We, at Planer, were much saddened to hear of the passing of Professor David Pegg on the 3rd August 2019.

David qualified with Bachelor of Medicine (MB), BSc in 1956 and Medical Doctorate (MD) in 1963 and was awarded the William Julius Mickle Fellowship of the University of London in 1968. He passed his Membership to the Royal College of Pathology (MRCPath) in 1967 and his Fellowship (FRCPath) in 1998 for research in experimental pathology.

David was one of the founding fathers of the science of modern cryobiology and he worked with Planer on some of the very first controlled rate freezers in the early 1970s. He is fondly remembered by some members of staff, still at Planer, who worked alongside him during that time. Geoffrey Planer said “Apart from owing a deep gratitude to David, I will greatly miss the interaction with him which was always stimulating – scientifically, and indeed, generally. Like many brilliant people, he could engage in fascinating conversations on subjects well outside his academic field as easily as he could within his technical specialities”.

David, pictured here with an early Planer freezer, published over 200 peer reviewed papers and numerous books focusing primarily on tissue preservation and cryobiology.  His contributions to the field are numerous, notably in the development of effective cooling techniques and cryoprotectant use to avoid ice formation.

The memorial service for David was held on Thursday 29th August in The Hospitium in the Museum Gardens in York, followed by a gathering when people met and shared their memories of working and socialising with David over the years.