Obituary: Dr Leila Valerie Asche, PhD, AM, PhD (hon) CDU
Microbiology Australia 41(1) 51-52 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA20014
Published: 17 March 2020
Abstract
Leila Valerie James was born at Rupanyup in western Victoria in 1927. She attended local schools and continued her education despite significant family hardship. After matriculating from Ballarat High School she achieved her dream of going to The University of Melbourne and in 1944 commenced her BSc while living in nearby Brunswick. At Easter she fell ill with pleurisy. After a local GP drained 3 pints of fluid from her pleural cavity, she was sent home to rest, devastated to leave the university and her new friends. The word ‘tuberculosis’ (TB) was never mentioned to her.
