Kevin Brown (born 1961) has been Trust Archivist and Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum Curator at St Mary's NHS Trust, subsequently Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, since 1989, having set up the archives service for St Mary's Hospital,

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in 1989 and having established the museum in 1993. Brown was educated at Hertford College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. He is a professional archivist and museum curator specialising in the history of medicine and has lectured widely. In 2001, he was the first historian and first non-scientist to deliver the

Andrew J. Moyer Andrew J. Moyer (November 30, 1899 – February 17, 1959) was an American microbiologist. He was a researcher at the USDA Northern Regional Research Laboratory in Peoria, Illinois. His group was responsible for the development of techniques for ...

Lecture at the United States Department of Agriculture National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research at

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

. He was Chairman of the London Museums of Health & Medicine from 2001 to 2004. He is an authority on

Alexander Fleming Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of w ...

and the history of

penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' moulds, principally '' P. chrysogenum'' and '' P. rubens''. Most penicillins in clinical use are synthesised by P. chrysogenum using ...

. Brown's 2004 biography of Alexander Fleming, ''Penicillin Man: Alexander Fleming and the Antibiotic Revolution'' tells the story of the discovery of penicillin and of the great scientist who made that breakthrough. He has also written a history of

syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending in which of the four stages it presents (primary, secondary, latent, an ...

, ''The Pox: the Life and Near Death of a Very Social Disease'' in 2006 and has written a study of health, war and military and civilian medicine in the 20th century, published as ''Fighting Fit: Health Medicine and War in the Twentieth Century'' in 2008. He has since turned his attention to the history of maritime medicine with ''Poxed and Scurvied: The Story of Sickness and Health at Sea'' published in 2011; ''Passage to the World: The Emigrant Experience'' in 2013; ''The Seasick Admiral: Nelson and the Health of the Navy'' in 2016; and ''Fittest of the Fit: Health and Morale in the Royal Navy 1939-1945'' in 2019.

References

* ''British Medical Journal'', 330 (1 January 2005), 51. * Kevin Brown, ''Penicillin Man: Alexander Fleming and the Antibiotic Revolution'', 2004. * Kevin Brown, ''The Pox: the Life and Near Death of a Very Social Disease'', 2006. * A.A. Glynn, 'Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum', ''

Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy The ''Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal which covers antimicrobial chemotherapy, including laboratory aspects and clinical use of antimicrobial agents. It is published by Oxford University Press on behalf o ...

'', 58 (2006), 233-234 * Kevin Brown, ''Fighting Fit: Health, Medicine and War in the Twentieth Century'', 2008 * Kevin Brown, ''Poxed and Scurvied: The Story of Sickness and Health at Sea'', 2011 * Kevin Brown, ''Passage to the World: The Emigrant Experience'', 2013 * Kevin Brown, ''The Seasick Admiral: Nelson and the Health of the Navy'', 2016 * Kevin Brown, ''Fittest of the Fit: Health and Morale in the Royal Navy 1939-1945'', 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Kevin 1961 births Living people Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Alumni of University College London English archivists English biographers English curators English non-fiction writers English medical historians English male non-fiction writers