Obituary: Professor George Russell; paediatrician and neonatal pioneer

Born: 2 July, 1936 Inch, Aberdeenshire. Died: 1 June, 2012, Aberdeen aged 75.

Professor George Russell was a founding member of several professional and clinical groups that set the standards of paediatric practice in Britain and abroad, including such bodies as the British Association for Perinatal Medicine, Paediatric Intensive Care Society, the British Paediatric Respiratory Society, the European Paediatric Respiratory Society, Scottish Children’s Asthma Group and the Scottish Cystic Fibrosis group.

Prof Russell was a true visionary, who was able to see the direction in which medical services for children were travelling and took a lead role in shaping the future of paediatric practice in the UK.

He qualified in medicine in 1959 and pursued postgraduate training in paediatrics. He trained under famous paediatricians, including Professor Ross Mitchell in Aberdeen and Professor Henry Kempe in Colorado, in the US, before returning to Scotland to take a lecturership at Aberdeen University and a consultant post in paediatrics at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.

In addition to his busy clinical responsibilities, he pioneered developments in neonatal intensive care and innovations in the ventilation techniques for the premature babies, starting a process that saw progressive developments in the treatment and survival of small premature babies.

Prof Russell realised the importance of optimum nutrition on the life chances of premature and sick newborns and showed an improved survival with lower morbidity upon introducing high-energy feeds. He also recognised the adverse effects of hypoglycaemia on the newborn and carried out an important research project in order to define the relationship between maternal gestational diabetes, hypoglycaemia and neonatal morbidity.

Prof Russell developed specialist services for children in the North-east of Scotland. In the 1970s, paediatric neurology services were limited to a handful of centres in the UK, but he did not shy away from the challenge of providing a specialist clinic for children with epilepsy. By doing so, he not only developed his own skills in paediatric neurology, but also those of his colleagues and trainees. Over a short period of time, he realised the intricate relationship between paediatric neurology and metabolic disorders.

Prof Russell assembled a team of a biochemist and a specialist dietician to join him in a comprehensive service for children with metabolic diseases that coincided with the introduction of the national newborn screening for phenylketonuria.

He also developed his interest in childhood headache into a clinical service and a research programme and he ran, probably, the first paediatric headache clinic in the UK that became a base for his future influential research on the epidemiology of migraine and the periodic syndrome.

His research in this area was most influential in persuading the International Headache Society to include abdominal migraine and cyclical vomiting syndrome as variants of childhood migraine in the second edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders in 2004.

As if paediatric neurology was not a big enough challenge for Prof Russell, he paid attention to the growing problem of asthma and the emerging treatments.

He carried out ground-breaking research showing with reliable data the real increase in the prevalence of asthma over 30 years in the childhood population of Aberdeen and other parts of Scotland, including the rural regions of the Highlands, dispelling the myth that its increased prevalence was largely due to urban lifestyle and pollution.

He translated his research interest in respiratory medicine into clinical practice. He realised the need for a paediatric respiratory laboratory in Aberdeen and raised funds to see the project through. He established a reliable service for children with cystic fibrosis (CF), helping children and their families to access all medical treatment, reviews and nutritional advice from a multidisciplinary clinic.

He took his successful experience in managing children with CF in Aberdeen to found and chair the Scottish CF group. His influence on the understanding and treatment of asthma is felt in Scotland, UK and beyond. In 2009 the British Paediatric Respiratory Society awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Over the whole of his career, Prof Russell was a focal point for many young doctors, who were inspired by his clinical acumen, research excellence and academic mind. He helped them to develop their careers and gain research-based postgraduate degrees. He gave his trainees time and effort they might not usually expect from any other supervisor.

His teaching style put him in continuous demand to lecture for undergraduate medical students, postgraduate programmes and also at national and international conferences.

Prof Russell added management responsibilities to his extensive portfolio of clinical work. He led the department of paediatrics at times of major NHS reforms and gained the confidence of his colleagues as an effective leader. He was often asked to join committees, produce reports and provide advice to Grampian Health Board and NHS Scotland. Even after his retirement he was often called upon to report on services that require development or redesign.

Prof Russell is survived by his wife Gillian, four children and three grandchildren.

ISHAQ ABU-ARAFEH