The award
The award was created from a fund to the memory of the physician George Buchanan FRS (PDF), former Chief Medical Officer of the UK, and was first awarded in 1897. Originally it was awarded once every five years, but since 1990 it has been awarded once every two years. The medal is of silver gilt and is accompanied by a gift of £2,000.
The Buchanan Medal is awarded biennially (in odd years) for distinguished contributions to the medical sciences.
Past winners
Professor Irwin McLean FMedSci FRS was awarded the 2015 Buchanan Medal
for his major contribution to our understanding of the genetic basis of
heritable skin diseases.
Professor Douglas Higgs FRS was awarded the 2013 Buchanan Medal for
his seminal work on the regulation of the human alpha-globin gene
cluster and the role of the ATRX protein in genetic disease.
See full list of all past winners of the Buchanan Medal.