Background
Tunstall Pedoe was the son of the academic mathematician and geometer, Daniel Pedoe, and Mary Tunstall.
Tunstall Pedoe was the son of the academic mathematician and geometer, Daniel Pedoe, and Mary Tunstall.
They attended King’s College, Cambridge, together. Dan studied at Street Bartholomew’s Hospital in London and earned a Doctor of Philosophy at Wolfson College, Oxford, studying the measurement of blood flow in the heart.
He is popularly known for his contributions to sports medicine, particularly his support of the
The twins were educated at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School, at the time located in Hampstead, and Dulwich College. He also spent a year in post-graduate study in California. Tunstall Pedoe was appointed as a cardiologist and general physician at Hackney Hospital in 1973.
Under his guidance, the cardiology unit developed into a busy and successful department, where he developed the ideas in his Doctor of Philosophy thesis into pioneering, non-invasive diagnostic techniques, using ultrasound to measure blood velocity.
He led the commissioning team for Homerton University Hospital, ensuring that it had links to its local community. He was committed to the National Health Service, using his hospital when he needed to and working almost wholly within the National Health Service. In addition to his clinical duties, Tunstall Pedoe chaired the hospital’s art committee, which brought modern works to display on its walls.
As a keen club runner, who had represented his university, and a cardiologist, he was recruited to set up medical support for the first in 1981, and stayed as unpaid Chief Medical Officer for 27 years. He gave strong support to the concept that the race should be open to public entry, not just to professional or amateur specialist runners and countered opposition based upon concern regarding the risks.
As a result, principles were established to keep safe all participants, irrespective of their sporting background.
These have been adopted internationally. In addition, Tunstall Pedoe gained funding to establish the London Sports Medicine Institute at Street Bartholomews Hospital. As well as an amateur runner, Tunstall Pedoe was also a keen astronomer, chess player and amateur photographer, specialising in macro pictures of wildlife.
His photographic work was displayed in health centres in Hackney.
Tunstall Pedoe died from a heart attack in London on 13 February 2015, having suffered from Parkinson"s disease.