MB ChB Manch 1954, MD 1959; MRCP Edin 1961, FRCP 1973, FRCPath 1975.
Barlow was born on 27 July 1928. After qualifying at Manchester, Barlow held a number of house positions at MRI until he was appointed registrar in 1957. In 1959 he was awarded the Sybil Mary Pilkington Research Fellowship in Leukaemia at MRI, a position he held until 1969. Barlow was senior registrar in pathology to the United Manchester Hospitals from 1960 to 1962. He was locum consultant pathologist at Christie Hospital before being appointed consultant pathologist at Huddersfield Group Hospitals in 1965.
Barlow was a member of Manchester Medical Society , the Association of Clinical Pathologists and the British Society for Haematology.