Philip Lee, who died at the early age of 48, was a gifted physician who linked paediatrics and adult care for patients with inherited metabolic disorders. He qualified at Nottingham with honours in 1986, and after his preregistration year he joined a rotation in paediatrics in Cardiff. He had his first taste of research as a registrar in nephrology in Cardiff, after which he moved to the paediatric unit at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.

He then did the Merseyside paediatric registrar rotation, and it was during one post with Campbell Davidson that he was first exposed to children with inborn errors of metabolism. From there he moved to a research post at the Hospital for Sick Children, studying patients with glycogen storage disease, which remained a major interest. At the end …