Born Hull April 14, 1962. Died Manchester March 3, 2009, aged 46.
April 29, 2009 16:27Nationally renowned cancer expert Dr Edward Levine had a brilliant career both academically and as a caring and much-loved doctor to his patients.
Brought up with his two brothers in a traditionally Orthodox family in Hull, he was educated at Hymers College and read medicine at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and Westminster Medical School, qualifying in 1983.
After junior appointments at Westminster Hospital and the then London Hospital, Whitechapel, he settled in Prestwich after marrying Tanya Sterrie in 1988.
In 1990 he began training in clinical oncology at Manchester’s Christie Hospital and became consultant in 1996, specialising in colorectal cancer.
Passionate about cancer research, he chaired the North West Clinical Oncology Group and was a member of the National Cancer Research Institute. In 2001, he received the prestigious Sir Lionel Whitby medal and prize for his Cambridge University MD dissertation.
Direct, robust and often apparently clumsy, he was known to staff and patients alike simply as Ed. But his manner concealed an underlying intelligence and adroitness, and his sensitivity and gentleness to those under stress came as no surprise. He was quiet and unassuming about his considerable achievements.
A member of Stenecourt shul (Manchester Great and New Synagogue), he brought his gemarah learning to his medical practice, speaking at rabbinical conferences on the sanctity of life and the prohibition of robbing patients of hope.
When invited to dine at Cambridge, he wore his kippah at high table and ate a Hermolis meal provided by his old college. He later set up a careers advisory group at Pembroke College and was due to chair its second meeting, scheduled for two days after his sudden death from a stroke.
When asked to be guest speaker at a medical students’ dinner which clashed with Shabbat, he ate with members of the Jewish Society, a flashback to his days as JSoc’s catering manager.
When treating a Jewish patient during the autumn festival period, he walked into the room waving a lulav and ensured that treatment was finished before the commencement of Shabbat — an experience the patient never forgot. He was equally sensitive to his non-Jewish patients’ concerns.
The centre of a loving family, he considered one of his most important functions to be “honorary chauffeur for three daughters — Georgia, Eli and Anna”.
He is survived by his parents, brothers, wife, and three daughters.