Staff news

Walter Muir (1958–2009)

Professor Douglas Blackwood and Dr Benjamin Pickard remember Professor Walter Muir, Personal Chair in Developmental Psychiatry.

walter muir

Walter Muir was born in Edinburgh on 13 February 1958 and died on 1 September 2009.

A career in psychiatry

After graduating in pharmacology in 1980, Walter qualified MBChB from the University of Edinburgh in 1983.

He then trained in psychiatry at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, qualifying MRCPsych.

He was Senior Registrar in psychiatry at the MRC Brain Metabolism Unit before being awarded a MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship.

He then became Senior Lecturer in psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist (learning disability) with NHS Lothian.

He obtained a DSc and was appointed to a Personal Chair in Developmental Psychiatry.

Genetic risk research

Walter’s research was focussed on genetic risk factors underlying major mental disorders.

He initiated family genetic studies and investigated physiological biomarkers for disease.

He was one of the first to recognise the value of naturally occurring chromosomal abnormalities as signposts to the location of illness-related genes in psychiatry.

His sudden death was only a few months after he was awarded a Personal Chair.

He was looking forward to the next stage of applying his research to improving the lives of his patients and their relatives.

Notes

Douglas Blackwood is Professor of Psychiatric Genetics at the University.

Dr Benjamin Pickard worked with Walter at Edinburgh for 10 years.

A full version of this obituary will appear in the spring edition of Bulletin.