Dame Sheila Sherlock, 83; Leading Authority on Liver Disease

Dame Sheila Sherlock, 83, a leading authority on liver disease who established study of the liver as a distinct discipline, died of undisclosed causes Dec. 30 at her home in London.

Sherlock studied medicine at Edinburgh University and graduated at the top of her class in 1941. In 1951, at age 33, she became the youngest woman elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

In 1959, she was the first woman appointed to the chair of a British department of medicine, assuming the newly created post at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine in London. The liver unit she established there attracted researchers from around the world as her pioneering work gained recognition.

Sherlock was the author of “Diseases of the Liver and Biliary System.” Published in 1955, it is still regarded as a standard text in the field and has been translated into a least six languages.

Sherlock, who received dozens of academic honors, was made a dame--the equivalent of a knight--in 1978. Last year, she became a fellow of the Royal Society, a top honor for medical scientists in Britain.