British Neuropathological Society

Did You Know?

• The object of the Society is to further the study of neuropathology and to promote the exchange of scientific and professional information.
• The Society provides the opportunity for discussions between neuropathologists in Britain and overseas.
• The Society holds regular meetings, lectures and publications to achieve its objectives.

History

Godwin Greenfield is regarded as the founding father of the British Neuropathological Society. His career spanned the years when neuropathology began to be recognised as a specialty rather than merely applied neurology or psychiatry, and he was one of the first to consider himself a neuropathologist. By the time he retired from Queen Square in 1949, the advent of the National Health Service had seen neurosurgical centres established throughout the country, many with neuropathologists already in post. In 1950, with a group of senior colleagues, Greenfield started the Neuropathological Club, with 28 founder members. The Club served an educational function, allowing members from different schools of neuropathology around the country to discuss problem cases, and it united those with a major clinical commitment in neuropathology with those principally concerned with experimental work. Two years later, in 1952, the first International Congress of Neuropathology was held in Rome. The neurologist Sir Francis Walshe commented with dismay that separate international meetings for neuropathologists and neurosurgeons tore “the seamless garment of neurology”. In 1962 the club had grown sufficiently to become more formal, and the name was changed to the British Neuropathological Society. 1967 saw the founding of the International Society of Neuropathology, in which BNS members have played an active role, providing four of the Secretaries-General and two of the Presidents to date. In 1975 the BNS launched Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology, which has become one of the major neuropathology journals. By the year 2000, when the Society celebrated its 50th anniversary, there were more than 200 active members.