including "Venomous Creatures of Australia", which became its publisher's (Oxford University Press) best-selling Australian book.

Personal life

Sutherland was married three times.

Media appearances and autobiography

Sutherland had a humorous interview with Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine in Last Chance to See.

Sutherland's autobiography, A Venomous Life, was published in 1998 by Highland House Publishing, Melbourne (ISBN 1-86447-026-7). He also wrote Hydroponics for Everyone, about one of his hobbies.

Death

When he died in 2002, he had already written his own death notice: "Struan would like to inform his friends and acquaintances that he fell off his perch on Friday, 11 January 2002, and is to be privately cremated. No flowers please. Donations to Australian Venom Research Unit, Melbourne University."^[8]

Honours

In the Australia Day honours of 2002, two weeks after his death, Sutherland was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO), effective from 7 February 2000, for "service to science as a leading contributor to research in clinical toxicology and the biology of Australia's venomous creatures, and for the development of the funnel web spider antivenom".^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b Tibballs, James (5 August 2002). "Struan Keith SutherlandAO MB BS MD DSc FRACP FRCPA". The Medical Journal of Australia. 177 (3): 160. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2002.tb04706.x – via www.mja.com.au.
^ ^a ^b "7:30 Report - 13/05/99: Battling illness, Sutherland still works to save lives from stings and bites". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
^ Isbister, GK; Gray, MR; Balit, CR; et al. (April 2005). "Funnel-web spider bite: a systematic review of recorded clinical cases". Med. J. Aust. 182 (8): 407–11. doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2005.tb06760.x. hdl:2440/17349. PMID 15850438. S2CID 18066524.
^ "New test for snake bites, The Canberra Times". Canberra Times. 30 October 1979. p. 14 – via Trove.
^ Queensl, Children's Health. "First aid | Queensland Poisons Information Centre".
^ Sweet, M (2002). "Struan Sutherland". BMJ: British Medical Journal. 324 (7335): 488. doi:10.1136/bmj.324.7335.488. PMC 1122405.
^ "SAFER FIRST AID, Papua New Guinea Post-Courier". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. 18 April 1979. p. 11 – via Trove.
^ "A venomous life - Vale Struan Sutherland". Archived from the original on 3 September 2006. Retrieved 27 January 2007.
^ "It's an Honour: AO". Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 12 September 2009.

Sources

Struan K Sutherland, A Venomous Life: the Autobiography of Professor Struan Sutherland (Melbourne: Hyland House, 1998).
Mark Whitaker, Spiderman, Weekend Australian Magazine, 13–14 March 1999.