genes – Page 3 – David South Consulting

Publisher: Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine

Location: Toronto, Canada

Editor and Writer: David South

I worked as Editor and Writer for the newsletter of the Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine (under the direction of the Editor-in-Chief and Hannah Executive Director Dr. J.T. H. Connor) in the early 1990s. Located close to the University of Toronto and within a neighbourhood claiming a long association with medical and scientific discovery (Sir Frederick Banting, co-developer of insulin for the treatment of diabetes, lived at 46 Bedford Road,), the goal was to better connect Canada’s medical history community of scholars and raise the profile of the funding resources available to further the study of medical history in Canada.

The Toronto Legacy Project and Heritage Toronto plaque marking the location of Sir Frederick Banting’s former home.

I also revamped the application process for awards, scholarships and grants to make them user-friendly and compatible with word processing software packages of the time.

The Hannah Institute was the adminstrator for the grants and awards funded by AMS (Associated Medical Services). It has had a profound impact on the medical history field in Canada, as the AMS website states:

“As a result of the growth of the discipline and the burgeoning of scholarship, as well as financial support from other funding bodies, in 2006, the AMS Board of Directors decided not to provide new competitive grants and further, decided to bring AMS- administered competitive grants to closure by 2011.

In the 1970’s when the Hannah Chairs and the Hannah Institute were established, the discipline of the history of medicine was an “orphan’ within the Canadian scholarly community. Three decades later with the support of AMS, history of medicine and healthcare continued to thrive in universities and colleges across Canada.”

It funded groundbreaking medical history research and scholarship, including books such as Eugenics, Human Genetics and Human Failings: The Eugenics Society, its sources and its critics in Britain By Pauline Mazumdar, Copyright Year 1992.

The publishing impact of the Hannah Institute’s support according to WorldCat.

At the time I also worked as an investigative journalist and medical reporter. Some health and medical stories I wrote at the time are below:

Taking Medicine to the People: Four Innovators in Community Health

Take Two Big Doses of Humanity and Call Me in the Morning

The archive of newsletters is held at the Wellcome Collection Library in London, UK and at the University of Toronto.

Hannah 18_mini — “Professor puts chronic fatigue into historical perspective” announced the launch of a new book by the University of Toronto’s Hannah Professor Edward Shorter.

Abstracts in Anthropology, Volume 43, Issues 3-4: “… in recent years it has become a pursuit for a growing number of researchers. … Behind much of this growth has been the Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine which has encouraged writing …”.

More on the Hannah Institute’s history here:

John B. Neilson and G. R. Paterson, Associated Medical Services, Incorporated: a history, Toronto, Associated Medical Services and the Hannah Institute for the History of Medicine, 1987, 8vo, pp. 445, illus., $15.00.

The Hannah Institute: promoting Canadian history of medicine (Can Med Assoc J. 1983 Jun 1; 128(11): 1325–1328.).

The Hannah Institute For The History Of Medicine, Vol. 1, No. 1

By BARR, Murray L.; HART, Gerald D.; SALTER, Robert B

https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/06/24/can-we-talk-hannah-promotes-communication-between-medical-schools/

https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2021/06/02/case-study-5-gosh-ich-child-health-portal-2001-2003/

https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2021/03/08/the-dawn-of-the-genetics-revolution-2001-2003/

https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/09/19/medical-museum-makes-plans-for-future/

https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2022/06/24/professor-puts-chronic-fatigue-into-historical-perspective/

https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2021/10/20/research-reviews-2001-2002/

https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2020/04/20/take-two-big-doses-of-humanity-and-call-me-in-the-morning/

https://davidsouthconsulting.org/2020/04/17/taking-medicine-to-the-people-four-innovators-in-community-health/

ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5311-1052.

© David South Consulting 2023

Interviews for the GOSH Child Health Portal 2001-2003 | 14 April 2016

Roundabout, November 2001 Issue No. 18

Joint Website Launched

A two-year project to turn our joint institution’s website (www.gosh.nhs.uk) into a respected child health portal got underway with the launch of the first phase of development in September. The second phase of content development will get the site ship shape for a UK-wide publicity campaign as the hospital’s 150th birthday celebrations begin in January.

The site’s web editor, David South, has been working on the project since arriving here in June, having worked on award-winning websites for the United Nations.

“The first phase saw collaboration from staff across both institutions,” he says. “An impressive amount was done, and we have now laid the foundations for future improvements to the content on the site. I really want to offer more for children. Over three million children in the UK now surf the internet.”

The opportunity for both institutions is enormous. As the internet has evolved, it has become increasingly clear that the future of its development lies in the public sphere. US government sites now outstrip commercial operations, selling far more books than the largest online bookseller, amazon.com. Here in the UK, the http://www.ukonline.gov.uk site is working to offer one-stop access to all government services, including health care.

Unlike commercial operations, the hospital and the Institute are an unbiased resource for the public to turn to. Currently, the joint site has more than 180 factsheets for families covering tests and procedures, illnesses and diseases and operations. It also has the complete archive of Dr. Jane Collins’ Times column, with its jargon-free look at child health issues.

“This being London, we have the unique advantage of being at the centre of so many developments, and having the opportunity to communicate this through our website,” says David South.

Across the NHS the Modernisation Plan involves the largest data collection exercise in its history. More and more resources will be offered online, and the content produced by individual trusts like ours will be linked with national sites like NHS Direct.

New GOSH/ICH website

With over three million children in the UK now using the internet, and a total of 33 million UK citizens accessing it through work, school or the home, no organisation can afford not to make the most of this valuable communications tool. Estimates vary, but some put the number of health-related websites at more than 100,000. Trust is an even more important issue, as users search for accurate information. It is in this context that the new hospital and ICH website, http://www.gosh.nhs.uk, launched in September. Web editor David South puts us in the picture.

The new site reflects the hard work and collaboration of staff across both institutions, and it is hoped it will quickly make its mark as a trusted resource on complex child health issues. The site also becomes one of the most visible signs of our on-going modernisation programme, and can uniquely tie together the breadth of our work in a way that no other medium can. The site development project spans two years and will fit in with the wider move across the NHS to offer a wide range of services online.

The next phase of the site’s development is aimed at getting the site ready for a larger publicity campaign slated to coincide with the hospital’s 150th birthday celebrations with start in January. In preparation for this public launch, a number of improvements will be made to the site’s content, interactivity, platform and design. To put it simply, the site should become a critical first stop for anybody seeking our services, or wanting to learn more about the latest research and care developments in the field of complex child issues.

The joint site will also be available via Gosweb for staff in the hospital who don’t already have internet access.