The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, informally known as the Lister Institute was established as a research institute in 1891, with bacteriologist Marc Armand Ruffer as its first director, using a grant from the Guinness family[1]. It had premises in Sudbury, Chelsea and Elstree,[2] England. It was the first medical research charity in the United Kingdom. It was named after Dr Joseph Lister.
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Until the 1970s it maintained laboratories and conducted research on infectious disease and vaccines. Its was funded by manufacturing and selling vaccines.
In the 1970s the Institute ran into financial difficulties. It had continual annual deficits, plus the need for major expenditure to modernise the Elstree production facilities. Professor Albert Neuberger became involved as chair of governing body in 1973-74 at which point he became aware of the difficult financial problems[1] . The endowment funds were insufficient to cover their requirements and it failed to get Government support. Neuberger came to the conclusion that within five to six years it would be bankrupt and he persuaded colleagues to dissolve the Institute. He persuaded Westminster Council to change the use of buildings. The Chelsea laboratories were closed in 1975 and Elstree in 1978. The assets were sold, the most valuable being the Chelsea site.
This raised enough money to endow annually a number of Senior Research Fellowships[3] which is the Institute's legacy.
Thus from that point it became a science funding body and it now awards the Lister Institute Research Prize Fellowships to researchers working on infectious disease in the United Kingdom.