Our History: A Chronology

1881-1888

• May 26, 1881 – Agreement to establish a medical school at The University of Western Ontario is signed.   15 students enrolled in the first class.

• October 1, 1882 – The first medical lecture was held in a cottage on St. James Street. 

• 1883 – Dr. William J. Roche became the first graduate.

• 1888 – The London Medical College was erected at York and Waterloo Streets at a cost of $9,500. 

1888-1921

• 1917 – Western mobilized the No. 10 Canadian Stationery Hospital – a 400-bed mobile hospital serving in England and France during WWI

• 1919 – Dr. Kathleen Braithwaite Sanborn became the first female medical student. She graduated in 1924.

• 1920 – Dr. Frederick Banting was appointed to the faculty. While at Western, Banting conceived the idea that led to the discovery of insulin.

• 1921 – A new building on Ottaway Ave. (South Street) opened. It served the Faculty for 44 years.

1921-1947

• 1927 – Dr. F.W. Luney pioneered human blood transfusions at St. Joseph's Hospital.

• 1942 – Western again established the No. 10 Canadian General Hospital, caring for 21,000 patients in Normandy and Belgium during World War II.

• 1942-45 – During the war, extensive research on aviation medicine took place at Western.

1947-1965

• 1949 – Dr. Murray L. Barr discovered the sex-chromatin, now known as the Barr body, launching the field of genetics.

• 1949 – first PhD graduate from the School and from Western, Dr. Kenneth Carroll

• 1951 – first female PhD graduate, Dr. Carol Buck.

• 1951 – World's first delivery of cancer radiation therapy to patients using 'cobalt bomb', or cobalt 60 teletherapy machine.

• 1957 – Dr. Robert Noble and Dr. Charles Beer discover vincaleukoblastine, the first of a series of chemotherapy drugs used in cancer care.

• 1958 – Dr. Charles Drake pioneers a surgical procedure to correct cerebral aneurysms.

• 1964 – The Ontario government and the University officially approved a Faculty of Dentistry for Western. The first class enrolled in 1966.

• 1965 – The Faculty of Medicine moved to the new Medical Sciences Building on campus.

1965-1978

• 1968 – The Dental Sciences Building officially opened.

• 1970 – First class graduates from the School of Dentistry.

• 1972 – University Hospital was built by the London Health Association. 

• 1978 – Dr. Henry Barnett leads the Canadian study that demonstrated aspirin could prevent stroke, opening the door to the use of aspirin to prevent heart disease.

1978-1988

• 1979 – Dr. Calvin Stiller leads a patient study on the benefits and side effects of the new anti-rejection drug, cyclosporine.

• 1981 – Dr. Fred Possmayer discovers a method of extracting and purifying natural surfactant from a cow's lung to help premature infants breathe, saving millions of infants worldwide.

• 1982 – Canada's first human brain MRI is conducted in London. Throughout the 80s and 90s advances are pioneered across London in neuroscience, cardiovascular, orthopaedic and neonatal MRI.

• 1983 – First heart-lung transplant in Canada is done in London.

• 1986 – Opening of Robarts Research Institute.

• 1986 – Opening of the Centre for Studies in Family Medicine, now a leading international centre for research in family practice.

• 1987 – World's first pacemaker cardioverter defibrillator (PCD) is implanted at University Hospital.

• 1988 – Multi-Organ Transplant Program at University Hospital performs the first successful combined liver and bowel transplant in the world.

1988-1999

• 1990 – First multi-organ transplant (liver, small bowel, stomach, and pancreas) in Canada is done at University Hospital.

• 1990 – First measure of neurotransmitter concentration in schizophrenia by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy at St. Joseph’s.

• 1991 – World's first use of Ytterbium-169 isotope for interstitial radiation therapy of cancer. 

• 1991 –Dr. David Bailey discovers that taking grapefruit juice with medication causes inhibition of drug metabolism in humans, the first discovery of a food producing this effect.

• 1994 – Opening of Siebens-Drake Medical Research Institute

• 1995 – University Hospital and Victoria Hospital merge as the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).

• 1996 – The first 4-Tesla MRI system in Canada is installed at Robarts Research Institute.

• 1997 – London researchers are among the first to develop 3D-computed rotational angiography used to see blood vessels in the brain, including aneurysms.

• 1997 – The Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry merged to form the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry. 

• 1997 – Western medical students and residents begin training in rural Southwestern Ontario through the Southwestern Ontario Rural Medicine unit.

• 1997 – A 5-month old infant receives a liver, bowel, stomach and pancreas transplant at LHSC, becoming the world's youngest recipient of multi-organ transplant.

• 1999 – World's first closed-chest robotic-assisted beating heart coronary artery bypass performed at LHSC.

• 1999 – First neonatal brain imaging in the world performed using a 3-Tesla MRI.

1999-2011

• 2000 – The first adult-to-adult living liver transplant in Canada is done at LHSC.

• 2000 – First use of functional MRI (fMRI) in the world to show brain timing done at Robarts Research Institute.

• 2001 – World first robotic-assisted and mentored surgery using videoconferencing technology at LHSC.

• 2002 – Creation of the Southwestern Ontario Medical Education Network formalizing medical training in Windsor and the region

• 2002 – Canada's first PET/CT scanner is opened at LHSC, providing researchers with a powerful tool for detecting the spread of cancer.

• 2004 – Naming of the School in honour of a $26-million gift from Seymour Schulich.

• 2004 – Dr. David Spence, professor at the University of Western Ontario, pioneers a technique using ultrasound to measure plaque in arteries.

• 2005 – Opening of the Dr. Donald Rix Clinical Skills Learning Building

• 2007 – A landmark study by Robarts Research Institute and the Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic shows the common arthroscopic surgery of the knee is ineffective for patients with osteoarthritis.

• 2008 – Opening of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry – Windsor Program.

• 2008- Dr. Brian Feagan demonstrates a safer and more effective treatment for Crohn's disease.

• 2008 – First 7T MRI system in Canada arrives at Robarts Research Institute.

• 2008 – Paula Foster of the Robarts Research Institute is the first in the world to demonstrate that single cells can be detected by MRI.

• 2009 – Robarts Research Institute is the first in the world to show that MRI can be used to track the development of metastases from individual cancer cells.

• 2009 –World's first virtual-reality based simulators established for training in otoscopy and myringotomy, common treatments for ear disease and infections

• 2010 – Dr. Gideon Koren and Dr. Stan VanUum's study of cortisol levels in hair proves the link between stress and heart attack.

• 2010 – Dr. Adrian Owen is recruited from Cambridge University, U.K., as the first Canada Excellence Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging.

• 2010 – Dr. Stephen Lomber proves that the brain re-wires itself to heighten senses when one sense is lost.

• 2010 – Biological link between stress, anxiety and depression discovered by Robarts Scientist Dr. Stephen Feruson

• 2010 - Using gene sequencing, Dr. Robert Hegele identifies the genetic variations leading to hypertriglyceridemia and contributes to a consortium that identifies the genes that control HDL, LDL and triglycerides

• 2010 - Dr. James White develops a new 3-D imaging technigue to identify scar tissue in the heart 

• 2010 - Dr. David Spence shows high dose vitamin B therapy should not be used for those with diabetes and kidney damage. It worsened kidney function and increased the risk of heart attacks and stroke

• 2011 - Dr. Geoffrey Pickering discovers "fibroblast growth factor 9" helps the body regenerate blood vessels after heart attack or stroke.

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