Mollie McGeown

Mary Graham "Mollie" McGeown CBE (19 July 1923 – 21 November 2004) was a Northern Irish nephrologist and biochemist. She was a pioneer in dialysis and kidney transplantation, overseeing the first dialysis centre in Northern Ireland and designing the "Belfast recipe" for post-transplantation care.

Early life and education Mollie McGeown was born in 1923 in Aghagallon, County Antrim, and was raised on her family's farm. She attended Lurgan College and enrolled at Queen's University Belfast in 1940 to study medicine, graduating with honours in 1946. She studied for an MD under the supervision of pathologist John Henry Biggart, completing her degree in 1950.

In 1959, McGeown was chosen to set up and run Northern Ireland's first dialysis unit at the Belfast City Hospital. She also received two gold medals from the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1987, a professorial fellowship from Queen's University in 1988, and honorary doctorates from the New University of Ulster in 1983 and Queen's University in 1991. In 1998, on the 50th anniversary of the National Health Service, she was named as one of the 50 women who had contributed most to the success of the NHS.