Charles Smart Roy (21 January 1854 - 4 October 1897) was a British professor of

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

who worked at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

. Roy was born at Arbroath, Forfarshire to Adam Roy, a shipowner. His early education was at his birthplace of Arbroath and later at St. Andrews. He studied medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, graduating with distinction in 1875 and joining as a Resident Physician at the

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, or RIE, often (but incorrectly) known as the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, or ERI, was established in 1729 and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest v ...

He moved to the Brown Institution in London to conduct research in the physiological aspects of pleuro-pneumonia. During the Turko-Serbian war of 1876 he was in charge of a hospital at

Janina Ioannina ( el, Ιωάννινα ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus, an administrative region in north-western Greece. According to the 2011 census, the c ...

in Turkey. After the war he went to Berlin to study under

Emil du Bois-Reymond Emil Heinrich du Bois-Reymond (7 November 181826 December 1896) was a German physician and physiologist, the co-discoverer of nerve action potential, and the developer of experimental electrophysiology. Life Du Bois-Reymond was born in Berlin a ...

and

Rudolf Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow (; or ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder ...

working on aspects of heart physiology. He obtained an M.D. from Edinburgh with a gold medal. He was invited to the Strasburg Physiological Institute where he worked with F.L. Goltz on blood circulation before moving to

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

in 1879 where he worked under Julius Cohnheim. In 1880 he moved to Cambridge as George Henry Lewes' student, working in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Foster. He taught advanced physiology to students. He succeeded Dr W.S. Greenfield as the director of the Brown Institution. In 1884 he was elected professor of pathology at the University of Cambridge and

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...

. He worked with others at the Pathological Laboratory such as

Charles Scott Sherrington Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (27 November 1857 – 4 March 1952) was an eminent English neurophysiologist. His experimental research established many aspects of contemporary neuroscience, including the concept of the spinal reflex as a system ...

and several students became eminent pathologists including Ernest Hanbury Hankin,

John George Adami Prof John George Adami (; 12 January 1862 – 29 August 1926) was an English pathologist. He was the head of the pathological department of the Royal Victoria Hospital. From 1892, he was professor of pathology in McGill University, Montreal, C ...

and

James Lorrain Smith James Lorrain Smith FRS FRSE FRCPE (21 August 1862 – 18 April 1931) was a Scottish pathologist known for his works in human physiology, especially his research on respiration in collaboration with John Scott Haldane. Life He was born in th ...

. He died in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

at the age of 43.

References

1854 births 1897 deaths People from Arbroath Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish pathologists Fellows of the Royal Society {{UK-med-bio-stub