Newcastle University

1751 - The first ‘real’ hospital opens in Newcastle, the Infirmary on Forth Banks.

1831 - T M Greenhow, eminent surgeon, gives his paper - the "Expediency of Establishing in Newcastle an Academical Institution of the Nature of a College or University for the Promotion of Literature and Science" - to the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne.

1832 - Dr George Fife, Dr Samuel Knott, Mr John Fife, Mr Alexander Fraser, Mr Henry Glassford Potter and Mr Duncan McAllum commenced sessions of medical instruction in rooms at Bell's Court, Pilgrim Street.

1834 - The Newcastle upon Tyne School of Medicine and Surgery commences courses officially at the Worshipful Company of Barber-Surgeons in the Manors area of town, adjoining the Jesus Hospital (now leased by the National Trust).

It is widely accepted that 1st October was the founding date of the officially recognised School under the leadership of John Fife who had played a key role in securing "handsome donations".

1847 - The Barber-Surgeons Hall is demolished to make room for the North Shields and Berwick railway.

1850 - Dr Embleton starts negotiations with Durham University for the medical school to become a college of Durham University.
1851 - Foundation stone is laid for a new Barber-Surgeons Hall at Victoria Street, Rye Hill. Dissent between lecturers results in a split in the School with Sir John Fife and followers taking up residence in the new Rye Hill building and Dr Dennis Embleton and his supporters remaining in the Gardener's House in the Manors area of the City. Both colleges commence lectures on 1st October with debate raging in national journals.
1852 - Agreement about the constitution for the new School is reached and the majority school is renamed the Newcastle upon Tyne College of Medicine in Conjunction with Durham University. That same year it moves into Westmoreland House, which was extended into the orchard and which later gave the name to Orchard Street when the building was knocked down by the Railway Company to extend the station.
1854 - John Snow makes the connection between Cholera and water. (In 1827, at the age of 14 years, John Snow had become an apprentice to William Hardcastle, a surgeon-apothecary in Newcastle upon Tyne. During this time, he “walked the wards” of Newcastle Infirmary and had worked in Killingworth in 1831 when cholera first arrived in England.)
1856 - The University of Durham Licence in Medicine is first awarded, followed two years later by the MB; the first MD was taken in 1861.
1857 - The academic advantage of the links to Durham opens the road for negotiations and eventual reconciliation of the two Newcastle colleges.

1867 - First General Medical Council inspection of Newcastle medical students.

1870 - Formal recognition of the College as ‘University of Durham College of Medicine’. Dr Denis Embleton becomes the first Professor of Medicine.

1871 - College of Physical Science, later Armstrong College, is established in the cellars of Wood Hall (now the Mining Institute) and adjoining the College of Medicine.

1879 - An additional student intake of 60 establishes Newcastle as the largest provincial school of medicine in England.

1883 - Extension to Central Station is announced, ensuring the future demolition of the School at Orchard Street, which was overcrowded.

1887 - Architects commissioned to build a new School at Bath Street, later named Northumberland Road. The foundation stone is laid on 3rd November 1887 by the Duke of Northumberland. The building cost £31,000, with North Eastern Railway Company paying £18,000.

1888 - The new medical school in Northumberland Road is opened.

1898 - The first female doctors graduate from the Medical School.

Grace Billings - one of the first female graduates

1900 - Foundation stone of the new Infirmary (later called the Royal Victoria Infirmary) is laid by the Prince of Wales.

1906 - King Edward VII opens the new Royal Victoria Infirmary, the Armstrong Building and an extension, "new wing", to the Medical School in Northumberland Road.

The Armstrong Building under construction - 1890s

1924 - Frederick Pybus (alumnus), Surgeon, publishes in the Lancet on his attempt to cure diabetes by pancreatic transplantation.

Frederick Pybus

1934 - Royal Commission is set up to investigate the merger of Armstrong College and the Medical College. This is announced a year later resulting in the establishment of King's College.

100th Anniversary of the founding of the Medical School

1937 - The Office of Dean of Medicine is created, with R. B. Green, Professor of Anatomy, being the first appointed (until 1960).
1939 - King George VI opens the new Medical School on Queen Victoria Street, opposite the Royal Victoria Infirmary. The site was deemed highly appropriate for the new building as it was so close to the hospital. A donation of £100,000 was made by Sir Arthur Sutherland to support this development.

King George VI building

1942 - The first Chair in Child Health in the UK is established and held by James Spence (alumnus) (MB BS, 1914).

James Spence

1947 - ‘Thousand Families’ Study commences.

More information on the Thousand Families website.

1000 Families Study logo

1960 - Professor A.G.R. Lowdon becomes Dean of Medicine, sadly dying in office in 1965.
1962 - The Goodenough Committee on Medical and Dental Education highlights critical issues in medical and dental teaching in the post war years, leading to the establishment of a Curriculum Review Committee which introduced an integrated curriculum with early clinical exposure for new medical students during their study of basic medical sciences. The first cohort to experience this commences in 1962 - 1963. Newcastle is the first medical school in the UK to pioneer this American approach to the medical curriculum.
1963 - Dissolution of the Federal College of Durham University resulting in the establishment of Newcastle University independent from Durham University, with the Medical School continuing its allegiance to the City of Newcastle upon Tyne.

1965 - Professor Henry Miller, charismatic Neurologist, becomes Dean, later resigning his post to become Vice-Chancellor in 1968.

1966 - Professor George Smart, Professor of Medicine, appointed Dean (until 1971) and becomes much involved in designing the current medical school site. Received a knighthood in 1978.

1971 - Professor John Walton becomes Dean of Medicine (until 1981).

Further curriculum review occurs.

