Rona MacKie

Rona McLeod Davidson was born in Dundee[1] on 22 May 1940, the daughter of Professor James Norman Davidson, CBE, PRSE, FRS, and his wife Dr Morag, née McLeod.[2] Her father was Gardiner Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow from 1947 to 1972.[1] Davidson attended Channing School and Laurel Bank School, before studying at the University of Glasgow; she graduated with her medical degrees (MB ChB) in 1963, and was awarded a doctor of medicine (MD) degree by the university in 1970. She has been married twice; firstly (1962–92) to Euan Wallace MacKie, and secondly, between 1994 and his death in 2010, to the pharmacologist Sir James Whyte Black, OM, FRS, FRSE. By her first husband, she had two children.[2]

Mackie held junior posts in Glasgow hospitals between completing her medical qualifications and obtaining her doctorate in 1970.[2] She became a member of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) in 1971.[1] Between 1971 and 1972, she was a lecturer in Dermatology at her alma mater, but then spent six years as a Consultant Dermatologist with the Greater Glasgow Health Board. In 1978, she returned to Glasgow University as Professor of Dermatology and remained in the post until 2001, when she was appointed a senior research fellow in the Faculty of Medicine.[2] Mackie's principle interest is skin cancer, particularly melanoma.[1]

Mackie has received a range of honours. In 1983, she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh;[1] the following year, she also became a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists and in 1985 a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.[2] In 1994, Glagow conferred on her a higher doctorate (DSc). In 1998, she was among the founding fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the next year the British Association of Dermatologists awarded her the Sir Archibald Grey Medal.[1] In the 1999 Birthday Honours, Mackie was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.[3] She received the Bicentenary Medal from the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2007 and the Medal for Dermatological Research from the British Society for Investigative Dermatology two years later.[2]