John B. West, Respiratory Physiology Apr 2026

: His team built a laboratory at 6,300 meters, carrying in tons of scientific equipment via remote trails.

In the late 1950s, while at Hammersmith Hospital in London, West gained access to one of the first medical cyclotrons. He used —a radioactive isotope with a half-life of only two minutes—to track how blood flowed through the human lung. John B. West, Respiratory physiology

: This led to his famous "West Zones," which explain how gravity creates different regions of ventilation and perfusion within the upright lung. 2. The 1981 Everest Expedition: Life at the Limit : His team built a laboratory at 6,300

: West himself had never climbed before joining Sir Edmund Hillary on an earlier 1960 expedition, showing his dedication to "living" his science. 3. Teaching and the "Little Red Book" while at Hammersmith Hospital in London