Peter Copeman | |
---|---|
Born | 9 April 1932 London |
Died | 13 July 2018 (aged 86) |
Nationality | British |
Education | Eton College, Cambridge University |
Medical career | |
Profession | Physician |
Sub-specialties | Dermatology |
Peter William Monckton Copeman FRCS (9 April 1932 – 13 July 2018) was an English dermatologist known as "Dr Spot" by his colleagues. He was consultant physician at Westminster Hospital and consulting dermatologist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He treated many celebrities and also helped modernise Qatar’s medical services. He authored over a hundred peer-reviewed articles and pioneered research on allergic vasculitis and malignant melanoma.
Outside medicine, he co-founded the Game Conservancy, where he arranged the regeneration of the British grey partridge.
Peter Copeman was born in London on 9 April 1932, the son of William Copeman CBE, a pioneering rheumatologist, and his wife Helen. His grandfather was Sydney Copeman who worked on the refinement of Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine. [1]
He was brought up in Hampstead and educated at Rottingdean Preparatory School in East Sussex, which was evacuated to the Cornish countryside during the Second World War. Subsequently, he attended Eton College, where he demonstrated skill at shooting and during his final year, was captain of the Eton shooting eight at Bisley. [1]
He completed his undergraduate medical studies at the University of Cambridge before gaining admission to St Thomas' Hospital, London, and qualifying in medicine. He was awarded a gold medal for his PhD thesis on vasculitis and was awarded membership of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), in January 1962 when the pass rate was less than 6%. [1]
Copeman originally planned to work in ophthalmology but transferred to dermatology after he was noticed for writing a paper on styes for The Lancet. [1]
He authored over a hundred peer-reviewed articles and pioneered research on allergic vasculitis. He instituted immunofluorescence and electron microscopy in research in skin disease and paid particular attention to malignant melanoma. [2] Subsequently, he travelled to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota where he worked alongside Terence Ryan and eminent Dutch dermatologist Rudi Cormane. [1] He later published, with Ryan, a classic paper on "The problems of classification of cutaneous angitis with reference to histopathology and pathogenesis". [3]
In 1965, at a time when leading surgeon Harold Ellis was at Westminster Hospital, Copeman, frequently known as "Dr Spot" by his colleagues, was appointed consultant physician. [1] "He [Copeman] always wore a spotless white coat over a waistcoat and tie, striding the wards with a crocodile of registrars, students and nurses trailing behind." [1]
In the 1970s and 1980s, he helped modernise Qatar's medical services, frequently visiting Qatar as the guest of the Emir. In addition, he had a private practice in Sloane Street. [1]
Between 1991 and 2013, he was the British Association of Dermatologists Willan Librarian. [4]
Until retirement, he was a consulting dermatologist at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London [2] and known for treating high profile personalities including Madonna and Diana, Princess of Wales. [1]
In 1973, he married Lindsey Brims, who was 16 years younger and whom he had met at a ball at Sorn Castle, Ayrshire a year earlier. They had four children. [1]
As chairman of the wine committee at the Athenaeum, he persuaded Eduardo Paolozzi to design the club's wine labels. [1]
He had an appreciation for field sports and was a co-founder of the Game Conservancy, which led him to purchase a 200-acre estate in Abshield near Morpeth, Northumberland, in the 1980s, where he arranged the regeneration of the British grey partridge. [1] The resulting re-landscaping, wildlife corridor hedgerows and several ponds were acknowledged in the finals of the Laurent-Perrier conservation awards, [1] which ran annually by Laurent-Perrier Champagne (UK) Ltd between 1986 and 1998, and was subsequently taken over by James Purdey & Sons. [5]
Copeman died due to a series of strokes. [1]
Contact dermatitis is a type of acute or chronic inflammation of the skin caused by exposure to chemical or physical agents. Symptoms of contact dermatitis can include itchy or dry skin, a red rash, bumps, blisters, or swelling. These rashes are not contagious or life-threatening, but can be very uncomfortable.
Acral lentiginous melanoma is an aggressive type of skin cancer. Melanoma is a group of serious skin cancers that arise from pigment cells (melanocytes); acral lentiginous melanoma is a kind of lentiginous skin melanoma. Acral lentiginous melanoma is the most common subtype in people with darker skins and is rare in people with lighter skin types. It is not caused by exposure to sunlight or UV radiation, and wearing sunscreen does not protect against it. Acral lentiginous melanoma is commonly found on the palms, soles, under the nails, and in the oral mucosa. It occurs on non-hair-bearing surfaces of the body, which have not necessarily been exposed to sunlight. It is also found on mucous membranes.
A seborrheic keratosis is a non-cancerous (benign) skin tumour that originates from cells, namely keratinocytes, in the outer layer of the skin called the epidermis. Like liver spots, seborrheic keratoses are seen more often as people age.
A dermatofibroma, or benign fibrous histiocytomas, is a benign nodule in the skin, typically on the legs, elbows or chest of an adult. It is usually painless.
