Philippa Mary Bruce White

Philippa Mary Bruce White died peacefully at home on 23 December 2006 after a long battle against breast cancer.

Philippa inherited her interest in microbiology from her father and grandfather, both microbiologists in the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS)—the three generations spanned the entire existence of the PHLS. Her enthusiasm was fired further when she worked during her school holidays at the Salmonella Reference Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale.

Philippa was born in London in 1953 and spent her formative years on the Wirral, Cheshire. She trained in medicine at University College Hospital, London, where she also completed an intercalated BSc in microbiology. Before …