Medical Adviser to Sheffield PCT; Honorary Research Fellow in Evolutionary Biology, Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, Sheffield University.
Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians; Fellow Royal Society of Medicine; Fellow of the Linnean Society of London; Member of the International Symbiosis Society; Member of the BMA; Member of the Society of Authors.
Dr Frank Ryan is a consultant physician in the UK as well as being an innovative evolutionary biologist, who has introduced the concepts of aggressive symbiosis and genomic creativity to the story of human evolution. He has pioneered the concept of viruses as symbionts, thus bringing together the disciplines of evolutionary virology and symbiology. His appointment as Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at Sheffield University is aimed at introducing modern evolutionary concepts of human evolution to medicine.
Co-author of the ground-breaking The Eskimo Diet - which pioneered the modern importance of the omega-3 story - he recently revisited this area of special expertise to write The Brain Food Diet, which broke new ground in outlining the importance of the omega-3 to omega-6 balance in normal brain function and disease. Others of his books include Tuberculosis: The Greatest Story Never Told, which was welcomed with considerable acclaim globally, and Virus X, which changed the way we view viral evolution. World in Action and Horizon based programs on Frank's books and his tuberculosis book, renamed The Forgotten Plague, was a non-fiction book of the year for the New York Times. Virus X also received outstanding reviews in the New York Times and The Washington Post's Bookworld, and his Darwin's Blind Spot created interest in academic and lay circles, leading to Frank being elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. In the UK, this book was chosen as Book of the Month for May 2004 on www.readysteadybook.com and in the US it was the book of choice for Charlie Munger in 2003.
His new book for 2009 is Virolution.
Frank's books have been the subject of many TV and radio documentaries and have been translated into many languages. He is also an occasional reviewer of books for the New York Times.
MEDICAL CAREER
Consultant physician to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.
Director of the Department of Gastroenterology at the Northern General Hospital, Sheffield.
Helped set up the Institute of Nutrition at the Northern General Hospital in 1989, run by Professor Read.
Consultant Advisor and lecturer to the Nutrition Institute, Northern General Hospital.
Since 1992 to present, consultant medical adviser to Sheffield Health Authority/PCT with new research interest in evolutionary biology and its extrapolation to medicine.
Honorary lecturer to Sheffield University Medical School.
Since 2007, Honorary Research Fellow to the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, Sheffield University
Former sectional editor for Royal Society of Medicine, London.
POSTGRADUATE RESEARCH
22 years experience working and researching diseases related to nutrition and gastroenterology.
Performed original scientific studies with papers on medical research, mainly concerned with viruses as experimental tools in research into the auto-immune diseases, including the reticuloendothelial response to viral challenge.
First clinical trials of the anti-ulcer drug, Zantac.
Co-author of the report on the Hillsborough Disaster, published in the British Medical Journal.
World authority on the spleen in inflammatory bowel disease and the implications for the ability to respond to intravenous particulate antigen assault.
Authority on emerging infections.
Authority on tuberculosis.
Special interest in evolutionary theory in relation to medicine.
PAPERS RELEVANT TO EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY AND ITS APPLICATION TO MEDICINE
Ryan FP, 2004. Human endogenous retroviruses in health and disease: a symbiotic perspective. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 97: 560-565.
Ryan FP, 2006. Genomic creativity and natural selection: a modern synthesis. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society ; 88: 655-72.
Ryan FP, 2007. Viruses as symbionts. Symbiosis 44: 11-21.
Ryan FP, in press. Viruses in cyclical symbioses. Chapter from The Self in Evolution, ed Lynn Margulis.
Ryan FP. An alternative approach to medical genetics based on modern evolutionary biology. Part 1: mutation and symbiogenesis. J Royal Soc Med 2009; 102: 272-7.
Ryan FP. An alternative approach to medical genetics based on modern evolutionary biology. Part 2: retroviral symbiosis. J Royal Soc Med 2009; 102: 324-31.
Ryan FP. An alternative approach to medical genetics based on modern evolutionary biology. Part 3: HERVs in diseases. J Royal Soc Med 2009; 102: 415-24.
Ryan FP. An alternative approach to medical genetics based on modern evolutionary biology. Part 4: HERVs in cancer. J Royal Soc Med 2009; 102: 474-80.
Ryan FP. An alternative approach to medical genetics based on modern evolutionary biology. Part 5: epigenetics and genomics. J Royal Soc Med 2009; 102: 530-7.
BOOKS
The Eskimo Diet (1990), co-authored with Dr Reg Saynor, was a major popular science bestseller in the UK. This book pioneered the concept of the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, as the equivalent of essential fatty acids, which were now seen to play a vital role in many different organ systems of the human body. The main message at that time was the role of the omega-3s from fish and marine sources in heart attack prevention. Since then the role has been extended to include anti-inflammatory properties in the autoimmune diseases, particularly rheumatoid arthritis, and, with publication, in 2008, of Frank's The Brain Food Diet, has further extrapolated the role of DHA to reducing the risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease, as well as a treatment role in depression.
Tuberculosis: The Greatest Story Never Told (1992/3). Published in the US as The Forgotten Plague, told the human story of the discovery of the cure and explained why a new global epidemic of tuberculosis was once again threatening developed and developing countries. Welcomed with considerable acclaim by the World Health Organisation and by doctors in the US, where it helped in the fightback against the disease. Dr Ryan helped Sir John Crofton to resurrect the nurses' branch of the Tuberculosis Association and he worked with senior colleagues from the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal Society of Medicine and the Thoracic Society, to help improve awareness of what was happening in the UK and globally. World In Action and Horizon programs were based on this book on the same day. In the United States, under the title The Forgotten Plague, it took the cover and two additional pages in the New York Times Book Review in addition to front-page reviews in other leading papers, such as The Washington Post. It was subsequently judged a New York Times NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR. This book also took the lead review in the Daily Telegraph in the UK and entered the UK non-fiction hardcover best-seller list. Two one-day plays were based on it, in Boston and Washington DC, involved the late distinguished actor, Jason Robards.
Virus X (1996/7). This book looks at the origins and behaviours of viruses such as HIV-1. It received outstanding reviews by fellow scientists in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times and took the front page of The Washington Post's Bookworld. A full hour program on CBS television in the States was based on it and it has featured in a series of recent interviews on Radio 3 and 4 and the BBC Open University. In the UK, it took the lead review in the Daily Telegraph and was the subject of a feature in The Sunday Times colour supplement. The book was nevertheless seen as controversial. In particular Dr Ryan's discussion of how plague microbes, especially viruses, could sometimes change the evolution of their hosts, was regarded with scepticism. But time has once again proved him right and these concepts are now being embraced in scientific circles and universities. It was in this book he first coined concept of "aggressive symbiosis," now deemed an important breakthrough in our understanding of evolutionary mechanisms that are taken further in his new book, Darwin's Blind Spot.
Darwin's Blind Spot (2002/3). Published by Houghton Mifflin in US and Thomson-Texere in UK. While supportive of Darwin's theory of evolution by means of natural selection, it develops the role of symbiosis between species and cooperation within the human species as major forces in evolution. Innovative ideas include "aggressive symbiosis" as an evolutionary concept in plague evolution and redefining of symbiosis to take into account viral interactions with host genomes. These ideas are being incorporated into college and university courses in many countries. Chosen as his "selected book" by US financial guru, Charlie Munger. This book has been the subject of many lectures and the novel symbiotic concepts and redefinition were an important innovatory feature of a key paper on human endogenous retroviruses currently in press in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Virolution (in press 2009). Commissioned by Collins Publishers (HarperCollins, London), with anticipated publication late June 2009.