A Pioneer Passes On

Professor Emeritus David Picou Dies

 

Professor Emeritus David Picou passed away on May 4, 2024. The following tribute was written in his honour.

We were saddened to learn of the passing of Professor Emeritus David Picou, one the Caribbean’s pioneer health researchers and the first non-UK Director of the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit.

In his time at TMRU Professor Picou played a critical role in the development of methods used in the evaluation of body composition and metabolism of malnourished children and advancing the implementation of many of the lessons learned from the management of children with severe acute childhood malnutrition globally. He went on to head the Commonwealth Caribbean Medical Research Council (now the Caribbean Public Health Agency) and in his “retirement” supported the development of regional systems for health research.

As a friend of the University of the West Indies’ Caribbean Institute for Health Research and mentor to many Caribbean Researchers, we are pleased that he was able to participate in CAIHR’s 20th Anniversary Celebrations – helping us to document the early work of the Unit, curate instruments that were developed by the early investigators, catalogue photographs, share memories of his time and work at The UWI with the University Community and the general public (https://uwimuseum.wordpress.com/2019/09/17/reflections-on-innovations-the-tmru-story/) and accept an award from CAIHR for his contribution to our success.

We express our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues during this challenging time and will be forever grateful for the contribution that this Caribbean Pioneer Clinician and Researcher has made to our Institution.

Marshall Tulloch-Reid,
Director, Caribbean Institute for Health Research