Gavin Arneil

Gavin Cranston Arneil (7 March 1923 – 21 January 2018) was a Scottish paediatric nephrologist. At the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow, he established the first specialised unit in Britain for children with kidney disease.

Biography Gavin Arneil was born in 1923 in Bearsden, on the fringe of Glasgow. His father was a university lecturer and his mother was a teacher. Educated at Jordanhill School, Arneil went on to attend the University of Glasgow between 1940 and 1945, while also serving as a member of the Home Guard.

In 1961 at Dunfermline Abbey, Arneil married June Lauder. They had a daughter together, Marion.

Arneil died on 21 January 2018, aged 94.

Medical career Arneil joined the staff of Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children after graduating. He trained in paediatrics under the mentorship of James Holmes Hutchison, and was eventually appointed a consultant at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. He quickly developed an interest in nephrology and in 1950 he established a paediatric renal unit at Royal Hospital for Sick Children. and one of the first in Europe. Arneil's unit pioneered the use of cortisone, prednisolone and thiazides in paediatric renal conditions

Affiliations and memberships Arneil was a founding member of the European Society of Paediatric Nephrology in 1967. At the inaugural meeting of the American Society for Paediatric Nephrology in 1969, he was invited to present a guest lecture and was introduced as "the father of paediatric nephrology in Europe". He was also involved in the establishment of the International Paediatric Nephrology Association in 1974, serving as its secretary-general from its inception until 1983.

Works With Edinburgh paediatrician John Forfar, he authored Forfar and Arneil's Textbook of Paediatrics, first published in 1973 and in its eighth edition at the time of Arneil's death.

Awards and honors In 1983 he was awarded the St Mungo Prize, the highest civic award of the City of Glasgow.