The Society is sad to hear of the death of Professor Tom Bolton, who passed away on 27 May 2024. Professor Bolton was renowned for his smooth muscle research, which involved the study of ionic events. Through his dedication to this topic, he was the first to describe and characterise membrane depolarising effects, and revealed the voltage-dependence of the ionic mechanism, pointing to the involvement of non-selective cationic channels that are now known as Transient Receptor Potential or TRP channels. These discoveries, as well as a wealth of outstanding contributions to physiology and education, earned him accolades and Fellowship of the prestigious academies; Academy of Medical Sciences and the Academia Europaea.

He built a world-leading smooth muscle research group, called “The Smoothies”. The group specialised in investigating ionic events and associated ion channels of smooth muscle cells, and were at the forefront of research using new technologies, such as single cell patch clamp electrophysiology and laser confocal imaging. They were one of the first to characterise calcium-activated potassium channel and delayed rectifier potassium channel currents in smooth muscle cells.

Professor Bolton’s physiology career started at the University of London, where he obtained a Batchelor of Science degree in physiology in 1964 and a PhD in Pharmacology in 1967. He then went onto study veterinary medicine and worked as a veterinary surgeon at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, before going onto St. George’s Hospital Medical School (now known as St. George’s University of London) where he was the vet responsible for the animal facility.

It was during his years as a research fellow at Brasenose College at the Department of Pharmacology Oxford University, that Professor Bolton became interested in research. Here, the late Edith Bülbring, who was very well-regarded in the field of smooth muscle physiology, inspired his own pursuit in smooth muscle research.

In 1976, Professor Bolton returned to St. George’s, starting out as Senior Lecturer. Within four years he was professor and five years later he became Head of the Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology.

Bolton served the community through sitting on grant panels for Wellcome and the British Heart Foundation, and grew his network through his membership with a variety of societies, including  The Physiological Society, British Pharmacological Society, Biophysical Society, Save British Science, Biochemical Society, University Federation Animal Welfare and Royal College Veterinary Surgeons.