Merton Sandler


Merton Sandler was a British professor of chemical pathology and a pioneer in biological psychiatry.

Education and career

Sandler studied at the Manchester Grammar School and the University of Manchester. In 1959, he suggested a link between depression and monoamine deficiency in the brain, which led to the development of antidepressants. Sandler was Professor of Chemical Pathology at the University of London from 1973 to 1991.

Private life

Sandler married Lorna Grenby in 1961 and they had four children. He was an active Freemason initiated in 1954 in the In Arduis Fidelis Lodge, and two years later in the Holy Royal Arch. He belonged to several lodges and chapters, and held office in the United Grand Lodge of England.