Professor (Emeritus) James Boyer Brown AM (1919 - 2009)

Died peacefully at home October 31, 2009, aged 90 after a fulfilled life. Beloved and deeply loving husband of Wendy. Cherished father and father-in-law of James and Helen, Anthony and Ruth, Jean and Mick, Elizabeth and Nick. Adored grandfather of Sally, Hilary and Catherine; Hamish, Duncan, Grace and Lachlan; Raechel, Hannah, Daniel and Miriam; Jasmine, Luke, Brigid and Billy.
A man of vision, humility, gentleness and perseverence who served the Lord all of his days.

Good friend and colleague of Dr John Billings (dec) and Dr Evelyn Billings. Thank you for your brilliant work in the field of Hormone Analysis. Your expertise and counsel will be greatly missed by all in the field. Our deepest sympathy and prayers for Wendy and all of the family. - The Worldwide Billings Ovulation Method Organisation.

Emeritus Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Women's Hospital and University of Melbourne.
Farewell dear friend and colleague for 45 years. Chemist and scientist of excellence, he unlocked the biochemical mysteries that govern and control the menstrual cycle and human reproduction.
His original research contributions (hundreds of publications that continued until death) allowed the developmwent of the biochemical control of ovulation, conception and the hormonal regulation of pregnancy.
His discoveries allowed the initiation and development of ovulation induction and invitro fertilisation. He received many academic awards, the exception being well deserved recognition by the Nobel Committee. His massive contribution was to the most exquisite branch of human endocrinology. - Norman A. Beischer.

Obituary by Dr Adrian Thomas

Eulogy by daughter Jean

Eulogy by son Anthony

Eulogy by daughter Elizabeth

Eulogy by son James

Prayer

Message from the Directors of WOOMB

Obituary (by Dr Adrian Thomas)

The scientific and medical community mourns the loss of our esteemed colleague and good friend Emeritus Professor James Boyer Brown AM, MSc (NZ), PhD (Edin), MSc (Melb), DSc (Edin), FRANZCOG (Ad Eundem), Life Member Fertility Society of Australia, Life Member Endocrine Society of Australia, who passed away on Saturday 31st October 2009, aged 90.

Born 7 October 1919 in New Zealand and educated at Auckland University College (MSc - First Class Honours in chemistry), James Brown was manpowered to the laboratories at the Auckland Hospital early in the Second World War. He rationalised the sterilisation procedures at the hospital, qualified in bacteriology, haematology and histology and built up the biochemistry laboratory from some simple backroom tests to the type of facility that exists today. He also set up the blood bank, the monitoring of blood electrolytes and the production of sterile solutions for peritoneal lavage (the precursor of renal dialysis).

During the war, chemicals that were required for the new tests were often in short supply so he developed methods for synthesising or regenerating them, using techniques that often required innovative use of materials available. One example of his innovative skills was the production of ampoules of blood-typed sera for the Pacific forces using a home-made freezer. The ability to innovate was a skill that he used to great advantage right throughout his life and he was constantly searching for better ways of doing things.

After the war in 1947, he developed an interest in endocrinology and reproduction and started a small animal breeding surgery, set up bioassays for urinary gonadotrophins and oestrogen (the female hormone) and concluded that the most important requirement in human reproduction was the development of a highly accurate method for timing ovulation in women, similar to the phenomenon of oestrus in animals. Measurements of the oestrogens seemed to be the answer and he received a National Research Scholarship to work in Edinburgh under Professor Guy Marrian FRS, one of the discovers of oestrogens.

His aim was to develop a chemical method for measuring the oestrogens in the urine and was given a position in the newly established Clinical Endocrinology Research Unit in Edinburgh, later to be appointed its Assistant Director. Notwithstanding Marrian's attempts at dissuading him from this project, Brown persisted and the essential problems were solved within a few months but a fully validated method was not published until 1955. This published paper has been cited over 1000 times and was awarded a full Citation Classic by the Institute for Scientific Information.

Using this new method of measurement, Brown confirmed the elegant patterns of oestrogen production throughout the menstrual cycle which had been shown previously using labour intensive bioassays. This work led to a PhD and The Lancet requested the privilege of publishing the results obtained during the menstrual cycle, conception, pregnancy, lactation and return to fertility. His method was the "gold standard" for measuring these hormones for almost 20 years until superseded by radioimmunoassays on blood. He also collaborated with Arnold Klopper in developing a urinary preganediol assay in non-pregnant women which was awarded a half Citation Classic.

Possibly one of the greatest contributions made by Brown in his early days in Edinburgh was the use of human gonadotrophin for the induction of ovulation. Working with colleagues there they purified these hormones and later developed the International Standard Reference Preparation facilitating their widespread usage. The Edinburgh unit was the second in the world to use human gonadotrophins for ovulation induction in humans but Brown, later working in Melbourne, would properly rationalise their usage.

In 1962 he accepted an appointment as First Assistant in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne under Professor Lance Townsend. This was despite many attractive offers from the USA including one from Dr Gregory Pincus, the originator of the oral contraceptive pill. It was here that he showed his true genius and, in conjunction with his colleagues at the Royal Women's Hospital, he revolutionised the use of gonadotrophins for the safe induction of ovulation. He refined the his method for measuring urinary oestrogen making it effectively a routine test which could be performed in a few hours, thereby enabling these drugs to be used in a safe manner and all but eliminating the risk of high order multiple pregnancies which had been a feature of this treatment up until that time. This was the first time that this approach had been used and led to him developing the threshold theory of ovarian follicle stimulation which stands unchallenged today in reproductive medicine.

He further modified his rapid assay method to enable urinary oestrogen to be measured during pregnancy which was used to great effect by obstetricians as a test of placental function and fetal well-being during pregnancy.

During a sabbatical year in 1970, Brown gained a D.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh and delivered 63 lectures and demonstrations in Europe and the USA.

Notwithstanding the advent of radioimmunoassay, the laboratory continued to be world renowned for its urinary assays and attracted large contracts, principally from Harvard University for studying risk factors in breast cancer and from Family Health International for studying the return of fertility during breast feeding. The work with Harvard won the Prix Antoine Lacassagne from Paris as the most important contribution to the study of breast cancer for that year.

In 1971 he was given a Personal Chair in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne and was a member of the IVF team led by Carl Wood. His work and understanding of ovarian function has been linked to the development of the early techniques for egg pick up in IVF and were used in the first successful IVF pregnancy in Britain.

Brown retired from the University in 1985 and was accorded the title of Emeritus Professor. Nonetheless he continued to work in the field. He had established in 1962, a close working and personal relationship with Drs John and Lyn Billings who developed the concept of fertility recognition through the changes in cervical mucus secretion, forming the basis of Natural Family Planning. He validated their findings and continued to work closely with them especially in his latter years when he developed the Home Ovarian Monitor - a kit that can be easily used at home even by those without any laboratory training, to check their hormonal status. This was a quantum leap from his early methods where one fully trained worker could do only 10 assays per week! Working with the Billings, the availability, simplicity and low cost of this facility has enabled him to study literally hundreds of thousands of cycles in women in various stages of their reproductive lives and develop a theory of ovarian function which takes account of these findings.

Right up to the time of his death Brown continued to work on various scientific projects and was involved with the World Health Organisation's Special Programme of Research in Human Reproduction.

Perhaps his professional life could best be summed up by a closing editorial comment made in 2003 in response to a letter he had published in Fertility and Sterility, the Journal of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine:

"...In these days of hype, grossness and glitz, Dr Brown is a model of scientific practice who is even more imposing by the low profile that he has been able to keep over the last two decades. Perhaps these are the ideals and values for which we need to renew our subscription."

McDonough, P. Fertility and Sterility 2003; 80, (3): 677-678

James Brown is survived by his wife Wendy and their four children.

Prizes and awards

1958 American Cancer Society Fellowship
1970 Runner-up in award for having made the most important
contribution in endocrinology in the British Commonwealth
1978 Senior Organon Prize (joint winner with Henry Burger)
1981 Lecture Laurentian Hormone Conference USA
1981 Fellow (Ad Eundem) Royal Australian and New Zealand College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
1986 Prix Antione Lacassagne, Paris, in conjunction with Harvard
colleagues
2003 Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for service to clinical
research into women's health
and reproductive issues and the development of the Home Ovarian Monitor".

