Pioneering Urologist's Remarkable Career Spanned Medicine and the Arts

In November 2025, the medical community mourns the passing of Dr. Stephen Dawson, a pioneering urologist who played a crucial role in responding to the AIDS crisis in London during the 1980s. Dawson, who died of cancer at the age of 78, had the unfortunate timing of beginning his medical career just as the devastating epidemic first struck the city.

Working in genitourinary clinics, Dawson helped chart the rise of HIV-opportunistic diseases, though he could do little to treat them at the time. Seeking a change, he left London in 1988 to become the first consultant in genitourinary medicine in east Berkshire, taking on the role at Upton Hospital in Slough. Over the next 28 years, Dawson transformed the department from a small team of part-time doctors and a nurse into the UK's first fully integrated sexual health service, providing holistic care across all medical disciplines.

Beyond his consummate work as a doctor, Dawson pursued creative passions later in life. In his 70s, he took up writing film scripts, with three of his short films being shown at festivals in Europe and the US. He also found success as a painter, with one of his portrait works making it to the final round of the prestigious BP Portrait Awards in 2016. Always a lover of the sea, Dawson retired to Hastings, where he continued to paint, write, and solve crosswords, even reaching the final of the Times crossword championship.