Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine

These included the physiology of diving; the lethal effect of ultraviolet light on bacteria; fat metabolism; the role of vitamins in nutrition (the term 'vitamine' was coined by Casimir Funk when working at the institute).[4][8]

In 1903, Sir Charles James Martin, became the first director of the institute. He made outstanding contributions to the study of plague and its transmission and he created a new post of resident statistician for Major Greenwood, the first of its kind in Britain. Greenwood conducted statistical investigations of tuberculosis, infant mortality and hospital fatality rates. Major also interpreted data from the institute's epidemiological study of bubonic plague in India.[9]

Tetanus antiserum production at Elstree was increased. Improved large-scale methods for antisera were introduced by Annie Homer.[10] The bacteria causing gas gangrene of infected wounds were identified.

The discovery of co-enzymes by Sir Arthur Harden FRS and his colleagues was recognised by the co-award to him of the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1929. The institute played a major part in defining the role of vitamins in post-war nutritional deficiency diseases that were widespread in Europe and elsewhere. Emmy Klieneberger-Nobel pioneered the study of mycoplasma and in 1935 discovered and cultured unusual strains of bacteria that lacked a cell wall, naming them L-form bacteria after the institute where she worked.[11] The first director, Sir Charles Martin, appointed in 1903, retired in 1930.

The war made heavy demands on the Lister for production of antisera and vaccines. There was also need for expertise in nutrition. In 1943, Sir Alan Nigel Drury FRS became Director serving until 1952. During the war, departments had been widely dispersed. He began a successful reintegration and incorporated some Medical Research Council (MRC) units. As a result, it became a national centre for research on blood transfusion and the provision of blood products for clinical use.[12]

The institute took some time to settle after wartime upheaval. In 1952 Ashley Miles was appointed as director. The institute remained an important manufacturer of vaccines and antitoxins. It produced the 'triple vaccine' for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (commonly called whooping cough) and vaccines for cholera, typhoid, rabies vaccines and smallpox. It also produced antisera for diphtheria, tetanus, gas gangrene, rabies and scorpion venom. There were also further important research activities:

• the role of enzymes in the metabolism of plant and animal carbohydrates was elucidated
• the first synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by Alexander Todd PRS in 1949
• the structure of co-enzyme A was defined by James Baddiley, together with other workers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital[13]
• Discovered that immunological specificity of bacteria is conferred by certain oligosaccharides on their surfaces
• Determined the chemical nature of the human A, B, H and Lewis blood group antigens, their biosynthesis and genetic control

• Invented the ether method for fractionating blood plasma to obtain fibrinogen, thrombin, albumin, immunoglobulins and others for clinical use
• Large-scale production of dried human plasma
• First clinically effective Factor VIII concentrate prepared for the treatment of haemophilia by Ralph Kekwick
• First anti-D immunoglobulin for treating rhesus negative mothers
• Development of radio immunoassay to screen blood for hepatitis B
• Blood group genetics

• Established life cycles of trypanosomes (Muriel Robertson FRS).[14]
• Devised a method for identifying the blood meals of insect vectors
• Discovered that sequential mutations in surface antigens hinder development of protective immunity
• First isolations of chlamydias affecting the eye and genital tract
• Discovery of the 'Vi' antigen of Salmonella typhi
• Motility of flagellated salmonella strains used to study phage transduction
• First description of the bacterial sex pilus and exploitation for studying bacterial plasmids, including antibiotic resistance

• Medical Research Council field trials of pertussis vaccines
• Development of the freeze-dried heat-stable vaccine used in the smallpox eradication programme

• Demonstration of roles of sunlight and cod liver oil in treating and preventing rickets due to vitamin D deficiency (Dame Harriette Chick).[15]

The old Elstree site is located off the north-west side of Dagger Lane, off Tylers Way, Bushey, between the Hillfield Park and Aldenham reservoirs[16] in Aldenham Country Park. It was until recently shown on Ordnance Survey maps as the Lister Institute, though more recently the Master Atlas of Greater London (2007) shows it as 'laboratories'. Many of the original buildings still exist including one of the old lodges (Queensbury) and the old stable block. The site now houses the Bio Products Laboratory, formed in 1954, which is the UK national plasma fractionator.

The British Institute of Preventive Medicine was established in 1891. In 1903, it was renamed The Lister Institute in honour of the great surgeon and medical pioneer, Joseph Lister. This building, along with another adjacent building, forms The Lister Hospital, a private hospital which opened in 1985. The Grade II Listed building[17] is located on Chelsea Bridge Road at its junction with Grosvenor Road and Chelsea Bridge on the north bank of the River Thames which it overlooks.