Jean (daughter): Dad as a family man

The family from NZ has sent a synopsis of Dad’s childhood and life in New Zealand.

Jim was born in Waiuku where his father was the manager of a dairy factory. He was the third of five children born to James and Stella Brown. The family then shifted to Hamilton where Jim attended Forest Lake Primary School and Hamilton High School, where he specialized in science.

I can remember his secondary school headmaster saying that Jim would never be any more than a rubbish man!

Jim used to bring things home from the lab i.e. test tubes and chemicals so he could do experiments in the washhouse. Mum was always finding things in the oven drying out and I can recall an experiment with a tin and some gun powder which exploded and cut my arm. My mum fixed me up, let out her wrath at Jim and left him to fix bandage himself up. I seemed to be the one who always suffered his experiments.

Our dad died suddenly when Jim was 15 and he took on the role of male of the house, with help from elder sister Pam. At that stage he was a boy of many skills – pruning the large orchards, cutting the hedges, building an apple shed and any mechanical repairs needed.

I remember he built a large windmill out of sheet metal and a bicycle wheel. This was mounted onto the garage to charge car batteries so I could have a light in my bedroom. The garage used to vibrate when the wind was blowing strong causing the neighbours, and family, to complain about the noise.

Jim left school and moved to Auckland to attend Auckland University where he gained a BSc and MSc. He sometimes used to bike home to Hamilton on a Friday evening from Auckland after university (a distance of approx 80 miles) to spend the weekend gardening and doing household maintenance on their ¾ acre section. During the varsity holidays he would work in the butter factory making butter boxes, as well as haymaking in the local area, to get money to live in Auckland for his studies.

He left New Zealand at the end of the war to study in Edinburgh and then moved to Australia with Wendy, raising his family, occasionally bringing the family over to NZ for visits.

I never really understood a lot of what Jim’s work entailed but we were all proud of you.

This was compiled by his sister Rosemary, the last surviving sibling.

The family in New Zealand sends their condolences for the loss of a loved brother and uncle. They will all treasure the moments he have shared with them over the years. Similarly the extended family in Scotland mourns his death.

Anthony (son): Dad as a man of the outdoors and a man of practical skills

Dad taught us to glorify living in the world. His world was not the trappings of human commerce but the one that God created. He succumbed to the thought of the warm sun and moist earth. He strove to unlock its mysteries by excelling in carpentry, glass blowing, robotics and creating new substances. He delighted us by building houses, toy steam engines and new strains of lettuce. And he loved the mountains and the beach. To follow his skinny legs almost overwhelmed by an enormous pack and to hear his laugh around a camp fire was the embodiment of goodness.

Elizabeth (daughter) : Dad as a man of wisdom and a teacher

Dad was a humble genius who lived life based on Christ. He taught us as much by example as by patient explanation. For him nothing was impossible and all challenges were met head on, broken down to basic building blocks and then built up by applying well founded principles.

With this in mind, poor Mum had to put up with the same patched up washing machine for over 40 years. It was finally put to rest when the flames from the motor were considered large enough to be alarming. Dad made us laugh often and had no concern for outward appearances. There’s the time when the only protective clothing he could find was his 10 year old grandson’s wetsuit, a pair of gumboots and a large shapeless hat which he squeezed into in order to spray a few weeds with “round up”. And the tale of how he bought Mum and Dad’s first car, the Wolseley into the country as hand luggage because it wasn’t considered to be worth very much.

The list could go on.

Dad’s deep love for Mum and commitment to their relationship in God has given us all a great foundation on which to base our own lives. Although his encyclopaedia like knowledge may no longer be there to readily tap into we all carry within us the basic units he taught us with which to live our own lives – love of God and our fellow man.

James (son) : Dad’s faith.

I am to honour the spiritual side of my father.

Dad’s faith was core to who he was. Dad’s faith was based on what he experienced rather than what someone else told him to believe. Dad experienced God in many things. His life was in one of those thin spaces where the concrete and the metaphysical are very close. A sense of God was ever present for Dad.

