Gavin Cranston Arneil

Gavin Cranston Arneil, who has died aged 93, was a pioneer in the treatment of children with kidney disease. He established the first specialist children’s kidney unit in the UK and went on to found national, European, and international paediatric nephrology societies. In the 1950s there was little that could be done to help children who had kidney failure, and most kidney disease was untreatable. Today it is very rare for children to die from kidney failure, and transplantation is very successful leading to virtually normal lives. Gavin Arneil was born in Glasgow. His father was a university senior lecturer and his mother an infant teacher. He was educated at Jordanhill College School and Glasgow University from 1940 to 1945, where he was a member of the Home Guard. He then did national service, including 18 months in charge of research at the War Office. He trained in paediatrics in Glasgow under the formidable James Hutchison. He was appointed as consultant to the city’s …