Just found out that Philip Branton, my thesis supervisor all those years ago, passed away after illness complications on sept 16. Besides a strong scientific education, Phil passed on his love for good food, good wine and Frank Zappa. “As long as Zappa’s music is playing somewhere, there’s hope for the world”.
Phil, after being a touring jazz musician, fell into a science career and never looked back. He was larger than life, a brilliant scientist, and could go from work to play at the drop of a hat.
In his own words, “In the end I received quite a few awards, mostly for my leadership efforts. These came from the CCS (R.M. Taylor Medal, 2005), the CCRA (Award for Exceptional Leadership in Cancer Research, 2011), the McGill Department of Oncology (Lifetime Achievement Award, 2014), and I was awarded the McGill Medal in 2015. I was the Gilman Cheney Professor of Biochemistry at McGill (1996-2016, now Emeritus), received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013), and was named a Member of the Royal Society of Canada (2002) and an Office of the Order of Canada (2014). I name all these awards not to brag but to leave a record that what I did may have meant something. It certainly did to me.”