Otto Ullrich (1894-1957) was a German pediatrician who identified and named Ullrich syndrome.

Biography

After Otto Ullrich studied medicine in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, he served as an assistant physician in the

medical corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or staff corps, officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are exam ...

during World War I. Following the war, he worked at the

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

; with the chairman of

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

, professor

Meinhard von Pfaundler Meinhard von Pfaundler (name sometimes given as Meinhard Pfaundler von Hadermur); (7 June 1872 – 20 June 1947) was an Austrian pediatrician born in Innsbruck. He was the son of Leopold Pfaundler. In 1890 he began his medical studies in Innsbruck ...

(1872-1947). Ullrich was influenced by Pfaundler in his interest in

medical genetics Medical genetics is the branch of medicine that involves the diagnosis and management of hereditary disorders. Medical genetics differs from human genetics in that human genetics is a field of scientific research that may or may not apply to me ...

. In 1922 Ullrich served as director of the

policlinic A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...

and in 1929 achieved faculty status. In 1934 he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

as director of the National Centre to Combat

Infant Mortality Infant mortality is the death of an infant before the infant's first birthday. The occurrence of infant mortality in a population can be described by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the number of deaths of infants under one year of age ...

, a post for which knowledge of human genetics was a prerequisite. Ullrich, however, did not enjoy working under the political atmosphere in Berlin, and after six months, he shifted to

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

, as director of the Municipal Children's Hospital. In 1939 Ullrich was called to the chair of paediatrics at

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

and in 1943 he took up the position in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, where he remained until his death in 1957. Ullrich's achievements were honoured for excellence in medical genetics in 1991 by the establishment of the Otto Ullrich medal. The creation of this award was announced in the ''

American Journal of Medical Genetics ''American Journal of Medical Genetics'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal dealing with human genetics published in three separate sections (parts) by Wiley-Liss John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinati ...

'', in an edition which contained an editorial and several articles pertaining to Ullrich and his scientific achievements.

Hans-Rudolf Wiedemann Hans-Rudolf Wiedemann (February 16, 1915 - August 4, 2006) was a German pediatrician, University teacher, and autograph collector. __TOC__ Life Wiedemann was born in Bremen. His father was a medical practitioner. His mother came from a medical fa ...

, professor emeritus of the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

and Ullrich's former chief resident, rendered this account of his mentor's professional and personal attributes:

As physician, Ullrich was very broad based. At the bedside he was patient and was quickly to win the trust of the child. He examined very calmly and was an excellent observer with a capacity to take in the essentials of the case at a glance. The laboratory data were reviewed routinely but were never overemphasised, quite in the highly critical and analytical Munich spirit. His special ability to retain and to recall previous cases allowed Ullrich to make correct diagnoses with surprising ease. His rounds were as punctual as clockwork and very thorough, offering a wealth of information and experienced counsel, enriched by his critical perspective and pronounced distaste against hastiness, especially in therapy. This was not only a result of his Munich background but also reflected his personal inclination. As a human being Otto Ullrich had a gracious and noble personality, with a compelling glance and a care for moderation and compromise. Apart from professional contacts, Ullrich could be reserved with younger co-workers; however, when he was able to open himself to others he always engendered much joy."

References

German pediatricians Physicians from Munich 1894 births 1957 deaths German medical researchers {{Germany-med-bio-stub