Graham Malcolm Wilson (1917–1977) was a Scottish physician, professor of medicine, and pioneer of

clinical pharmacology Clinical pharmacology has been defined as "that discipline that teaches, does research, frames policy, gives information and advice about the actions and proper uses of medicines in humans and implements that knowledge in clinical practice". Clinic ...

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

the son of Dr Malcolm Wilson, a lecturer in

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

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 ...

. After education at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...

from 1923 to 1934, he studied medicine at the

, graduating with an

MB ChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

in 1940, a BSc in pathology in 1947, his MD in 1950, and a DSc in 1964. After graduation in 1940 he was appointed house surgeon and house 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 qualified MRCPE in 1942. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served in the

RAF Medical Services The Royal Air Force Medical Services is the branch of the Royal Air Force that provides health care at home and on deployed operations to RAF service personnel. Medical officers are the doctors of the RAF and have specialist expertise in aviat ...

from 1941 to 1946, being sent to North Africa in 1943. In 1946 he worked at the University of Edinburgh under A. Murray Drennan, professor of pathology. Wilson was from 1947 to 1949 an assistant physician under George White Pickering at the medical unit of St Mary's Hospital. At the University of Sheffield he was from 1950 to 1951 a lecturer, from 1951 to 1954 a senior lecturer, and from 1954 to 1967 a professor of pharmacology and therapeutics. During the academic year 1952–1953 he was on sabbatical as an Eli Lilly Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School. From 1967 until his death in 1977 Wilson was regius professor of medicine at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and also physician in charge of wards at the

Western Infirmary The Western Infirmary was a teaching hospital situated in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland, that was managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. It was opened in 1874 and closed in 2015. History After the University of Glasgow moved from the city ...

. Wilson was elected FRCPE in 1947 and FRCP in 1956, In 1969 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers were

James Norman Davidson James Norman Davidson CBE PRSE FRS (5 March 1911 – 11 September 1972) was a British biochemist, pioneer molecular biologist and textbook author. The Davidson Building at the University of Glasgow is named for him. Life He was the only child ...

Robert Campbell Garry Robert Campbell Garry DSc (1933) OBE FRSE LLD (1900–1993) was a British physician and Professor of Medicine at the University of St Andrews and the University of Glasgow. During World War II, as an expert on human physiology, he advised on ...

Martin Smellie Robert Martin Stuart Smellie FRSE FIB (1927–1988) was a 20th-century Scottish biochemist and first Cathcart Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Glasgow. The university's Smellie Prize is named after him. Life He was born in Roth ...

and

Anthony Elliot Ritchie Anthony Elliot Ritchie FRSE FRCPE LLD (30 March 1915–14 September 1997) was a 20th-century Scottish physiologist and educator. Life Ritchie was born at 20 Upper Gray Street, Edinburgh on 30 March 1915, the only son of Jessie Jane Elliot and ...

. He gave in 1962 the

Bradshaw Lecture The Bradshaw Lectures are prestigious lectureships given at the invitation of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons of England. List of past lecturers at Royal College of Physicians List of past lecturers at Royal C ...

on ''Diuretics''. He promoted research into the operation and efficiency of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

and created part-time medical posts specifically for women. He was chair of the editorial board of the ''British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology''. His home in Glasgow was in Westbourne Gardens in the

Hyndland Hyndland is a residential area in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Description Bordering Broomhill, Dowanhill, Kelvinside and Partickhill, it is an upper-middle-class neighbourhood populated mainly by professionals (many emplo ...

district. He also had a holiday cottage near

Loch Sunart Loch Sunart (Scottish Gaelic ) is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. Loch Sunart is bounded to the north by the Sunart district of Ardnamurchan and to the south by the Morvern district. At long, it is the longest sea loch in the Highland ...

. He died in Glasgow of a long and painful illness on 15 April 1977 a few hours before his 60th birthday.

Family

Graham Wilson's younger brother

Cedric Wilson Cedric Wilson (born 6 June 1948) is a Northern Irish Unionist politician who served as a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 1998 to 2003. Elected as a UK Unionist Party (UKUP) candidate to the Assembly, Wilson ...

became a professor of pharmacology at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. In 1949 in Surrey, Graham married Elizabeth Stanfield Bell Nicoll (1926–2016), who was a physician and the daughter of the physician James Thomson Bell Nicoll (1900–1955). The couple had seven children, two of whom became physicians and one that died in infancy.

Selected publications

*with W. I. Baba and G. R. Tudhope: * *wit M. Green: *with G. D. Broadhead and I. B. Pearson:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Graham Malcolm 1917 births 1977 deaths Medical doctors from Edinburgh People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Sheffield Academics of the University of Glasgow 20th-century British medical doctors Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Royal Air Force Medical Service officers