About
Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister of Lyme Regis, was Professor of Clinical Surgery at King’s College London from 1877 – 1893. Having developed his methods of antiseptic surgery at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, Lister brought ideas and techniques to King’s College Hospital which would prove foundational to subsequent conceptions and practice of surgery and medicine. Lister’s methods of promoting sterility of the surgical field before, during and after operation – his ‘system’ – evolved throughout his career and were grounded in antisepsis. They were paralleled and contested by practices which approached the problem by aiming for asepsis and cleanliness of surgical technique and environment.
In March 2012, King’s College London will be hosting a major conference on Lister’s life, methods and ideas, and will be examining both the significance of his techniques in their historical context, and the enduring impact that Lister has had on twentieth- and twenty-first-century medical and surgical practice. Marking the hundredth anniversary of Lister’s death, the conference will be of interest to academic historians, clinical and healthcare scientists and practitioners , bioscience, health policy and management professionals, and those with an interest in Lister, Listerism and the development of antiseptic surgery.
The conference will be run in association with the Royal Society and the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, and events will take place at both of these institutions and at the King’s College London Strand Campus.
Lister events
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
Celebrations of Lister's centenary are also taking place in Edinburgh in February 2012. Full details of the centenary celebration at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, including the programme, call for papers and surgical skills competitions are available on the Lister Centenary @ RCSEd web pages .
Please direct any queries regarding the Edinburgh celebrations to listercentenary@rcsed.ac.uk
Royal College of Surgeons of England
Lister 2012: A series of talks celebrating the life of Joseph Lister in the centenary of his death
http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums/events/lunchtime-lectures-and-evening-talks
Tuesday 21 February, 1pm
Lord Lister: the early years
Professor Harold Ellis
Considered by many as one of the greatest surgeons produced in the British Isles, Joseph Lister’s development of antiseptic surgery in the 1860’s - while still a young professor of Surgery in Glasgow - was based on careful experimental studies. He revolutionised surgical practice, heralding the dawn of modern surgery. Professor Harold Ellis examines the early influences on the man that created the surgeon.
£3, booking required.
Tuesday 06 March, 1pm
Carbolic, Casebook and Controversy
Sir Barry Jackson
Joseph Lister is famed for his introduction of antisepsis in surgery using carbolic acid. Using original manuscript material and paintings to be seen in the College, this illustrated lecture will describe how his epoch -making discovery was quickly adopted by country surgeons but either ignored or denied by London surgeons including Presidents of this College. The lecture will conclude with a surprise!
£3, booking required.
Tuesday 24 April, 1pm
Lister as a Pathologist
Professor Sir Roddy MacSween
Although he is most celebrated for his contribution to surgery, Joseph Lister was also an expert in pathology – the study of how disease affects the body. Leading pathologist Sir Roddy MacSween will discuss this aspect of Lister’s career in light of new research in the archives of the Royal College of Surgeons. Professor MacSween’s talk is lavishly illustrated with Lister’s watercolours and camera lucida images.
£3, booking required.
Booking Details:
Lunchtime lectures: £3
Free place plus guest to RCS members, fellows and Affiliates; free place for Hunterian Society members and medical students.
Live speech-to-text for deaf and hard of hearing visitors delivered by STAGETEXT.
telephone: 020 7869 6560
text relay: 18001 020 7869 6560
Hunterian Museum
Royal College of Surgeons
35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields
London WC2A 3PE
Tube: Holborn or Temple