Educated at St Pauls School London and qualified in medicine at Oxford University and London Hospital Medical School.
Married Alison Young in 1954 and they had 3 daughters
He was an accomplished pianist and a founder member of the Birmingham Chamber Music Society.
Received an OBE in 1979 along with many other awards.
Served as a pathologist in the Royal Army Medical Corps, mainly in East Africa from 1943 – 1946
1946 Joined a Common Cold Research Unit (with Drs Dumbell, Lidwell and James Lovelock).
1949 started working in Birmingham (until 1979)
During this time, he published; 2 medical books, 200 scientific and medical articles and 14 collections of poetry
Took over (from Leonard Colebrook) the Microbiology Department at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Industrial Injuries and Burns Unit, for 30 years.
1955 he was already an internationally recognised expert on the microbiological problems associated with burns.
Lowbury presented a paper at the inaugural British Burns association meeting in 1968.
Lowbury initiated the first properly controlled clinical trials in burns, and infection rates continued to decrease, until the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the late-1950s. The introduction of silver nitrate in 1966 halted this rise, but rates would continue to fluctuate, as safer alternatives were introduced.
Introduced a unique record of resistance changes until his retirement in 1979
Developed laboratory test for surgical and hygienic hand disinfection in the 1960s.
1965 World Health Organisation Consultant
Involved in the development of an effective pseudomonas vaccine.
Demonstrating the effectiveness of alcoholic solutions in surgical hand disinfection in 1974 – these tests formed a basis of the present European Norms (2007).
1980 founded the Hospital Infection Society, with a small group of others, which was soon followed by the publication of the Journal of Hospital Infection.
Elected as the society’s first President and editorial advisor to the journal
The annual Lowbury lecture was set up in honour of his achievements and support for the society
Early studies confirmed Colebrook’s work on the effectiveness of a plenum-ventilated burns dressing room in reducing airborne organisms and infection.
Together with John Babb et al, he showed that a protective isolator provided with filtered air significantly reduced pseudomonas infection in burns patients. Plus, that source isolation with filters in the air effluent retained bacteria in the isolator, so that infected patients could be nursed in an open ward.
Confirmed the effectiveness of tropical silver compounds that are still in use today.
An increase in staphylococcal resistance following widespread use of a new antibiotic, and then a decrease in resistance on discontinuing its use in a burn’s unit.
Studying Carbenicillin, the first antipseudomonal penicillin, he reported the emergence of resistance due to a plasmid which also conferred resistance to several other antibiotics.
Writing poetry in his spare time, he published over 30 books of poetry and received many awards. A poem entitled “August 10th, 1945 – The Day After” was written in Kenya, where Lowbury was then serving as a pathologist in the Royal Army Medical Corps with the army in East Africa. The day after referred to in the title of the poem was the day after the dropping of the second atomic bomb – on Nagasaki.
Although the Accident Hospital closed its doors in 1993, the Infection Control Research Laboratory continues to exist in a new location.
He gave a memorial lecture in 1977 after he retired ‘Wits vs Genes, was the Everett Evans Lecture to the Burns Association. He considered the various antibacterial defences that could be deployed against burns presenting hard evidence to support the effectivity of each measure, as well as the continuing changing pattern of the bacterial colonisation of these wounds
He gave another memorial lecture in 1978, named ‘Fact or Fashion?’, presented in the Inaugural Wallace Memorial Lecture to the British Burns Association. He considered the appropriate anti-infective measures for burns, including the treatment by exposure and the use of isolators and vaccines.
Exposure offers the benefit of simplicity and, provided the burn surface dries quickly, yields reasonable success. However, if this cannot be achieved, topical dressings containing anti-bacterial agents are preferred
He was a great advocate of eliminating rituals, which he defined as ‘measures which have been devoutly observed but shown to be useless or potentially harmful.’
Lowbury published over 200 papers one of which “control of hospital infection” with Dr Ayliffe,
Gedden and Williams in 1975 was recognised worldwide
Lowbury received several honorary degrees including being made Honorary Visiting Professor of Medical Microbiology at the University of Aston in 1979.
Beyond medicine Lowbury’s great interest was literature and music, such that several books were published over the years including books of poems. Below is a poem he wrote on the closure of the Accident hospital.
In 1973 he delivered the 3rd Keats Memorial Lecture and in 1974 was elected to the Royal Society of Literature.
His retirement was marred by progressive deterioration in vision and when his wife Alison died in 2001, he moved to a London care home to be close to his three daughters.