Leonard Findlay

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Biography of Leonard Findlay

Leonard Findlay

Leonard Findlay (1878-1947) was the first Leonard Gow Lecturer on the Medical Diseases of Infancy and Childhood. He was the first person to hold the Samson Gemmell Chair of Child Health at the University and the first professor of child health in Britain. He was responsible for establishing, at Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow, the first university department of clinical paediatrics in Europe.

Findlay was born in Glasgow and educated at Allan Glen's then at the University. He graduated MB (1900) and MD (1904), both with commendation, and DSc (1912). Following resident hospital appointments, he worked in the pathological department of the Western Infirmary in Glasgow under Sir Robert Muir. He combined this with clinical work as assistant to Professor Samson Gemmell. Findlay's interest in the chronic disease of childhood rickets took him to Berlin where he carried out research under Heinrich Finkelstein, a leading figure in the field.

On his return to Glasgow, he worked in the outpatient department of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. He was appointed physician to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children when it opened at its new site at Yorkhill in 1914. This was followed by the University appointments of Lecturer in 1919 and Professor in 1924. He made a significant contribution to paediatrics becoming recognised as an important branch of undergraduate medical education. Clinical work and research continued to be important to Fleming. With Professor Noel Paton, he investigated the factors influencing child health and the results were published in the Medical Research Council publication Poverty, Nutrition and Growth in 1926.

Findlay left the University in 1930 and moved to London. He was appointed physician to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for Children. He set up a practice in rooms in Wimpole Street and developed his interests in the postgraduate education of young doctors. During the Second World War he was physician to the Children's Department of the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford.

Summary

Leonard Findlay
Physician and Paediatrician
Born 5 February 1878, Glasgow, Scotland.
Died 14 June 1947.
University Link: Alumnus, Lecturer, Professor
GU Degrees: MBChB, 1900; MD, 1904; DSc, 1912;
Occupation categories: paediatricians; physicians
Record last updated: 10th Apr 2015