June 28th is International PKU Day. The date has been designated International PKU Day since 2013. The date was chosen as June 28th coincides with the birthday of two PKU stalwarts; Robert Guthrie (1016 – 1995) and Horst Bickel (1918 – 2000).
This year the day held a special significance as it was the 100th anniversary of Horst Bickel’s birth. Horst Bickel was the pioneering German doctor who, together with colleagues at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, successfully treated a patient with PKU for the first time. Robert Guthrie is best known as the American microbiologist who developed the screening test for PKU.
Here in the NCIMD, we marked International PKU Day on Wednesday, June 27th at our PKU clinic. We had a host of fun activities for the children, including cupcakes and biscuit decorating, face painting, arts & crafts and a visit from our two Peata therapy dogs!
The theme for the day was the Mad Hatter’s PHE Party!
A great day was had by all !!