Dad experienced God as an intentional meaning to life. He had a deep sense of the purposefulness to life. He experienced God in his scientific exploration. A reaction sometimes to my father’s faith was ‘how can a scientist believe in God’. Dad’s journey of research reinforced his wonderment at creation and God within it. He in fact often commented on the opportunity of science turning its method to exploration of God.

Dad experienced God as active. He felt deeply blessed by God in his marriage to Mum, and in the gift of his family. In his research he embraced spontaneous inspiration as fundamental to his scientific enquiry and saw this as coming from God – he referred to this as ‘St. Michael’. Dad had a very powerful spiritual experience during a period in his life of extreme loss and aloneness. During this time he was sustained by an overwhelming experience of the care of God for him. Part of this was a profound experience of a visitation by Christ.

Dad also experienced the dark night of the soul. This was his experience after his coronary artery bypass surgery.

Dad was always willing to share his faith with us though he never had any expectation that our experience should be anything but our own. When we were young, we each had the privilege of Dad lying down with us before going to sleep to reflect and pray on the day.
Dad modelled creative and uninhibited enquiry. Conversations with Dad about the enigma of life have been a large feature of my relationship with him. He constantly reflected on what was real to him. Saturday week ago, in talking about the prospect of death, he shared that ‘the closer death is the less appealing it becomes’. It was a very ‘Dad Comment’.

Dad has been faithful man of the church. He has been committed in his attendance, he has been generous in his time and gifting and he has provided many years of unassuming leadership. There are many who have been encouraged by his visits. On the lighter side, he has a great reputation for taking sermons in subliminally. He must have snoozed through a thousand sermons, and then been able to offer some profound reflection on the sermon afterwards.

Dad/Jim, we are so grateful to have had you in our lives, we will miss you.

A prayer written by Ruth (daughter-in-law) and recited by Grace and Hannah (granddaughters)

Dear God,
We give thanks for a long life lived well,
For diligence and loyalty,
Strength, endurance and skill
deep and abiding love,
For gentle amusement at idiosyncrasies both large and small
a life that followed an arduous, sometimes lonely path,
the quiet, dogged and untiring search for truth.
For a brilliant mind able to discern and describe your grand design.
This life was Jim Brown’s and we are grateful for his living it.

We give thanks for a steadfast faith;
A questioning challenging faith,
A faith that stepped forward into the unknown.
We pray for Jim’s safe passage.

And now Lord, we pray those who remain.
Farewells hurt. Loss is lonely.
There is an empty chair at the table.
We toss and turn through the long dark night.
Bring Comfort.

Amen

Message from Directors of WOOMB

Dear Billings World Wide Family,

Today we have the sad duty to inform you of the death, on Saturday the 31st of October 2009, of our good friend Emeritus Professor James Boyer Brown MSc NZ, MSc Melb, DSc Edin, PhD, FRANZCOG, aged 90 after a short illness.

Born 7 October 1919 in New Zealand and educated at Auckland University College (MSc), Jim subsequently travelled to Scotland where he studied at Edinburgh University (PhD, DSc). He worked in Scotland as a Biochemist (1940-44) before returning to New Zealand to work as a Clinical Biochemist for the Auckland Hospital Board 1944-49 and as Assistant Director, Clinical Endocrinology Research Unit, Medical Research Council, University of Edinburgh 1958-62.

Jim came to Melbourne in 1962 and worked as First Assistant Endocrinologist, University of Melbourne 1962-71. He was subsequently awarded a Personal Chair as Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 1972-84, and continued as Senior Associate and Emeritus Professor from 1985 until his death.

In the 1960s he began work with Drs John and Evelyn Billings on the hormonal verification of the Billings Ovulation Method™ of natural fertility regulation. They maintained a close working relationship and friendship for the remainder of their lives.

Jim Brown invented the Ovarian Hormone Monitor, a DIY machine which revolutionized the performance of laboratory-standard assays of oestrogen and progesterone metabolites in urine enabling accurate identification of the timing of ovulation. This has assisted many women to achieve a desired pregnancy and has also been invaluable in tracking hormones to identify endocrine disorders without the need for regular blood tests.

Please keep his wife Wendy and their four children in your prayers.

God bless,

Kerry Bourke, Joan Clements, Marian Corkill, Marie Marshell
Directors of WOOMB International