Professor Brian Harvey passed away, aged 67, on 22 December 2024. His career began at University College Dublin, Ireland, where he studied physiology and physics and completed a PhD in physiology and biophysics. He then ventured to France in the early 80s to join the French National Science Council (CNRS), and went on to lead the membrane transport research team at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) labs in Villefranche-sur-mer. In 1992, Professor Brian Harvey returned to Ireland. He was appointed Professor of Cell Physiology at University College Cork, where he established and directed the Wellcome Trust Cell Physiology Research Unit and held the senior management post of Vice-president for Research from 1998 to 2002.

From 2002, Professor Brian Harvey worked at Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). As Chair of Molecular Medicine, he established the Molecular Medicine Laboratories at Beaumont Hospital. A couple of years later, he was appointed Director of the RCSI Research Institute, followed by his appointment as Director of Research at RCSI. For 17 years, he was head of the RCSI Department of Molecular Medicine at Beaumont Hospital. During this time, he held an honorary research appointment as a principal investigator at the Center for Scientific Studies, Chile, and was a visiting research professor at the Cordeliers Research Centre, Sorbonne University, Paris.

Brian’s research focused on the physiology and molecular endocrinology of steroid hormone actions in the kidney, intestine, and lung. A major part of his work was investigating female gender-specific actions of oestrogen on epithelial ion transport and cell signalling.

Professor Brian Harvey was an elected member of the European Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Royal Irish Academy. He received international awards for his work, including the International Laureat Prix Servier from the Servier Institute for his work on rapid responses to steroid hormones, and the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Merite for his role in developing Ireland-France scientific exchanges. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science from Michigan State University, US, for the global impact of his work in promoting research in assistive technologies for disabilities.