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The Faculty of Medicine is the academic centre for medical and
clinical research Clinical research is a branch of healthcare science that determines the safety and effectiveness ( efficacy) of medications, devices, diagnostic products and treatment regimens intended for human use. These may be used for prevention, treatm ...
and teaching at
Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
. It contains the Imperial College School of Medicine, which is the college's undergraduate
medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...
.


History

Medical teaching at Imperial dates back to the founding of
Charing Cross Hospital Medical School Charing Cross Hospital Medical School (CXHMS) is the oldest of the constituent medical schools of Imperial College School of Medicine. Charing Cross remains a hospital on the forefront of medicine; in recent times pioneering the clinical use of ...
in 1823, which was followed by other medical schools including Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Medical School,
St Mary's Hospital Medical School St Mary's is the youngest of the constituent schools of Imperial College London, founded in 1854 as part of the new hospital in Paddington. During its existence in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the most popular medical school in the country, wit ...
, and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School. These preceding medical schools were home to numerous medical researchers, including Sir Alexander Fleming, who discovered
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 ...
whilst working at St Mary's. St Mary's became part of Imperial in 1988, with the rest merging to form Imperial College School of Medicine in 1995. To accommodate medical activities at South Kensington, the Sir Alexander Fleming building was opened in October 1998, designed by
Foster + Partners Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide. ...
and costing £65m. The Faculty of Medicine was created as part of a college-wide restructuring announced in 2001, taking over research responsibilities from the School of Medicine, which in turn was restricted to only teaching the undergraduate course. The faculty has since had input on biomaterials and
bioengineering Biological engineering or bioengineering is the application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to create usable, tangible, economically-viable products. Biological engineering employs knowledge and expertise from a number o ...
courses across the college, and been reorganised into 8 academic departments. In early 2020,
immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...
research focused on finding a vaccine against
SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
as part of the inter-departmental COVID-19 Response Team, led by the faculty. Under the leadership of professor
Robin Shattock Robin John Shattock (born February 1963) is professor of mucosal infection and immunity at the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London. Education and early life Shattock attended Lancing College, where he was initially more interested in a ...
, the team made a significant breakthrough by reducing a part of the normal development time to develop the vaccine from "two to three years to just 14 days." By February 2020 the research team was at the stage of testing the vaccine on animals. The faculty's 16 March 2020 report entitled "Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
mortality and healthcare demand" was described in a March 17 ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' article, as the coronavirus "report that jarred the U.S. and the U.K. to action".


Campuses

The medical school is based at the Sir Alexander Fleming Building on
Imperial College Road Imperial College Road is a tree-lined road in South Kensington, London, England. It runs east–west with Queen's Gate to the west and Exhibition Road to the east. The road forms part of the boundary between Royal Borough of Kensington and Che ...
in
South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
. It also has many hospital campuses across London with teaching, research and library facilities: *
Hammersmith Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of H ...
* St Mary's Hospital * Charing Cross Hospital * Royal Brompton Hospital * Chelsea and Westminster Hospital The faculty also has a presence at its many other associated hospitals across London.


Academics

The faculty is closely linked to 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 organises research and clinical teaching through its
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is an NHS trust based in London, England. It is one of the largest NHS trusts in England and together with Imperial College London forms an academic health science centre. The trust was formed in October 20 ...
hospitals, which is among the largest in the country, and other affiliated hospitals around London. It has also conducted studies on strategies for improving medical teaching and student preparation. The faculty is home to many research institutes, including the
Partnership for Child Development The Partnership for Child Development (PCD) is a research and technical assistance group based at Imperial College London that seeks to improve health and nutrition in school-age children and youth in low-income countries, thereby improving thei ...
and the London Institute of Medical Sciences, which is also a Medical Research Council institute. It is also one of the founding institutions of the
Francis Crick Institute The Francis Crick Institute (formerly the UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation) is a biomedical research centre in London, which was established in 2010 and opened in 2016. The institute is a partnership between Cancer Research UK, Impe ...
, an inter-university medical research centre in London, and the largest
biomedical Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)
laboratory in Europe.


Department of Brain Sciences

The Department of Brain Sciences is the centre of research and teaching in
neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...
and
mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...
at
Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
. It is one of eight academic departments within the College's Faculty of Medicine and was established following a Faculty reorganisation in 2019. The department also comprises the Centre for Psychedelic Research and leads the UK DRI Centre at Imperial and the UK DRI Care Research & Technology Centre. The department is led by Professor Paul M. Matthews and is centred at Imperial's Hammersmith Campus, with research groups also based at the White City and Charing Cross Campuses. The department hosts the Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's Tissue Bank, a national collection of central nervous system tissue samples donated by individuals with
multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...
(MS), Parkinson’s disease and related conditions. The facility is funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Society and Parkinson's UK. In 2019-20, the department's academic expenditure was £20.8 million, with a research income of £17.7 million. It comprises three main research Divisions - Neurology, Neuroscience and Psychiatry - in addition to the Centre for Psychedelic Research, the world's first official centre for psychedelic research, led by Professor David Nutt. The department leads two UK
Dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
Research Institute (DRI) centres: the UK DRI Centre at Imperial, directed by Professor Paul M. Matthews, and the UK DRI Care Research & Technology Centre, directed by Professor David Sharp in partnership with the
University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institut ...
. The department also hosts the Imperial College Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence, led by Dr Nelofer Syed. In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), Imperial College London was ranked first for psychology, psychiatry and neuroscience.


School of Public Health

The School of Public Health is the faculty's research centre for epidemiology and public health, and includes the Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics (established with support from Community Jameel, and led by Neil Ferguson), and the Medical Research Council's Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis. The school also offers postgraduate and intercalated undergraduate courses. The school is to move to premises at the college's new White City campus once construction is complete.


Medical school

The faculty offers a 6-year MBBS course through its School of Medicine, which includes an intercalated year leading to a BSc. The school also offers intercalated programmes for external students, and has partnered with
Nanyang Technological University The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a national research university in Singapore. It is the second oldest autonomous university in the country and is considered as one of the most prestigious universities in the world by various inte ...
in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
to run its Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, for which it has developed the medical curriculum.


National Heart and Lung Institute

Based across multiple Imperial College campuses, but primarily at the
Hammersmith Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of H ...
Campus, the National Heart and Lung Institute had been part of the
British Postgraduate Medical Federation British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
, within the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. The National Heart and Lung Institute was the highest ranked of Imperial’s medical departments in Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014. It eventually joined Imperial in 1995, becoming part of the then School of Medicine two years thereafter.


Rankings

The faculty ranks 3rd in the world for Clinical and Health in the 2022
Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
rankings. Tied 11th (with
UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It condu ...
) in the
QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...
2018. It is ranked 3rd for medicine in the 2018
Complete University Guide Three national rankings of universities in the United Kingdom are published annually – by ''The Complete University Guide'', ''The Guardian'' and jointly by ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times''. Rankings have also been produced in the past ...
rankings, 11th in the UK by the Guardian University Guide 2018, and 2nd in the UK for research in the latest RAE in 2008, behind
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 ...
.


See also

*
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust is an NHS trust based in London, England. It is one of the largest NHS trusts in England and together with Imperial College London forms an academic health science centre. The trust was formed in October 20 ...
* United Hospitals


References

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