(Contributed by Thurain Tin and Dr Peter K. Tun)
Dr Nyun Tin was born in Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma) on 18th May 1937. He attended the St. Paul's Grammar School, coming first in the whole country for the university matriculation exams in 1952. He graduated in medicine with distinction from the University of Rangoon Medical School in 1959, and then worked in the Mandalay region and at the Rangoon General Hospital (RGH).
In 1964, he was selected as a State Scholar for post-graduate studies in the United Kingdom where he spent time training at the Brompton Hospital, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and City Hospital, and the Stockton and Thornaby Hospital. In 1966 he obtained his Memberships of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of Edinburgh (Respiratory Medicine and Tuberculosis) and Glasgow (General Medicine and Therapeutics). He also received the Warnock Prize for being the outstanding resident of the year.
Nyun returned to Rangoon in 1967 as a Senior Registrar and Lecturer at the RGH. From 1968-72, he served as a Consultant Physician to the Northern Command Hospital in Myitkyina. He was later promoted to become a Consultant Physician and Director of Thoracic Medicine at the Rangoon General Hospital in 1972, and as an Associate Professor in Medicine at the University of Rangoon.
He also held honorary posts as national delegate to the World Health Organisation (W.H.O.) South East Asian Region, on Medical Education and curriculum planning (1977-78), and W.H.O. Western Pacific Region, on planning a new University Teaching Hospital in Rangoon (1976-1979).
Nyun and his family moved to the UK in 1980. After a year in General Practice he took up the posts of Consultant Physician in Geriatric Medicine, and Senior Clinical Lecturer at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI), Leeds Teaching Hospitals and the University of Leeds. At LGI, he was instrumental in developing the Department for the Elderly Care and the opening of the Community Out-reach Day Hospital in South Leeds.
Nyun's extensive contribution to the literature included papers on bronchial carcinoma, asthma, supportive lung disease, pulmonary tuberculosis, thymectomy in selected cases of myasthenia gravis, tropical pulmonary eosinophilia, chylothorax in filarial infestation, aspergillosis, cerebral malaria, amoebiasis, Japanese encephalitis, cranial arteritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, Parkinson's disease, and angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (Captopril) trials.
In Geriatric Medicine, he had an interest in the neurological rehabilitation of the elderly, especially in the management of stroke and Parkinson's disease. An 18 months retrospective study on stroke patients requiring percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding was done in Leeds. Nyun also had a particular interest in prion protein diseases and CJD.
He retired from Leeds General Infirmary in 2000, but continued as a part-time locum Physician in Care of the Elderly at St. George's Hospital, London up to 2005.
He died of a heart attack on 8th April 2006 in Wimbledon, London. and is survived by his wife and three children.