Rebecca Sitsapesan, 1959-2022

4 July 2022

It is with great sadness that we report the death of Professor Rebecca Sitsapesan after a long illness. Rebecca joined Hertford as Tutorial Fellow in Medicine in 2014 when she joined the Department of Pharmacology from the University of Bristol.

Tutorial Fellow in Medicine, Professor David R. Greaves, writes about her research and legacy:

“Rebecca was an expert in the challenging technique of single channel recording, and she was recognised nationally and internationally for her work on the Ryanodine Receptor, and important ion channel in heart muscle. Mutations in this channel are associated with sudden cardiac death.

In addition to leading an active research laboratory, Rebecca was a great tutor much loved by our medical students and admired by all those members of college who worked closely with her. Louise Wing, Hertford Lecturer in Anatomy, summed this up well when she wrote to me, “Such sad news. Rebecca was such a lovely, kind person and a formidable tutor.”

Rebecca Sitsapesan was the best of colleagues, a good friend and the nicest person. I am going to miss her greatly.”

The Department of Pharmacology writes:

“Apart from being an exceptional and enthusiastic pharmacologist, Rebecca was also a person of remarkable character. She had a unique ability to shape the critical and creative thinking of the students and postdoctoral fellows she guided and mentored. She was kind, caring and she tirelessly devoted her time to support all members of her lab.”