Category: Staff profile

“My obituary”: Reflecting on 40 years in haematology | Dr Letizia Foroni

Four people smiling at the camera
Prof Atul Mehta, Prof Lucio Luzzatto, Letizia Foroni, Prof Mike Laffan.

In the lead up to her retirement, Dr Letizia Foroni, Principal Teaching Fellow in the Department of Immunology and Inflammation, reflects on her career in haematology.


Rest in Peace (R.I.P.): that is what I feel will happen in a few weeks. I will be able to rest…and not feel guilty for it!

I am about to retire, at the end of February 2022, exactly 40 years since I started working at what was then known as the Royal Postgraduate Medical School and Medical Research Council Leukaemia Unit. This was where, totally out of the blue, I landed on 9 June 1982.

A one-way ticket to London

I arrived from Italy to attend the worldwide renowned ‘Advances in Haematology’ course after a preliminary contact with the head of the Unit, Prof Lucio Luzzatto, and my consultant, Prof Corrocher. What only my mother knew was that I had bought a one-way ticket on a plane from Milan Airport. Verona, where I was born, didn’t even have an airport from where one could fly to London. (more…)