The Goulstonian Lectures are an annual lecture series given on behalf of the

Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...

in London. They began in 1639. The lectures are named for Theodore Goulston (or Gulston, died 1632), who founded them with a

bequest A devise is the act of giving real property by will, traditionally referring to real property. A bequest is the act of giving property by will, usually referring to personal property. Today, the two words are often used interchangeably due to thei ...

. By his will, dated 26 April 1632, he left £200 to the College of Physicians of London to found a lectureship, to be held in each year by one of the four youngest doctors of the college. These lectures were annually delivered from 1639, and have continued for more than three centuries. Up to the end of the 19th century, the spelling ''Gulstonian'' was often used. In many cases the lectures have been published. Gulston's widow bequeathed the annual donation to the College of Physicians for them to arrange for one of the four youngest doctors to "read the lecture on some dead body (if it could be procured), to be dissected as the President and Elects should think necessary for the diseases to be treated of; the lecture to be read yearly, between Christmas and Easter, on three days together; and the reader to treat of three or more diseases, as the seniors of the College should direct; ten pounds to be paid to the doctor who should read, and two pounds to the dissector and for burying the body".

Lecturers (incomplete list)

17th century

1701–1800

1801–1900

1901–2000

2001 – present

*2021 Rickie Patani, ''Decoding therapeutically targetable molecular events in ALS using human stem cell models'' *2022 Manish Pareek, ''COVID-19 and ethnicity'' *2023 Lecture was not awarded or delivered *202
Stephen John Sammut
''Ending uncertainty: predicting response to breast cancer treatment using tumour profiling and AI''

References

{{Reflist, 30em Annual events in London Royal College of Physicians lecture series 1639 establishments in England Recurring events established in 1639