Celebrating the life of Philip C. Robinson, MBChB, PhD, FRACP
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The rheumatology community recently lost physician and educator Philip Robinson, MBChB, PhD, FRACP, associate professor in the faculty of medicine at the Royal Brisbane Clinical Unit at the University of Queensland, in Australia.
He was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on June 9, 1979. He was 43 years old and is survived by his wife, Helen Tanner, and two sons, Tommy and Eddie.
“Phil was so many things,” David Liew, MD, consultant rheumatologist and clinical pharmacologist at Austin Health, in Melbourne, Australia, and close friend of Robinson’s, told Healio. “Of course, he had a brilliant mind, and could conceptualize boldly and with outrageous clarity.”
Robinson completed his medical training at the University of Otago in New Zealand before moving on to specialty training in general and acute care medicine and rheumatology in Wellington and Dunedin, also in New Zealand.
Robinson additionally completed a PhD course in human genetics at the University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, along with a postdoctoral fellowship at the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland.
At the time of his passing, Robinson carried affiliations at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in Herston, Queensland, and St. Andrew's War Memorial Hospital in Spring Hill, Australia.
However, perhaps his most remarkable achievement, ultimately, will be co-founding the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance (GRA), where he served as chair of the steering committee.
“He was a prolific researcher, publishing 45 papers on COVID-19 in rheumatic disease through the GRA in the last 3 years,” Jinoos Yazdany, MD, MPH, vice chair of real-world data infrastructure for the GRA, told Healio. “This research filled an information void for people with rheumatic diseases and rheumatologists during the pandemic.
“The words that best describe Phil are enthusiastic, collaborative, and visionary,” she added. “When any member of the GRA had a project idea, no matter how ambitious, his usual response would be ‘fantastic.’ He believed people could do great things, found resources to support them, and cheered them to success.”
Rebecca Grainger, PhD, MInstD, professor of medicine at the University of Otago, in Wellington, and a rheumatologist at Hutt Hospital, said she has known Robinson for some 15 years, and closely in the last decade.
“On reflecting on his professional life, what I note most strongly is his positivity, warmth, boundless energy and commitment to excellence,” she said. “With these attributes, he was an excellent rheumatologist, researcher and leader.”
This enthusiasm was fueled by his personality, according to Grainger.
“He was also a lot of fun — witty, knowledgeable and loved a good yarn,” she said. “I always enjoyed catching up over a meal or a beer whenever we could.”
Nicola Dalbeth, MBChB, MD, FRACP, FRSNZ, a professor at the University of Auckland, in New Zealand, spent significant time with Robinson as a research collaborator, Royal Australasian College of Physicians committee member, meeting organizer and fellow academic rheumatologist. She recalled Robinson’s time as a student in New Zealand.
“I first met him as a rheumatology registrar around 2009,” she said. “It was wonderful to watch him develop over this time from a rheumatology trainee in New Zealand starting his research journey to a world-leading clinician researcher.”
Dalbeth’s comments on Robinson’s personality and work habits echoed those voiced by Grainger.
“I greatly admired his energy, humor, support of junior colleagues, and ability to bring together colleagues from around the globe to improve the lives of people with rheumatic diseases,” she said. “I will miss catching up for dinner at a rheumatology meeting or getting an email message with a clinical query, research idea, podcast suggestion, or note of encouragement.”
The pandemic did little to dampen Robinson’s enthusiasm for the specialty, according to Dalbeth.
“His work with the COVID registry will be well known to you and covered by others who also worked with him on the GRA,” she said.
Dalbeth added that Robinson’s work is likely to carry on in the scientific and rheumatology communities far beyond the pandemic.
“I would also highlight his innovative research in gout over many years, which focused on improving outcomes for people with gout,” she said. “This continued during the pandemic, with his work showing that gout was an under-recognized risk factor for poor outcomes following COVID-19 infection. Throughout his career, he was a great advocate for improved quality of care for people with gout.”
Robinson’s other research interests included axial spondyloarthritis.
“Phil really enjoyed the research process,” Yazdany said. “He loved discussing new project ideas, was an avid writer, and a sought-after collaborator.”
Research was not Robinson’s only area of focus, though, as he was also involved in clinical practice.
“Even though he was very active in research, he loved being a rheumatologist and had a busy clinical practice,” Yazdany said.
For Liew, however, Robinson’s most enduring traits will be his personality and the impact he had on others — as a colleague, as a mentor and as a friend.
“He had an amazing capacity to inspire others, and to spark their self-belief,” he said. “So many of us are the beneficiaries of all of that.
“More than all that, though, he was my very good friend, who cared deeply about those around him in a way devoid of self-interest,” Liew said. “That is how I hope he will be remembered, as someone who gave of himself freely and deeply to others, without any expectation in return, but just the hope he could lift them up. He was an incredible mentor, and I am so much more for his impact on my life.”
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