Heinrich Willi

Heinrich Willi (4 March 1900 – 16 February 1971) was a Swiss pediatrician who specialised in neonatology and co-discovered Prader–Willi syndrome with Andrea Prader.

He completed a doctoral thesis in 1936 on childhood leukemia and in 1937 he became the director of neonatology in what is now the University Hospital of Zürich, remaining in the position until his retirement in 1970.

[1] He served as president of the Swiss Society of Paediatrics from 1959 to 1962 and was nominated for membership of the Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

[1] He is buried at the Fluntern Cemetery in Zurich with his wife Marie Louise, née Chuard (1904-1990).

He was among the first to recognise the potential for bone marrow aspiration to be used as a technique for diagnosing hematological diseases.