Martin Wood was a distinguished consultant physician in infectious diseases, and a Senior Lecturer at Birmingham University. He was also a dedicated supporter of the Society of Pharmaceutical Medicine in the days when association with the pharmaceutical industry was still viewed with suspicion. Pharmaceutical medicine was not then recognised as a medical specialty, nor was there any multidisciplinary society to unite people dedicated to improving the conduct of research across different therapeutic areas. Martin had worked with many companies on new antibiotics and the beginnings of antiviral drug development. He strongly believed that converting research projects into medicines was a team activity for people with highly developed and varying skills.

As a member of the Society of Pharmaceutical Medicine’s Founding Board, Martin attended our regular meetings in Steve Warrington’s Phase 1 unit, on the fringes of St Bartholomew’s Hospital and overlooking Smithfield meat market in London. We were a group of about a dozen senior researchers, almost all of whom worked in or around the industry, who had been meeting sporadically for about 6 months. Martin joined us in 1986, 17 months before the inaugural meeting of the Society in 1987. He was then an active member of the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, a thriving young academic society, and his experiences of that society helped us rapidly to develop the Society of Pharmaceutical Medicine’s infrastructure. Martin fitted well with the group - he shared our enthusiasm, drive and critical approach. He had a remarkable ability to move, within seconds, from penetrating criticism to disarming wit that had us all in gales of laughter.

After the Society’s inauguration, Martin became an active member of the Scientific Committee, though (looking at the minutes) I notice he was not always the best attender! But he helped organise several important and well attended meetings on infectious diseases, and he always dropped notes to us with feedback on the actions he had been delegated.

When Martin joined the founding committee, he was Assistant Editor of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. He subsequently became Editor, and was enormously helpful in the negotiating process with Blackwell, the original publishers of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Medicine. Martin remained on the Editorial Board of the Journal until 1999.

Martin was on the Board of the Society when we were running four symposia each year, often with around 100 attendees. We relied heavily on help from the Board Members, and Martin did not fail us. Even after he left the Board, Martin remained involved with the Society and was responsible (at the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy end) for initiating the Antiviral Guidelines Working Party, for which he wrote a chapter in the published report. Antivirals were his great passion, but he wrote tirelessly on many topics and had several books and numerous papers to his name on all aspects of infectious diseases. He worked as an Editor on countless Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy supplements for the industry.

Martin gave a great deal of time and thought to the Society during first my Foundation Chairmanship and then Adrian Salter’s. It is a tragic irony that Martin and Adrian were almost the same age when they died, and both died suddenly. Poignantly, one of the last meetings Martin attended was Adrian’s memorial lecture by Prof. David Grahame-Smith on “Demedicalisation of Prescribing” before last Christmas (2002). As President of the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Martin had been campaigning hard about nurse prescribing and its impact on antimicrobial resistance.

Martin was a popular figure, well known to many in the pharmaceutical industry throughout Europe and the US. As Richard Wise said in his obituary, he was famed for his “witty, unassuming and self-deprecating English manner”. Martin died aged 57, still full of ideas, passionate about lots of issues, and actively contributing to many national and international advisory boards and committees in both infectious diseases and pharmaceutical medicine. He is already very much missed, especially by those trying to pick up where he left off.

Martin Wood was a distinguished consultant physician in infectious diseases, and a Senior Lecturer at Birmingham University. He was also a dedicated supporter of the Society of Pharmaceutical Medicine in the days when association with the pharmaceutical industry was still viewed with suspicion. Pharmaceutical medicine was not then recognised as a medical specialty, nor was there any multidisciplinary society to unite people dedicated to improving the conduct of research across different therapeutic areas. Martin had worked with many companies on new antibiotics and the beginnings of antiviral drug development. He strongly believed that converting research projects into medicines was a team activity for people with highly developed and varying skills.

As a member of the Society of Pharmaceutical Medicine’s Founding Board, Martin attended our regular meetings in Steve Warrington’s Phase 1 unit, on the fringes of St Bartholomew’s Hospital and overlooking Smithfield meat market in London. We were a group of about a dozen senior researchers, almost all of whom worked in or around the industry, who had been meeting sporadically for about 6 months. Martin joined us in 1986, 17 months before the inaugural meeting of the Society in 1987. He was then an active member of the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, a thriving young academic society, and his experiences of that society helped us rapidly to develop the Society of Pharmaceutical Medicine’s infrastructure. Martin fitted well with the group - he shared our enthusiasm, drive and critical approach. He had a remarkable ability to move, within seconds, from penetrating criticism to disarming wit that had us all in gales of laughter.

After the Society’s inauguration, Martin became an active member of the Scientific Committee, though (looking at the minutes) I notice he was not always the best attender! But he helped organise several important and well attended meetings on infectious diseases, and he always dropped notes to us with feedback on the actions he had been delegated.

When Martin joined the founding committee, he was Assistant Editor of the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. He subsequently became Editor, and was enormously helpful in the negotiating process with Blackwell, the original publishers of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Medicine. Martin remained on the Editorial Board of the Journal until 1999.

Martin was on the Board of the Society when we were running four symposia each year, often with around 100 attendees. We relied heavily on help from the Board Members, and Martin did not fail us. Even after he left the Board, Martin remained involved with the Society and was responsible (at the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy end) for initiating the Antiviral Guidelines Working Party, for which he wrote a chapter in the published report. Antivirals were his great passion, but he wrote tirelessly on many topics and had several books and numerous papers to his name on all aspects of infectious diseases. He worked as an Editor on countless Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy supplements for the industry.

Martin gave a great deal of time and thought to the Society during first my Foundation Chairmanship and then Adrian Salter’s. It is a tragic irony that Martin and Adrian were almost the same age when they died, and both died suddenly. Poignantly, one of the last meetings Martin attended was Adrian’s memorial lecture by Prof David Grahame-Smith on “Demedicalisation of Prescribing” before last Christmas (2002). As President of the British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Martin had been campaigning hard about nurse prescribing and its impact on antimicrobial resistance.

Martin was a popular figure, well known to many in the pharmaceutical industry throughout Europe and the US. As Richard Wise said in his obituary, he was famed for his “witty, unassuming and self-deprecating English manner”. Martin died aged 57, still full of ideas, passionate about lots of issues, and actively contributing to many national and international advisory boards and committees in both infectious diseases and pharmaceutical medicine. He is already very much missed, especially by those trying to pick up where he left off.