David Dunger (died 20 July 2021) was a British paediatric endocrinologist and chair of

paediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. Dunger was most notable for research into three areas, pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes and its complications, perinatal origins of risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes along with experimental medicine.

Life

Dunger undertook his clinical training at

Great Ormond Street Hospital Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospital ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, specialising in paediatric diabetes and paediatric endocrinology achieving a

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

on 1 January 1971. Dunger died on 20 July 2021.

Career

Between 1986 and 2000 Dunger was Consultant Paediatric Endocrinologist at the

John Radcliffe Hospital The John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe, an 18th-century physici ...

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. In 2000, Dunger was appointed to

Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campu ...

and at the same time took up the second Chair of Paediatrics at the

Awards and honours

In 2002, Dunger won the Research Award of the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology for conducting outstanding research in the field. In 2012, Dunger was awarded the Andrea Prader Prize, from the same society, in recognising his outstanding achievements in leadership, teaching and clinical practice in the field of pediatric endocrinology. The award was named in honour of

Andrea Prader Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ref ...

, the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

scientist,

pediatric endocrinologist Pediatric endocrinology (British: Paediatric) is a medical subspecialty dealing with disorders of the endocrine glands, such as variations of physical growth and sexual development in childhood, diabetes and many more. By age, pediatric endocrinol ...

, who discovered

Prader–Willi syndrome Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) is a genetic disorder caused by a loss of function of specific genes on chromosome 15. In newborns, symptoms include weak muscles, poor feeding, and slow development. Beginning in childhood, those affected become c ...

. In 2015, Dunger was awarded the

James Spence Medal James Spence Medal is a medal that was first struck in 1960, six years after the death of the paediatrician James Calvert Spence and is awarded for outstanding contributions to the advancement or clarification of Pediatrics, paediatric knowledge a ...

Bibliography

Dunger co-wrote these highly cited articles: * * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunger, David Year of birth missing 20th-century births 2021 deaths British paediatricians Alumni of the University of London Recipients of the James Spence Medal Academics of the University of Cambridge Academics of the University of Oxford British paediatric endocrinologists NIHR Senior Investigators