1979 - The MRC Neurochemical Pathology Unit is set up at Newcastle General Hospital, under the directorship of Professor Jim Edwardson, later to grow into the Campus for Ageing and Vitality and home to the Institute for Ageing and Health.

1981 - Professor David Shaw takes over as the Dean of Medicine (until 1989).

Graduation of first medical students under revised curriculum.

1984 - Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother opens the new Medical School on the Framlington Place site, near to the Dental School and Royal Victoria Infirmary, vacating the King George VI Building.

1986 - First female Professor appointed, Professor Pat Kendall-Taylor, Chair in Endocrinology.

1988 - A link between incidence rates of Alzheimers and exposure to aluminium in water supplies is discovered in Newcastle.
1988-89 - Kenneth Clarke, Secretary of State for Health, lays stone of new ward at the Royal Victoria Infirmary. It is the largest expansion of any hospital in the North, and includes three departments of the Medical School.
1989 - Novocastra Laboratories Ltd. is formed by Wilson Horne and his colleagues. It quickly becomes a world-leading manufacturer of antibodies, probes and kits used primarily in cancer detection and characterisation.
Professor Alex Crombie takes over as the Dean of the Medical School (until 1995).

1990 - The William Leech Chair of Primary Care is established with Roger Jones its first incumbent.

1994 - Lord and Lady Ridley lay the foundation stone on the new Yellow Brick Road Childrens Medical Research Centre on the Royal Victoria Infirmary site.

Further curriculum Review

1995 - Professor George Alberti becomes Dean of Medicine (until 1997).

1997 - Professor Peter Baylis becomes Dean of Medicine (until 2004).

1998 - Partnership with University of Durham is re-established and approved by the Department of Health and the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Hospitals Trust is established, fostering even stronger links with the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

1998 - 99 - A computer system developed at Newcastle University by Ian Purves becomes the world’s first national prescribing system for doctors, following adoption by the government.

1999 - The Cancer Research Campaign-Wolfson Foundation Medicinal Chemistry Unit opens within the School of Chemistry – now housing the Cancer Research UK, Medicinal Chemistry Group of the Northern Institute for Cancer Research.

The Wolfson Research Centre is opened at the Newcastle General Hospital as the headquarters of the Institute for Ageing and Health, the first of a series of new facilities which would become the research quarter of the Campus for Ageing and Vitality

2000 - International Centre for Life opens and houses the Faculty’s Institute of Human Genetics and the Newcastle Fertility Centre, moving from the Royal Victoria Infirmary, and opened by Professor Lord Robert Winston.

International Centre for Life

Newcastle University achieves the Sunday Times ‘University of the Year’ Award.

2001 - Research Assessment Exercise results are published, giving Newcastle an exceptional standing in all eight “medical” subject domains addressed (rated 5 or 5*).

Professor Mark Birch-Machin discovers a link between exposure to sunlight and damage to DNA that is found in mitochondria, which provide energy for the cell. He establishes Genesis Genomics Inc., a successful company which specialises in research into mitochondria DNA bio-markers and the early detection and prevention of cancers and other medical conditions.

First intake of students under the new arrangements with Durham University is admitted, with approximately 30% of the Medical School intake undertaking their first two years of study at Durham University’s Queen’s Campus at Stockton.

2002 - The Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology is opened after an £8M investment into the Medical School. It is now the home to The Institute of Neuroscience.

The Northern Genetics Knowledge Park opens in the International Centre for Life, with funding of over £10M over five years, enabling the University to draw on its research strengths in the fields of cancer, ageing and human development.

2003 - Human embryonic stem cells capable of reproducing themselves under laboratory conditions are produced by the multi-disciplinary University-NHS team based at the Centre for Life.

2004 - The Paul O’Gorman Building opens and becomes home for the Northern Institute of Cancer Research.

The Henry Wellcome laboratories were opened at the Campus for Ageing and Vitality, providing a home for biogerontology research within the Institute for Ageing and Health.

Newcastle University gains a licence allowing it to carry out somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Newcastle upon Tyne designated as one of six English Science Cities to encourage innovation and economic growth. It is made possible through a partnership between Newcastle University, Newcastle City Council and One NorthEast.

Professor Oliver James becomes Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Medical Sciences (until 2008).

2005 - Opening of new £4.5M Clinical Research Facility on the fourth floor of the Leazes wing, Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Researchers in the Institute of Human Genetics create the world’s first cloned human blastocyst.

2006 - Opening of the Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre at the Campus for Ageing and Vitality - by Professor Colin Blakemore, CEO of the Medical Research Council.

Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre

2007 - 60th birthday of the Thousand Families Study participants celebrated with a civic reception hosted by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle. Press release

2008 - Professor Chris Day appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Medical Sciences.

Opening of the Edwardson Building, which replaced the MRC Neurochemical Pathology Unit , and the Clinical Ageing Research Unit, a purpose built facility for clinical trials with older people, both at the Campus for Ageing and Vitality, results in a complex of related complementary facilities on the Campus representing an investment in excess of £30M.

Work begins on a new £30M building on the old brewery site to house the Centre for Bacterial Cell Biology, and the Institute of Health and Society. The former aims to answer fundamental questions about bacterial cells - how they develop and how they can be controlled - including MRSA and Clostridium Difficile.

2009 - Sir Bobby Robson dies aged 76 after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Through his charity, he raised £1.2M to help fund cancer research and diagnosis in the North including ‘The Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre’ at the Freeman Hospital site.

1st October 2009
175th Anniversary of the Medical School.

First intake of Malaysian students at Newcastle University. In 2011 they will move to the newly-completed NUMed Malaysia campus situated in, Johor, Malaysia. Visit NUMed website

Artist impression of NUMed Lecture Theatre