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

clinical pharmacology Clinical pharmacology is "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". Clinical pharmacology ...

Life

He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

the son of Dr Malcolm Wilson, a lecturer in

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, genetics, biochemistry, biochemical properties, and ethnomycology, use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, Edible ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. After education at

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

from 1923 to 1934, he studied medicine at the

, graduating with an

MB ChB A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

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 (RIE) was established in 1729, and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on, the Empire."In Comi ...

. He qualified MRCPE in 1942. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 Military operation, operations to Royal Air Force, RAF service personnel. Medical RAF officer, officers are the Physicia ...

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 The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

and also physician in charge of wards at the

Western Infirmary The Western Infirmary was a teaching hospital situated in Yorkhill 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 ...

. 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 (RSE) 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 establis ...

. 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 o ...

Robert Campbell Garry Robert Campbell Garry, OBE, FRSE, (21 April 1900 – 16 April 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 ad ...

, Martin Smellie 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 an ...

. In 1970 he was elected a member of the

Harveian Society of Edinburgh The Harveian Society of Edinburgh was founded in April 1782 by Andrew Duncan (physician, born 1744), Andrew Duncan. The Society holds an annual Festival in honour of the life and works of William Harvey, the physician who first correctly des ...

. He gave in 1962 the

Bradshaw Lecture The Bradshaw Lectures are lectureships given at the invitation of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and reg ...

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

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

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 an affluent residential area in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Description Bordering Broomhill, Dowanhill, Kelvinside and Partickhill, it is a wealthy neighbourhood populated mainly by businessmen, lawyers, GPs ...

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 Highla ...

. 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 former Northern Irish unionist politician who was leader of the Northern Ireland Unionist Party (NIUP) from 1999 to 2008, and a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Strangford from 1998 to 2003. He ...

became a professor of pharmacology at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

. 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 Members of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh