RCP 500TH ANNIVERSARY
HISTORY OF MEDICINE LECTURES 2018
‘EDWARD JENNER (1749 - 2018)’
Thursday 20th September 2018
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6.00pm - welcoming drinks
6.30pm - lecture
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The lecture is free to attend but placed must be booked in advance. Please complete the form below or call 0151 709 9125 to book.
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Event to be Chaired by Clive Constable
Professor Gareth Williams explores the work and legacy of Edward Jenner.
Jenner is often described as the Father of Vaccination, the Founder of Immunology, and one of the most blessed saints in the history of medicine. In fact, he was none of those things, and is all the more fascinating as a result.
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Jenner's legacy lives on today through vaccination, one of the greatest revolutions in preventative medicine.
Paradoxically, he also helped to ensure the growth of the anti-vaccination movement, which was nurtured by the forced introduction of the practice, and by Jenner's own refusal to accept evidence of the shortcomings and risks of vaccination.
About the Speaker: Gareth Williams is professor of medicine and former Dean of Faculty at the University of Bristol (2003–2008). He was born in Glasgow and grew up in Belfast, later studying medicine at Clare College Cambridge and Middlesex Hospital, London, qualifying in 1977. Now emeritus professor of medicine and senior research fellow in English at the University of Bristol, he is also a full-time writer about the history of medicine and science, and still teaches on the Medical and Medical Humanities courses at Bristol.
He has written or co-authored over 20 books, including the Textbook of Diabetes (named BMA Book of the Year), and has contributed to more 30 others, including the Oxford Textbook of Medicine. He also writes general and humorous articles for a wider readership; his appearances on national and international radio and TV have related to the missed diagnosis of Squirrel Nutkin as well as anti-obesity pills, smallpox and polio.