Following on from his education at the High School of Dundee, Brian went onto study Medicine at the University of St Andrews, gaining his MBChB in 1970.
A little while later, Brian moved to Aberdeen to train in Renal Medicine. It was here that he completed his MD thesis on a novel form of vitamin D tailored to the needs of patients who suffered with kidney failure, and the debilitating effects on their bones as a result.
Prior to taking up a consultant post in Glasgow in 1979, Brian worked for a year in Melbourne, Australia. Although he accomplished a lot during his time abroad, the memories that he always recalled most fondly were those of his flatmates and the Mini Moke which he drove.
Upon returning to Scotland, Brian worked for the Western Infirmary in Glasgow and achieved many successes throughout his career. He introduced a new form of treatment called continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis and was very much key to its international development. Further to this, he swiftly adopted real-time ultrasound to make kidney biopsies safer and easier, as well as bringing computing to the Western Infirmary renal unit to ensure patient records were more complete and securely stored.
Further down the line, Brian established the Scottish Renal Registry and led comparative audit and peer reviews of the Scottish renal units. He also chaired the renal section of the joint committee for higher medical training of the Royal College of Physicians and sought to maintain standards throughout Europe through the Union of European Medical Specialists.
Fast forward to 1993 and Brian became instrumental in bringing to Glasgow for the first time the annual joint meeting of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association and the European Dialysis and Transplant Nurses’ Association. For him, it was a great professional success, for his family the meeting brought with it a sea of tartan conference bags that went on to take over their loft space.
Treating many hundreds of patients throughout his career, Brian afforded them all his characteristic care and attention. He has been fondly described as an invariably polite gentleman, but unafraid to stand his ground, as well as being kind and supportive to patients and fellow colleagues.
Possessing a fantastic sense of humour, Brian was a talented all-rounder who played cricket for Aberdeenshire. He was happiest in his garden or garage, where he had an enviable collection of tools; his family often considered him singlehandedly responsible for the continuing profitability of B&Q.
Brian’s first wife, Sheena, sadly died in a road traffic accident in 1972. In 1979, he married Liz; their children, Malcolm and Katie, and grandchildren, Holly and Verity, survive him along with his partner, Freda.