Actinic keratosis (AK), sometimes called solar keratosis or senile keratosis, is a pre-cancerous area of thick, scaly, or crusty skin. Actinic keratosis is a disorder of epidermal keratinocytes that is induced by ultraviolet (UV) light exposure. These growths are more common in fair-skinned people and those who are frequently in the sun. They are believed to form when skin gets damaged by UV radiation from the sun or indoor tanning beds, usually over the course of decades. Given their pre-cancerous nature, if left untreated, they may turn into a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. Untreated lesions have up to a 20% risk of progression to squamous cell carcinoma, so treatment by a dermatologist is recommended.
Dermatopathology is a joint subspecialty of dermatology and pathology or surgical pathology that focuses on the study of cutaneous diseases at a microscopic and molecular level. It also encompasses analyses of the potential causes of skin diseases at a basic level. Dermatopathologists work in close association with clinical dermatologists, with many possessing further clinical training in dermatology.
Dermatoscopy also known as dermoscopy or epiluminescence microscopy, is the examination of skin lesions with a dermatoscope. It is a tool similar to a camera to allow for inspection of skin lesions unobstructed by skin surface reflections. The dermatoscope consists of a magnifier, a light source, a transparent plate and sometimes a liquid medium between the instrument and the skin. The dermatoscope is often handheld, although there are stationary cameras allowing the capture of whole body images in a single shot. When the images or video clips are digitally captured or processed, the instrument can be referred to as a digital epiluminescence dermatoscope. The image is then analyzed automatically and given a score indicating how dangerous it is. This technique is useful to dermatologists and skin cancer practitioners in distinguishing benign from malignant (cancerous) lesions, especially in the diagnosis of melanoma.
Granuloma annulare (GA) is a common, sometimes chronic skin condition which presents as reddish bumps on the skin arranged in a circle or ring. It can initially occur at any age, though two-thirds of patients are under 30 years old, and it is seen most often in children and young adults. Females are two times as likely to have it as males.
Pemphigoid is a group of rare autoimmune blistering diseases of the skin, and mucous membranes. As its name indicates, pemphigoid is similar in general appearance to pemphigus, but, unlike pemphigus, pemphigoid does not feature acantholysis, a loss of connections between skin cells.
Teledermatology is a subspecialty in the medical field of dermatology and probably one of the most common applications of telemedicine and e-health. In teledermatology, telecommunication technologies are used to exchange medical information over a distance using audio, visual, and data communication. Applications comprise health care management such as diagnoses, consultation, and treatment as well as (continuous) education.
A variety of health effects can result from tattooing. Because it requires breaking the skin barrier, tattooing carries inherent health risks, including infection and allergic reactions. Modern tattooists reduce such risks by following universal precautions, working with single-use disposable needles, and sterilising equipment after each use. Many jurisdictions require tattooists to undergo periodic bloodborne pathogen training, such as is provided through the Red Cross and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Wallace H. Clark Jr. was an American dermatologist and pathologist. He is best known for devising the "Clark's level", or Clark Level, system for classifying the seriousness of a malignant melanoma skin cancer based on its microscopic appearance.
John M. Edwards M.S., F.R.C.S is an English physician who is the Hunterian Professor of Surgery at St Thomas' Hospital in London
George Hector Percival FRSE FRCPE (1902–1983) was a British dermatologist, academic author and president of the British Association of Dermatologists.
Cicely Pearl Blair FRCP was a British dermatologist. She discovered that people who had albinism did not get blackheads, as they did not produce melanin, the pigment that makes the comedones black. She also wrote about rashes caused by brown-tailed moth caterpillars. After her retirement, she turned her hand to art and especially silver smithing, fashioning a "chain of office" for the president of the British Association of Dermatologists.
Arthur James Rook FRCP was a leading British dermatologist and the principal author of Rook's Textbook of Dermatology (1968), known as "Rook's", which reached its ninth edition in 2016.
Ian Wesley Whimster MRCPath was a reader of dermatology histopathology at St Thomas' Hospital, London. He gained international recognition for his study of comparative anatomy and experiments with reptiles, particularly observing their colour patterns in relation to their nerve supply. He was part of the medical student team that went into Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945, after it was liberated by British troops. On return, he made numerous contributions to dermatology, including the definition of keratoacanthoma, the distinction between pemphigus and pemphigoid and descriptions of melanocytes and malignant melanoma. He died in a road traffic accident at the age of 55.
Walter Freudenthal was a German-Jewish dermatologist who gave the earliest clear histopathological description of keratoma senile in 1926 in Breslau. In 1933, he moved to London to escape the Nazi regime and worked as a dermatopathologist at University College Hospital (UCH) in London where he coined the term keratoacanthoma in the 1940s.
Anne-Charles Lorry was a French physician who pioneered in psychiatry and dermatology. He has been called the founder of French dermatology and in his 1777 treatise, he described 115 skin diseases, grouping them into 14 classes.
Günter Burg is a German dermatologist. Born in Mayen, Germany, he holds German and Swiss citizenship. He has been married to Dr. Doris Burg-Nicklas, a neurologist, since 1968. They have two sons: Andreas and Thomas.