The Society regrets to hear of the death of David Begley, who passed away on 6 July 2023. David was a long-standing member of The Society. He joined in 1998 and became a retired member from 2015.

He began his career at the University of Oxford, completing his undergraduate in 1973 followed by his PhD in 1977. He went onto become Friedrich-Merz-Stiftungsgast Professor at Goethe University (Frankfurt, Germany) for 1997-1998 and was visiting Academic in Residence at GlaxoSmithKline from 2005-2007. During his years as Senior Lecturer in Physiology at King’s College London, he headed a laboratory within the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences investigating the blood-brain barrier and drug delivery to the central nervous system (CNS) with a special emphasis on lysosomal storage diseases.

David’s research contributed to a deeper understanding of blood-brain barrier function. He used both in vitro and in vivo models to study transport across the brain barrier, and was part of the world leading groups in the research area. He was investigating the direct and secondary effects of toxic material that can build up within cells of the CNS barriers, which can occur due to enzyme deficiencies.

Later, he focused his attention on studying mucopolysaccharidoses (a group of metabolic disorders caused by a genetic condition leading to the absence or malfunction of lysosomal enzymes). Using mouse models, David wanted to identify the problems of delivering therapies to the brain to develop new enzyme replacement therapies to treat these brain disorders.

David was a member of the International Brain Barriers Society, where colleagues described him as friendly, supportive, and deeply knowledgeable. His career in the blood-brain barrier and CNS, along with his mentoring and outreach, made a large difference in the lives of many people working within the field.

A couple of his career highlights are serving as Chair and lead organiser of the 2nd ‘Barriers of the CNS’ Gordon Research Conference, held in Tilton, New Hampshire in 2002. A meeting that is now one of the premiere scientific conferences in the field.

In 2007, he became the co-founder with Dr Maurizio Scarpa of the Brains for Brain Foundation. For nearly 15 years, the pair ran highly impactful annual meetings in Frankfurt, Germany. They brought together basic brain barriers scientists, clinicians and patient advocates to unravel new ways to deliver drugs to the brains of lysosomal storage disease (LSD) patients.