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

paediatrics Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. 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, 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 Children NHS F ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, specialising in paediatric diabetes and paediatric endocrinology achieving a

Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education trad ...

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 John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR or the John Radcliffe) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe (physician) ...

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. In 2000, Dunger was appointed to

Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county to ...

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 Prader (December 23, 1919 – June 3, 2001) was a Swiss scientist, physician, and pediatric endocrinologist. He co-discovered Prader–Willi syndrome and created two physiological sex development scales, the Prader scale and the orchido ...

, the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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 rare genetic disorder caused by a loss of function of specific genes on chromosome 15. In newborns, symptoms include hypotonia, weak muscles, poor feeding, and slow development. Beginning in childhood, those ...

. 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 paediatric knowledge and is the hi ...

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