Notable former staff in the history of Queen Square

Some notable figures in the history of Queen Square.

Professor Thomas A Sears

Tom Sears (1928-2024) came to Queen Square in 1954, working as a Physiologist in the EEG department of the hospital. In 1956 he was appointed as one of the first full-time Lecturers in the Institute of Neurology, after its inception in 1950. Following a period in John (later Sir John) Eccles’ laboratory in Canberra, where he obtained his PhD, in 1968 he became a Reader in the department created for him, the Dept of Neurophysiology at the IoN, a department that was uniquely focused on a basic science approach to neurological conditions. In 1973, this became the Sobell Dept of Neurophysiology, with Tom now as Professor and Head of Department, and he remained in this role until his retirement in 1993. Over the following years, he continued working productively as Emeritus Professor at St. Thomas’s Hospital Medical School, subsequently King’s College London, and he remained scientifically active until his death.

Tom also played important roles in the Physiological Society, where he was Chair of the Editorial Board of their Journal, the Journal of Physiology, and in the European Neuroscience Association (ENA), for which he served a term as President. In 1977 he was made Docteur Honoris Causa by the University of Aix-Marseille.

Tom Sears part I Conducted by Martin Rosenberg in 2005. An interview of the Oral Histories Project for The Society’s History & Archives Committee.
Tom Sears part II Conducted by Martin Rosenberg in 2005. An interview of the Oral Histories Project for The Society’s History & Archives Committee.

Charles David Marsden

Professor David Marsden FRS, DSc, FRCP, MRCPsych, MBBS (19th April 1938 – 29 September 1998) was one of the outstanding clinician neuroscientists of the 20th Century.

Mini-biography

Charles Symonds

Symonds' ((born 1890, died 1978) skill in clinical diagnosis and his abilities as a teacher is how he will be best remembered.

Mini-biography

Roger William Gilliatt

Roger William Gilliatt (born 1922, died 1991). After qualification in medicine from the Middlesex Hospital in 1949, Gilliatt trained in neurology there and at the National Hospital.

Mini-biography

Samuel Alexander Kinnier Wilson

In 1905, Wilson applied successfully for the post of resident medical officer at the National Hospital, where he was much influenced by Hughlings Jackson. In 1912 he described the eponymous Wilson's Disease

Mini-biography

Anita Harding

Anita Harding was the leading clinical scientist of her day. A pioneer of neurogenetics, remembered for the insightful way in which she anticipated the entry of molecular genetics into neurology.

Mini-biography

Sir Victor Horsley

Sir Victor Horsley (1857-1916) was the first neurosurgeon appointed to the National Hospital Queen Square, and was known worldwide as the ‘Father of Neurosurgery’.

Mini-biography

Pat Harris

Pat Harris was Assistant Secretary for Students at UCL Queen Square Institute Neurology until 1989.

Mini-biography

Margery Ling

Miss Ling (born 1916– died 1982) came to the National Hospital in 1943 as nurse–tutor and was appointed matron in 1946.

Mini-biography

Risien Russell

James Samuel Risien Russell (born 1863, died 1939) was appointed resident medical officer at the National Hospital (1888), In the 1890s, he was appointed professor of medicine at University College.

Mini-biography

John Marshall

John Marshall (born 1922, died 2014) was Professor of Clinical Neurology and former Dean of the Institute of Neurology between 1982 and 1987.

Mini-biography

MacDonald Critchley

In 1923, Critchley moved to the National Hospital where he became Risien Russell’s last house physician. Critchley was a prolific writer, publishing more than 300 single-author journal articles

Mini-biography