A renowned figure of modern medicine in Oxford has died at the age of 91.

Professor Peter Sleight was an academic clinician of world standing who will be remembered with great affection by family and friends across the globe.

He made a world-leading contribution to cardiovascular clinical trials.

Described by his friend and colleague Nick Boon, past President of the British Cardiovascular Society, as ‘a wonderful and gifted man who ran one of the best departments of cardiology in the world but who also had time to look after his patients, staff and students’, he will be greatly missed.

He lived with his wife Gillian in the Oxfordshire village of Wheatley for over 50 years but they have been living together in a care home since 2018.

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Peter Sleight was born in Hull in 1929 to William and Mary Sleight and had a brother, Malcolm, and sister, Eileen, who both predeceased him.

He was educated at Leeds Grammar School, Gonville and Caius College Cambridge and St Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical School.

His career started in London at Bart’s and St George’s and continued at the University of California, San Francisco.

He came to Oxford in 1964 and was consultant first at the Radcliffe Infirmary and then the John Radcliffe Hospital from 1966.

Oxford Mail:

Prof Peter Sleight with friends and colleagues

Prof Sleight became a Fellow of Exeter College in 1973 when he was appointed as the first holder to the university’s British Heart Foundation Field Marshal Alexander Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine.

He has produced over 500 academic papers which have attracted some 40,000 citations.

The professor was author of many textbooks on cardiology and received numerous awards, including the Society of Apothecaries’ Galen Medal (2000), the Mackenzie Medal from the British Cardiovascular Society (2003) and the lifetime achievement award from the European Society of Hypertension (2005).

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Fellow in Medicine at Exeter College, Andrew Farmer, said: “Peter made a world-leading contribution to cardiovascular clinical trials.

“He was instrumental in establishing the four major trials (ISIS 1-4) that recruited 140,000 people worldwide and transformed the way that patients are managed after a heart attack and improved survival. The trials were published with a collaborative group name without highlighting the role of individuals.”

This was typically generous in recognising the contribution of all members of the team which included Sir Rory Collins, Sir Richard Peto, and Professor Salim Yusuf. Prof Sleight had a long association throughout his career with the British Heart Foundation.

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He met his wife Gillian at Bart’s medical school in 1950 and they were married three years later. Their partnership was legendary and Gillian has been an enduring strength and support to her husband, travelling the world with him to numerous events and symposiums. They have two sons, Christopher and James, and four grandchildren, Jonathan, Richard, Harriet and Robert. Prof Sleight enjoyed music, theatre, sailing and golf. The family will hold a private funeral on Wednesday with a memorial service to follow in 2021.