Matthews, Dr Rae Nanette (27/1/28-13/10/19)

The Alumni Association were saddened to learn of the death of Dr Rae Matthews at the age of 91. Rae was a Clinical Haematologist and Oncologist who worked both at The Royal Children’s Hospital (between 1967 and her retirement in 1991) and at The Queen Victoria Hospital. She was involved in the early clinical trials of treatment of leukaemia and of solid tumours and her over-riding passion was to improve the quality of life and long-term outcome for children with Thalassaemia with iron overload resulting from multiple transfusions. She also established an antenatal diagnostic service in collaboration with obstetricians at the Queen Victoria Hospital in the 1970s. She was a meticulous humble physician, an ardent patient advocate, a great teacher and a loyal colleague.