| Edward Osmund Royle Reynolds | |
| Honorific Suffix: | CBE, FRCP, FRCOG, FRCPCH, FMedSci, FRS |
| Birth Date: | 3 February 1933 |
| Birth Place: | Brighton, East Sussex, England |
| Field: | Pediatrics |
| Work Institutions: | University College Hospital University College London Middlesex School of Medicine |
| Alma Mater: | St Thomas' Hospital |
| Known For: | Research into fetal and neonatal lung formation. |
| Prizes: | CBE, James Spence Medal |
Edward Osmund Royle Reynolds, CBE, FRCP, FRCOG, FRCPCH, FMedSci, FRS (born 3 February 1933, in Brighton - died 24 April 2017), was a British paediatrician and Neonatologist who was most notable for the introduction of new techniques intended to improve the survival of newborns, especially those with respiratory failure, and for a series of papers regarding the value of techniques such as ultrasound imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and near infrared spectroscopy in determining the development and response to injury of the infant brain after birth.[1] [2]
Edmunds was the son of Edward Reynolds, a solicitor, and his wife, Edna (née Jones).[3] He was educated at St Paul's School, London, then qualified at St Thomas' Hospital in 1958, interrupting his course to study science with Henry Barcroft and Maureen Young.[4]
Reynolds was a world championship fencer, winning a bronze in the team event in the 1955 World Fencing Championships.
In 1962, Reynolds travelled to the United States as a research fellow with Dav Cook visiting both the Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. While there, they researched hyaline membrane disease. After a quick visit to Yale School of Medicine, Reynolds returned to the UK in 1964, taking an appointment at the Department of Paediatrics at University College Hospital in London, working under Professor Leonard B. Strang and to help him establish a unit to study the fetal and neonatal lung. This collaboration led to team which produced a series of remarkable reports on pathophysiology.[4]
Starting in 1976, Reynolds was appointed to the Chair in Neonatal Paediatrics at the University of London, becoming Emeritus in 1996. He was also Head of the Department of Paediatrics at University College London and the Middlesex School of Medicine from 1987 to 1992.
He also served as president of the Neonatal Society.
Reynolds was one of the first pioneers in imagining to appraise brain injury in children suffering from Hypoxia. He researched the condition in both piglets and lambs, and this research led to formation of a team, that was able to build a device that captured the first human phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.[5] [3] This led to Reynolds most important discovery, that brain cells didn't die after injury, but instead there was a period where the physician could intervene to repair the injury. This research led to the discovery of therapeutic hypothermia, that cooled the brain to reduce damage, a treatment that is standard for babies with brain damage.[3]
His awards include the
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1993.[7] [8] Reynolds was appointed a CBE in 1995 and elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1998.
From 1978 to 1992 he was Specialist Adviser to a House of Commons Health Select Committee and its predecessors, contributing to four reports:
The following papers were his most important.