Neurosurgeon, born in Spokane, WA. He studied at Oxford and Johns Hopkins universities, and made further scientific studies in Oxford and Spain. He carried out experimental neurosurgical work mostly at the Montreal Neurological Institute, of which he was the first director (1934-60). An outstanding practical neurosurgeon, he is best known for his experimental work on the exposed brains of living human beings, which pioneered understanding of the causes of symptoms of brains diseases such as epilepsy. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1934. Following his retirement in 1960, he began a second career as a novelist and biographer.