It is with great sadness that we farewell Robin Mortimer, “Morty” one of the icons of Australian endocrinology who recently passed away, aged 83.

Robin was born in 1940 in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, and came to Australia in September 1949, staying briefly in Brisbane before he and his family moved to Mackay, where his father worked as a medical laboratory scientist. Robin was educated at Mackay Central State School and then went on to board at Ipswich Grammar School. He completed his medical training at the University of Queensland in 1964, did his residency at the Royal Brisbane Hospital (RBH) in 1965-66 and then did a further two years’ residency in its Department of Pathology. Having completed his Membership of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, he moved to New York in 1973 as an Endocrine Fellow at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. In 1975 he was appointed as an attending physician at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Bronx Municipal Hospital where he worked until mid-1977. During this time, he developed his expertise in thyroid disease. In July 1977 he returned to the RBH to take up the position as Director of the Department of Endocrinology, a position he held until 2009. He also was a physician in the Nuclear Medicine Department, consulted to the Department of Pathology as well as being a visiting Endocrinologist to the Prince Charles Hospital and Royal Women’s Hospital. He recognised the importance of improving the care of patients in rural Queensland and developed a clinical endocrine service at the Bundaberg Base Hospital. In 2009 he was appointed to the position of Executive Director, Office of Health and Medical Research for Queensland Health, a position he held until his retirement in 2012.

Robin was the sole full-time clinical endocrinologist at the RBH until 1990. During that time, he typically attended up to seven clinics per week, as well as his inpatient workload. He visited the Royal Women’s Hospital where he developed the endocrine antenatal clinics resulting in a dramatic improvement in the care of pregnant women with diabetes, running a multi-disciplinary clinic with Dr Iain Livingstone, one of Australia’s first obstetric physicians, and Dr Richard Drake, a superb obstetrician. He helped to establish the thyroid cancer clinic in conjunction with his friend and colleague, Dr Roger Allison. This clinic oversaw the management of almost all patients with thyroid cancer requiring radioactive iodine therapy in Queensland for many years. He still managed to have time to foster his interest in clinical research developing the RBH Conjoint Internal Medicine Laboratory (CIML) in 1980 with his colleagues Dr Michael Ward (gastroenterology) and Dr Peter Craswell (Renal Medicine). Under his guidance, this small research centre developed an isolated, perfused placenta model to study placental transport and metabolism of thyroid hormones. His team was at the cutting edge of this important area of antenatal research and continues to undertake successful studies in this area. He supervised the PhD studies of 5 successful candidates who undertook research in this laboratory. As a result, he was appointed as a Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the University of Queensland in 1991, an interesting appointment for an Endocrinologist. In 2006, he was appointed a dual Professor of Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

He still had time to make a huge contribution to the culture of Australian medicine, medical education and medical research. He became a council member of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1993, serving on innumerable committees including as Chair of the Board of Censors from 1994-1998. He was Chair of the Adult Medicine Division in 1998-2000 and was elected President of the College in 2002. He served in several roles on the Committee of Presidents of Medical Colleges (1996 – 2004) and chaired the board of the Postgraduate Medical Education Council of Queensland (2004 – 2008). In 2004 he became a member of the Australian Medical Council (AMC) and was elected its President in 2012. He served on the Council of the Endocrine Society of Australia from 1996-1998 when he chaired the Medical Affairs Subcommittee. He was Executive Director of the Office of Health and Medical Research, Queensland Health (2009 – 2012) and, before he retired in 2018, he chaired the board of Brisbane Diamantina Research Partners (now “Health Translation Queensland”).

His contribution to Medicine was recognised in 2006 when he became an Officer of the Order of Australia for “services to medicine, particularly in the areas of education, training and accreditation, and to endocrinology as a clinician, academic and researcher”.

The over-riding impression of his colleagues of this icon of Australian Endocrinology is of a humble man who was dedicated to the care of his patients and his research, while balancing the importance of family life. He was typically the first person to arrive in the Department and the last to leave. Developing and supervising the CIML despite his heavy clinical load and administrative commitments was a major undertaking. He was extremely skilful in communicating with administrators and his colleagues to obtain the best outcomes for the projects he undertook. As a mentor, his support for Advanced Trainees within the Department was unquestionable. He enabled many trainees to progress their careers through overseas training, and many are themselves now eminent endocrinologists. Although Morty may have appeared intimidating to Basic Trainees doing trial exams as he peered over his half-moon glasses, his advice and guidance to candidates was always helpful. To members of the Department, clinical case discussions after the Thursday afternoon endocrine clinic were always a highlight of the week, with a small glass of sherry being an important component of the meeting, relaxing new registrars and residents. He fostered a culture within the Department that enabled vibrant clinical discussion and respect of ideas without fear of criticism, a culture that fortunately continues today. Robin was a voracious and eclectic reader, and his vast knowledge of cuisine and love of cooking also permeated the Department. The Wednesday morning antenatal endocrine clinic always had a break mid-clinic to discuss cases over home-made cakes provided on rotation by staff.

Robin was supported throughout his career by his devoted wife Iris – whom he met when he was a registrar – even though his commitments to the RBH, the College and elsewhere often took him away from home. He was also ably supported by his long-term administrative officer, Margaret Lewis, who was his AO from 1980 to 2009 and was always able to ensure that Robin was in the right place at the right time.

It was a great shame that his enjoyment of the latter years of his life was disrupted by an evolving neurological condition with its complications leading to his recent death. He had so much more to contribute to all our lives through his wisdom and mentorship. We have truly lost one of the greats of Australian medicine. Robin is survived by Iris and his two children, Catherine and Simon, and his grandson Euan.

Vale Morty.