James Alison Glover FRSM CBE (21 February 1874 – 17 September 1963) was a British physician, known for his epidemiological studies associating carrier rates of meningococcus with overcrowding, revealing geographic variations in the number of tonsillectomies in school children in England and Wales, and showing that cases of rheumatic fever occurred after outbreaks of sore throats caused by Streptococcus pyogenes.
[1][2] He completed his early education at St Paul's School before gaining admission to St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he earned a bachelor's degree in the Natural Science Tripos in 1897.
[2] He then entered Guy's Hospital to study medicine, and became dresser to Henry Howse and Sir William Arbuthnot Lane.
[1] In 1899, before completing his medical studies, Glover joined the City Imperial Volunteers, and served in the Boer War, in which he took part in the Battle of Diamond Hill.
[1] After gaining his medical degree in 1901, Glover's early posts included obstetric resident to Alfred Lewis Galabin and house surgeon to Sir Henry Morris.
[1] Glover's investigations of epidemics of rheumatic fever revealed that they occurred a few weeks after outbreaks of sore throats caused by Streptococcus pyogenes.
[3] Glover's study of the geographic variation in the number of tonsillectomies in school children in England and Wales was published in 1938.
[12][15][16] The paper is considered a "classic" and a "core component of health services research using epidemiology for understanding rates of intervention as opposed to disease".
During the Second World War he served in the Home Guard and later as medical officer to the 2nd City of London Regiment.