George Beatson

Colonel Sir George Thomas Beatson (26 May 1848 – 16 February 1933) was a British physician. He was a pioneer in the field of oncology, developing a new treatment for breast cancer, and has been called "the father of endocrine ablation in cancer management." The Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre and the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute are named for him.

Biography Beatson was born in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, which was then part of the British Empire and known as Ceylon. His father was George Stewart Beatson, Honorary Physician to Queen Victoria and Surgeon General to the Indian Army. In 1874 he graduated from the University of Edinburgh. He then studied medicine, examining the links between ovulation, lactation and cancer for his thesis. He graduated MD in 1878. He then spent time working for Joseph Lister, the pioneer of antiseptic surgery, who was then the university's Professor of Surgery.

Beatson received many honours and decorations. In 1882 he was elected a member of the Harveian Society of Edinburgh and served as president in 1913. He was made a Companion of the Bath (CB) in 1902, and a Knight Commander of the Bath (KCB) in 1907. His work for the Red Cross was recognized by a KBE and the British War Medal. Raymond Poincaré, president of the French Republic, when in Glasgow in 1919 decorated him with the Officer's Cross of the Legion of Honour. He also received the decoration of Officer of the Crown of Belgium, and served as a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of the City of Glasgow. Beatson was a member of the Royal Scottish Automobile Club, although he used to arrive at meetings by horse and carriage. He died unmarried at the age of 84.

In 1948, the Glasgow Cancer Hospital was renamed the Royal Beatson Memorial Hospital in his honour. The institution is now known as the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre. In 1967, the research department of the hospital became the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research (renamed the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in 2013). The institute is funded by Cancer Research UK and is based in Bearsden.