Born and raised in Southern Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe), he is best known for his work on cellular transmembrane signalling, in particular the discovery that inositol trisphosphate acts as a second messenger, linking events at the plasma membrane with the release of Ca2+ within the cell.
Lahir dan dibesarkan di Rhodesia Selatan (sekarang Zimbabwe), ia terkenal karena karyanya mengenai pensinyalan transmembran seluler, khususnya penemuan bahwa inositol trisfosfat bertindak sebagai pembawa pesan kedua, menghubungkan kejadian pada membran plasma dengan pelepasan Ca2+ di dalam sel.