Tony Frew was an eminent allergist, holding many key roles in its leading medical organisations, including secretary-general and president of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and at various times president, treasurer and secretary of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI).
Anthony James Frew was born on 24 April 1955 in Billericay, Essex, England, to James Mair Frew, a GP and Elsie (née Bullock), a staff nurse at London Hospital. Tony attended Temple Grove School from 1963 to 1968, one of the oldest preparatory schools in England (now closed), in the countryside north of Uckfield. Tony won the top scholarship to Westminster School (1968-73) and from there another scholarship to Peterhouse College, Cambridge University, gaining his medical degree in 1977. Although the scholarship was initially to study maths, he was able to switch to medicine, following his father, uncle and grandfather into the profession.
Training posts included senior house officer (SHO) in medicine in Nottingham from 1981 to 1984, registrar in chest medicine and cardiology from 1984 to 1986, and clinical lecturer at Brompton Hospital from 1986 to 1989. In 1983 he married Helen Elizabeth (née Smith), who became a GP and they went on to have four children.
His senior registrar role in respiratory medicine in Stoke-on-Trent from 1989 to 1992 was interspersed with a visiting scientist appointment at the University of British Colombia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada from October 1990 to September 1992, the latter to study occupational asthma from Western Red Cedar, a hazard of the timber industry.
Tony’s became senior lecturer in medicine at the University of Southampton in 1992, working with Professor Stephen Holgate, followed by a personal chair in 2001.
In 2005 a new chapter in Tony’s life opened up when he became one of the founders of the new Brighton and Sussex Medical School, taking up the joint roles of professor in allergy and respiratory medicine and consultant physician, and a leading role in the development of the school as a whole. In this he was joined by his wife Wendy Smith, the foundation professor of primary care and also head of the Division of Public Health and Primary Care at the new school.
Much in demand as a leader in his specialty, Tony was at various times secretary-general and president of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI); treasurer (twice), secretary and president of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI); and a member of the Professional Education and International Committees of The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI). He authored over 200 papers in his career and was also associate editor of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and Allergy.
His professional career was only part of the story. On his death, a tribute page set up by the BSACI included warm and heartfelt messages from patients, colleagues and friends mourning his loss and acknowledging the many ways in which he had helped and supporting them, even from people who had only worked with him for a few months. In the local Brighton newspaper The Argus, Tony’s colleague Christopher Corrigan said:
‘Outside of the academic sphere, Tony was blessed with many other talents of which many of his friends and colleagues may be unaware given that, above all, he was a gentle and meek person who was not in the habit of boasting or placing himself before anybody else.
‘He loved travelling and classical music, particularly opera, and was fluent in French, German and Italian. He loved country walks and wildlife and had, as any of his acquaintances who have put his talents to the test will confirm, an apparently infinite store of general knowledge. We will all miss his quiet smile, humour and gentle but firm application of concern and wisdom.’1
In 1997 Tony listed his hobbies as photography, sailing, golf and skiing, and later in Brighton became an instructor at the Brighton Scuba Club.
Tony committed suicide on 28 November 2018 following a short depressive episode, leaving Wendy and his children Edward and Georgina (both doctors), Sophie (a teacher) and Alex (working in marketing).
RCP editor
Sources/further reading
1 https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17459057.tributes-paid-royal-sussex-county-hospital-physician/ (Accessed 24 April 2023)
2 https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/367/bmj.l6652.full.pdf (Accessed 24 April 2023)
3 https://tony-frew.muchloved.com/ A tribute page set up for Tony by the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology (BSACI) (Accessed 24 April 2023)