Not just skin deep: Professor William Cunliffe

The leading acne researcher, recently retired from a 30 year post at the Department of Dermatology at Leeds General Infirmary, talks to Kay Brennan about his career

“I was a spotty student,” Cunliffe confesses, explaining his interest in acne, which began when he was a medical student in Manchester. “I went to see a dermatologist and was given a diagnosis of acne, but no one could tell me what caused it. I wanted to find answers. Very little was known back then about acne: you were supposed to accept and get on with it.”

His acne persisted as a junior doctor and, after passing Member of the Royal College of Physicians exams, he applied for a post as a dermatology research registrar in Newcastle. “I was recommended to work with Sam Shuster, in Newcastle, an up and coming chap who was probably the first true clinical scientist in dermatology in the United Kingdom. He had very revolutionary ideas on the mechanisms behind acne and was a very inspiring and dynamic man.”

Shuster was a demanding boss: “I learnt never to promise to be home for Sunday lunch and usually didn't make it for Monday lunch either. We were pushed …