Professor Gregory Stores
Gregory Stores, Professor of Developmental Neuropsychiatry at the University of Oxford, who contributed greatly to the understanding of epilepsy and sleep disorders, passed away on 21st December 2022.
Born in 1938 and raised in Stockport by parents William and Marion, Greg went to school at St Bede’s College where he became Head Boy and spent many happy hours of his youth in Stockport Library. His first degree was in Psychology, after which he went on to study Medicine at the University of Manchester. He not only excelled in his studies but also had a passion for athletics, competing in throwing events including the hammer up to County, Northern Counties and British Universities representative levels. After graduating in 1967 he worked in various hospitals across the North of England before moving to Oxford. Greg completed a Visiting Fellowship at Yale University Department of Neurology in 1974, and became a Consultant in 1976, working at the Park Hospital in Headington in both sleep disorder and epilepsy services for patients of all ages referred from throughout the United Kingdom, and was Director for the Oxford Regional Paediatric EEG Service. During this period his research grant total was in the region of £1m principally in support of studies in children’s sleep disorders. One of his most significant contributions to the diagnosis of childhood epilepsy was his introduction of ambulatory EEG in real life settings. This technique has become the worldwide standard for research and clinical investigation of epilepsy and sleep disorders in patients of all ages.
He was elected as Fellow of both the Royal College of Psychiatrists (1981) and the Royal College of Physicians (1983). He became Professor of Developmental Neuropsychiatry and Fellow of Linacre College at the University of Oxford in 1999 due to his extensive research and publications in epilepsy and sleep disorders. Greg taught undergraduate and postgraduate groups in medicine and allied disciplines. He both organised and was invited to be a keynote speaker at conferences around the world due to his international reputation and significant contribution in the field. He also made national and international television and radio appearances and press contributions. He authored many highly cited academic journal articles, and was an author and editor of several books including “A Clinical Guide to Sleep Disorders in Children and Adolescents” and “Sleep and its Disorders in Children and Adolescents with a Neurodevelopmental Disorder”, and wrote chapters in many more.
After retiring from clinical work, Greg continued to publish and was a Visiting Lecturer at Warwick Medical School and University College London’s Institute of Child Health. He completed a Postgraduate Certificate in History of Medicine at Oxford Brookes University and enjoyed often presenting at local history groups on such topics as “Maladies of Medieval Monks”, “The History and Folklore of European Witchcraft and Attempts to Combat its Influence” and “Charles Dickens as Social Reformer and Medical Observer”. Having lived in Dorchester on Thames for almost 40 years he had a fond relationship with the Abbey where he was a steward, regularly taking visiting groups on historical tours of the building. Greg has always had an interest in 17th century and earlier oak furniture, carvings and related items and had an eye for quality pieces as evidenced by his fine collection.
He will be greatly missed by his wife, Christina, four children, Adrian, Rebecca, Rachel and Alasdair, and four grandchildren, Beth, Abby, Kaya and Erin.
Obituary written by Dr Rachel Stores