Wellcome Trust Medical Humanities Frontiers Meeting

23-24 September 2009
Highgate House, Creaton, Northampton

The objectives of the Medical Humanities Frontiers Meeting in 2009 were to:

launch the Trust's new Medical History and Humanities (MHH) programme
explore the concept of "historically grounded" research
identify important questions with respect to historical and related studies on medical sciences and health
setting an ambitious research agenda
consider how an interdisciplinary approach might be used to answer research questions
provide a forum to encourage networking and to foster collaborations.

Throughout 2009 the MHH team travelled throughout the UK to spread the word about the broader remit of the programme. The research community took advantage of the full range of funding on offer, and a number of small grants and pilot grants were made to groups wishing to collaborate on applications for programme grants.We look forward to seeing the fruits of this work in the near future.

As a result of some of these discussions, the funding committee was delighted to make three substantial awards in June 2010.

Dr Abigail Woods, Imperial College
The research will draw together a team of historical researchers with expertise in human and animal health to examine the significance of animals and their diseases - as research subjects and objects - to the history of biomedicine. Spanning Western Europe and North America, from 1850 to the present day, the team will question the human-centricity of existing histories and their use of the catch-all concept 'animal model' to describe the animal's role within the research setting.

Professor Mick Worboys, Dr Carsten Timmermann, Professor John Pickstone, Professor David Thompson, University of Manchester
Focussing on mental disorders, dementia and stroke, the team will explore and elucidate the history of translational medicine, developing new methods for both studying recent and contemporary history, and making history available to inform policy.

Professor Joanna Bourke, Birkbeck
Looking at Anglo-American contexts, Professor Bourke will write 'A History of Pain from the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day'.By exploring the complex phenomenon of pain – including its biomedical, neurological, psychological, cognitive, and sensory aspects as well as the relationship between bodily sensation and cultural understanding, she in tends to advance our understanding of the complex interaction between corporeality and culture. Recognising the exceptionally diverse responses to pain in the past will enable us to reappraise contemporary ideas within the full range of medical interventions.

The Research Resources in Medical History (RRMH) scheme also underwent a transformation. At the time of the Frontiers Meeting, the Wellcome Library had recently received the news that the Governors of the Trust were prepared to make substantial funds available to digitise the Library's holdings.A theme was chosen for the pilot phase of the digitisation plan (Modern Genetics and its Foundations) and it was agreed that RRMH would seek to fund other collections that complemented this theme. A number of important and exciting collections have since been identified. Plans to launch calls for applications under other themes are well under way.

2011/12 will present challenges with the introduction of Investigator Awards in medical humanities, and the continuing emphasis on longer term awards.We look forward to working with you all to achieve the Trust's mission to support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities.