Why Dundee is the City of Discovery in more than just name

This medical research in the modern sense only became possible here thanks to the expansion of Dundee Royal Infirmary in the 1850s. Perhaps the most notable example of early clinical research was by Thomas Maclagan, who was Medical Superintendent at the infirmary in the 1860s.

During a major fever epidemic, he became one of the first to recognise the clinical value of thermometers, significantly reducing the mortality rate as a result. His most important work, however, was the research he carried out into the anti-rheumatic effects of salicin, a chemical extracted from willow bark. His work was taken up by German researchers who used salicin to develop acetyl-salicylic acid – better known today as aspirin.

Ninewells was at the forefront of innovation more recently. The first IVF “test-tube” baby in Scotland was born at the hospital in 1984, after the establishment of the Assisted Conception Unit by John Mills and Geoff James.

Most famous, of course, is the pioneering work led by Sir Alfred Cuschieri in the development, execution and clinical evaluation of minimal access (or laparoscopic) surgery. Prof Cuschieri’s surgical techniques have since been adopted internationally.

These are just some of the recent developments in a long story of medical innovation in Dundee, and many of these stories are told in the displays of the Tayside Medical History Museum at Ninewells, open to the public daily.