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"He [was] the leading authority in Canada
on the biological and medical aspects of atomic energy... a
scientist of international
reputation in this field of research."
Professor David Keys
Dr André Joseph
Cipriani, Trinidad and Tobago's first major biophysicist, was
best known for his pioneering work in cancer treatment. He
was one of the first scientists in the world with great
practical expertise in the medical applications of radiation.
Born on 2nd April, 1908 in Port-of-Spain,
Trinidad, Cipriani excelled from an early age, completing
primary school and entering St. Mary's College at 10 years old.
He studied sciences and excelled in school under his father's
encouragement, winning the Stollmeyer's Silver Medal for Science
in 1925 and the Island Scholarship for Science in 1927. He
enrolled at McGill University, Canada, as an electrical
engineering student but his aptitude for mathematics and physics
led to a change in major to those disciplines. After
graduating in 1932, he completed a medical degree and
specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology.
During World War II, Dr Cipriani was a
medical office in the Canadian Army. He did research on
various medical problems such as motion sickness and night
blindness, and discovered the chemical compound from which the
medicine known as Gravol was derived. He later joined the
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd where he became the Director of
Biology and Radiation Hazards. At the Chalk River Nuclear
Laboratories (CRNL), he and W V Mayneord discovered that
cobalt-60 was the most promising isotope that could be used to
treat cancer, pioneering its production in 1951. With
further studies, he and his team at CRNL isolated the first
highly active sources of cobalt-60, using methods which were
later used in developing the earliest cobalt therapy machines.
Dr Cipriani was a member of the Royal
Society of Canada as well as numerous Canadian and international
committees. His work gained him great recognition around
the world. He was a member of several committees on atomic
radiation and the Canadian
 representative on the first United
Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation.
He assisted in the organisation and training of the Canadian
army radiation detection unit. His extensive work resulted
in scientific papers that were published in international
journals such as the Journal of Neurophysiology and the
Journal of Radiological Protection and presented at major
international meetings such as the Geneva Conference on
Peaceful
Uses of Atomic Energy.
Dr André
Cipriani continued to contribute to the understanding of the
safe use of radiation until his death from a cerebral
haemorrhage, following a stroke, on 23rd February 1956, at the
age of 48. The BBC described him as the most knowledgeable
expert on radiation hazards in the world. The National
Research Universal Reactor at Chalk River, Ontario remains the
world's biggest single supplier of cobalt-60, which continues to
be used in cancer treatment.
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