Ronnie Marks was professor of dermatology and chief of the dermatology department at the Welsh National School of Medicine, which from 1973 he developed into a major centre for dermatology innovation. The author of nearly 600 articles and 44 books, his major research interest was the stratum corneum. He was the founder of the International Society for Bioengineering and the Skin, the Journal of Dermatology Treatment, and was assistant editor of the British Journal of Dermatology from 1973 to 1985.
Ronald Marks was born on 25 March 1935 in London, the son of Isadore/Isidor Marks and his wife Jessie (née Stolloff). He attended St Marylebone Grammar School and gained his medical degree from Guy’s Hospital Medical School with clinical experience at Guy’s Hospital.
Ronnie stayed at Guy’s for the early part of his career, as house physician in 1958 and house surgeon for Guy’s and New Cross Hospital in 1959. He moved to Cuckfield Hospital in Sussex as house physician until March 1960. Following five years as a medical officer in the Army, two of them in Munster, Germany, he returned to London, this time to St George’s as registrar, beginning to specialise in dermatology from 1965 to 1967. Two spells as senior registrar and tutor at St John’s Hospital for the Diseases of the Skin from 1967 to 1971 were split in the middle with an overseas senior resident post in dermatology at the University of Miami for a year between December 1968 and December 1969.
He gained his first senior role as research fellow and senior lecturer at St John’s in 1971, quickly followed by a consultant dermatologist role in 1972. In 1973 he moved to Cardiff to become senior lecturer and consultant at the Welsh National School of Medicine, where he stayed until retirement.
It was in Wales that he began to make his name as an innovator in dermatology, developing new dermatology services, publishing ‘nearly 600 papers and scientific articles and 44 books’1 and founding the Journal of Dermatology Treatment (JDT). According to colleague Andrew Finlay, Ronnie ‘was an extraordinary man who contributed massively across many aspects of dermatology. The JDT was but one of his many original ideas, which ranged from developing new instruments to measure skin to creating new dermatology education courses.’2
An obituary written by colleagues and printed in the Skin Research and Technology explains that ‘Early in his career and at a time when it was not popular, he focused his research primarily on the stratum corneum and began to use instruments to diagnose skin diseases and also objectively documenting the effects of cosmetics and drugs... He established a research laboratory and developed prototype instruments exemplified by a cohesiometer for measuring intracorneal cohesion, and A-scan ultrasound skin depth detector and an extensometer for universal measurement of skin elasticity.’3
Following several international meetings on the stratum corneum in Wales, Miami and elsewhere, Ronnie was instrumental in the formation of the International Society for Bioengineering and the Skin. In 1994 he founded the company Cutest, which tests cosmetics, skin and beauty products for large companies. It’s CEO, Stewart Long FRSC, said this on Ronnie’s death:
‘He was a globally important dermatologist who, amongst many other achievements in his clinical career, pioneered many of the non-invasive measurement techniques we all take for granted these days.’4 Colleague Andrew Finlay summed up Ronnie’s personality thus:
‘Ronnie was generous, compelling, argumentative, great fun, infuriating and excellent company, while also being a great leader and pioneer. His driving workaholic personality was behind his hugely creative contributions across a wide academic and clinical spectrum. And his stimulating company dominated and enlivened every social gathering. People admired Ronnie, appreciated him for his unique personality, and were able to see and experience his endearing great warmth and kindness emerging from his complex personality.’5
Outside of medicine, Ronald’s interests included drama and squash. Ronnie died on 24 February 2020 and is survived by his wife Hilary, four children and stepchildren and five grandchildren.
RCP editor
Sources/further reading
1 A. Anstey, Queuing to see Professor Ronnie Marks on Saturday morning, British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 171, Issue s3, 1 September 2014, Page 1, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.13249
2 Finlay, A. Y. (2020). Professor Ronnie Marks, 1935–2020. Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 31(5), 549. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546634.2020.1780029
3 Serup, J., Grove, G., , Querleux, B., Hawkins, S., El Gammal, S., Fluhr, J., Koenig, K., Wilhelm, K., Houser, T., Muizzuddin, N., Tate, M., Lee, T., Hwan Oh, C. and Perez-DaMonte, S. (2020), Professor Ronald Marks of Cardiff, founder of Bioengineering and the Skin. Skin Res Technol, 26: 451-454. https://doi.org/10.1111/srt.12904
4 Long S (2020) LinkedIn. Remembering our company founder Prof Ronnie Marks. 26 February. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/remembering-our-company-founder-prof-ronnie-marks-stewart-long
5 A.Y. Finlay, Obituary: Professor Ronald Marks, 1935–2020, British Journal of Dermatology, Volume 183, Issue 3, 1 September 2020, Pages 598–599, https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.19149