The discovery of an envelope of photographs taken at the British Pharmacological Society meeting in 1937 labelled ‘Joint meeting with the German Pharmacological Society’ in the Department of Pharmacology provided impetus to find out more.
President of the British Pharmacological Society (BPS), Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, opened the event and at the end reflected on the relevance of scientists ‘stepping up’ when members of the scientific community are persecuted and academic freedom infringed.
Head of the Department of Pharmacology, Professor Frances Platt FRS, introduced the event with the discovery of photographs from the 1930s leading to contact and collaboration with the German Pharmacological Society (DGPT). Photographs feature member of the department, Professor Edith Bülbring persecuted for being Jewish fleeing from Nazi Germany seen close in photographs with former German colleagues who joined the Nazi party.
Talks were limited to 25 minutes allowing a wide variety of perspectives on shared histories of British and German pharmacologists. The first talk was given by former President of the BPS, Professor Roderick Flower, who set the scene on ‘The History of the British Pharmacological Society’. This was followed by Dr Lizzie Burns on the ‘History of pharmacology teaching in Oxford & links to Germany’ including recent discoveries of the previously unacknowledged founder of the department, Dr William John Smith Jerome, who worked in Germany between 1863-1895 where experimental pharmacology emerged.
Read the full story on the Department of Pharmacology website.