Thomas Ernest Oppé

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(7 February 1925 – 25 June 2007) was an English

paediatrician Pediatrics (American and British English differences, also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, Adolescence, adolescents, and young adults. In the United King ...

and a professor of paediatrics at

St Mary's Hospital, London St Mary's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, wh ...

. He is regarded as a pioneer in children's health services and infant nutrition.

Early life

Oppé was born in 1925 in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

to Ernest Frederick, a banker, and Ethel Nellie (née Rackstraw). His paternal uncle was the historian and art collector

Paul Oppé Adolph Paul Oppé, (22 September 1878 – 29 March 1957) was a British art historian, critic, art collector and museum official. Born in London, the son of a silk merchant, he was educated at Charterhouse, the University of St Andrews, and New ...

. Tom Oppé attended

University College School ("Slowly but surely") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Mark Beard , r_head_label = , r_hea ...

, and went into banking at the age of 15. He left after six months, deciding that he would prefer to study medicine, and began his pre-clinical training at

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

in 1942. He was evacuated to

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the Weald, High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Roc ...

for much of the Second World War, and graduated with honours in 1947. He completed his national service as a surgeon lieutenant with the

Royal Navy Medical Service The Royal Navy Medical Service is the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for medical care. It works closely with Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service. History The history of the service can be traced back to 1692 when treatment for ...

, working mostly on board the aircraft carrier HMS ''Implacable''.

Career

Oppé had decided to pursue

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 ...

as a medical student. He completed a year as house physician at Guy's Hospital, although this was interrupted when he was hospitalised for nine months with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. He then moved to

Great Ormond Street Children's 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 ...

for two years and travelled to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

for a research fellowship. After two years at St Mary's Hospital as a paediatric registrar, in 1955 he was appointed a consultant paediatrician in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. In Bristol he worked alongside the

neonatology Neonatology is a subspecialty of pediatrics that consists of the medical care of newborn infants, especially the ill or premature newborn. It is a hospital-based specialty, and is usually practised in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The ...

pioneer

Beryl Corner Beryl Dorothy Corner Order of the British Empire, OBE (1910–2007) was a medical doctor and committed Christian who specialised in the paediatrics, care and treatment of children and pioneered neonatology – care of the newborn. She excelled a ...

, who would continue to influence him after he left Bristol. In 1960 he returned to St Mary's in London, where he would spend the rest of his career and was appointed a professor of paediatrics in 1969. Oppé had vast research interests, and the topics of his published articles included

premature Premature may refer to: * ''Premature'' (2014 film), an American comedy film * ''Premature'' (2019 film), an American romantic drama film * ''PREMature'', a 2015 British television drama miniseries See also * Premature aging, of an organism * P ...

infants,

hypoglycaemia Hypoglycemia, also called low blood sugar, is a fall in blood sugar to levels below normal, typically below 70 mg/dL (3.9 mmol/L). Whipple's triad is used to properly identify hypoglycemic episodes. It is defined as blood glucose belo ...

in infants,

infant respiratory distress syndrome Infantile respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS), also called respiratory distress syndrome of newborn, or increasingly surfactant deficiency disorder (SDD), and previously called hyaline membrane disease (HMD), is a syndrome in premature infants c ...

, the treatment of

rhesus disease Rh disease (also known as rhesus isoimmunization, Rh (D) disease, and blue baby disease) is a type of hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN). HDFN due to anti-D antibodies is the proper and currently used name for this disease as the ...

, and

vitamin D deficiency Vitamin D deficiency or hypovitaminosis D is a vitamin D level that is below normal. It most commonly occurs in people when they have inadequate exposure to sunlight, particularly sunlight with adequate ultraviolet B rays (UVB). Vitamin D defic ...

. His most cited work was on the nutrition of babies; he chaired a

Department of Health and Social Security The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. His ...

working party which produced a report in 1974 recommending that infants be

breastfed Breastfeeding, or nursing, is the process by which human breast milk is fed to a child. Breast milk may be from the breast, or may be expressed by hand or pumped and fed to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that bre ...

for the first 4–6 months of life, which came at a time when most British babies were being fed with

infant formula Infant formula, baby formula, or simply formula (American English); or baby milk, infant milk or first milk (British English), is a manufactured food designed and marketed for feeding to babies and infants under 12 months of age, usually prepar ...

s based on

cow's milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...

. He had a special interest in

Williams syndrome Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder that affects many parts of the body. Facial features frequently include a broad forehead, underdeveloped chin, short nose, and full cheeks. Mild to moderate intellectual disability is observed in people ...

after working with a Navy colleague whose child had the genetic condition. Oppé was an adviser to the government on many aspects of child health and nutrition, and was a key member of the committee that published the 1976 report "Fit for the Future", which outlined a plan for the provision of child health services. He was made a

in 1984 for his services to paediatrics.

Personal life

Oppé met his wife Margaret while he was working at Guy's Hospital, where she was a nurse. Together they had four children and fostered a daughter. He retired in 1990 and died on 25 June 2007, in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oppe, Tom 1925 births 2007 deaths British paediatricians English medical researchers Academics of Imperial College London Physicians of St Mary's Hospital, London People from Hampstead People educated at University College School Breastfeeding activists Scientists from London Commanders of the Order of the British Empire