Biography

Ronald W.F. Campbell died suddenly in Spain in June 1998 at age 51, while attending a meeting of the International Society of Holter and Non-Invasive Electrocardiography, of which he was a founder. Born in Scotland, he attended medical school in Edinburgh and trained as a research fellow in cardiac arrhythmias at Duke University. Upon his return, he moved to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne where he remained for the rest of his career, rising to be a British Heart Foundation Professor of Clinical Cardiology and Chief of the Academic Cardiology Department. At the time of his death he was President of the British Cardiac Society. His research and publications dealt with ventricular arrhythmias and the effect of antiarrhythmic medications, atrial fibrillation, and its association with accessory pathways and sudden death. Later, his research efforts extended to the mechanisms of ventricular arrhythmias and myocardial infarction and most recently, his interest focused on noninvasive means of predicting those who are at increased risk of sudden cardiac death. It was this interest that involved him in the extensive effort at recording and interpretation of the ambulatory ECG and the publication with Alan Murray of their book Dynamic Electrocardiography in 1985. Continued study of ambulatory ECG encouraged an interest in proarrhythmia associated with QT prolongation, investigations that lasted to the end of his life.

I was fortunate to work with him regularly in cities such as Frankfurt, Paris, and London on the Validation Committee of EMIAT and as co-chair of the Working Group of Arrhythmias of the European Society of Cardiology. He was a physician and scientist of precise judgment, an articulate, informative, and entertaining speaker, and a master lecturer in the English language. He was a smiling, happy person with an infectious sense of humor. He is survived by his wife, Agnes, and daughter, Xanthe.

- Samuel Levy, M.D.
  Co-Chairman of the Working Group on Arrhythmias of the European Society of Cardiology