Robert Aitken (dermatologist)

Aitken was born on 6 April 1888 in Edinburgh and was educated at Daniel Stewart's College.^[2] He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with an MB ChB in 1911. He then went to work as an assistant to a Dr Crerar in Maryport and before returning to the University to study dermatology under Norman Walker.

In the First World War he served as a physician to the Royal Navy on a hospital ship with the Mediterranean Fleet. During this period he received his doctorate (MD) in 1917. After the war he began working as a dermatologist at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where he remained for his entire career. From 1933 he began lecturing in dermatology at the University of Edinburgh. In 1945 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers included Douglas Guthrie, Ernest Wedderburn, and William Frederick Harvey.^[3]

He retired in July 1953 and died in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary of heart disease on 17 March 1954 following a period of ill-health.^[2]

• Ultra Violet Radiations and Their Uses
• The Problem of Lupus Vulgaris