Young, Maureen (1915-2013)

Papers relating to Maureen Young's career as a neo-natal physiologist, 1930s-1982, including files relating to experimental work including work with animals, international conferences, work with research assistants, teaching work, grant applications and research funding, correspondence when at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School. Notably covers feotal blood, placental transfer and placental transport, uterine development, insulin and diabetes in pregancy, protein synthesis. Also includes papers on her career at Bedford College for Women, the South West London Blood Transfusion Unit and St.Thomas's Hospital, including: drafts, unpublished writings and reminiscences; obituaries and other papers relating to professional colleagues, the development of physiology and women in science; conference papers; reprints; papers relating to the Neonatal Society, European Placenta Group and other membership organisations.

1930s-c.2011

40 boxes and 1 digital item

The papers have been arranged in to three main categories:

A. Correspondence (1953-2008)

This includes letters filed alphabetically by the author, letters relating to grant applications, societies and journals, conferences and events and teaching roles.

B. Writing (1940-c.2011)

Manuscripts, drafts, research notes and correspondence with researchers relating to specific published and unpublished papers and chapters.

C. Research (1930s-1982)

The files generally consist of laboratory notes, including graphs and data tables, and some correspondence with collaborators on particular experiments.

These papers were donated to the library at Wellcome Collection by Maureen Young in June 2009. An additional CD was received in Aug 2009, on the subject of 'A short history of the European Placenta Group' (Acc.1682). Following Maureen Young's death in 2013 an additional 26 boxes of material were acquired by the library at Wellcome Collection via her nephew Michael, Mar 2014 (Acc.2062).

Maureen Young studied physiology at Bedford College for Women, graduating in 1938. The following year she obtained a post with the South West London Blood Transfusion Unit under the Medical Research Council and Ministry of Health War Emergency Scheme. In 1941 she returned to Bedford College becoming a Demonstrator, and later an Assistant Lecturer, in Physiology. The College was evacuated to Cambridge where Maureen Young met Joseph Barcroft and developed a life-long interest in the physiology of the foetus.

In 1946, Maureen Young joined the staff of St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School where she remained until her retirement in 1982. She held various posts during her career including: Lecturer in Physiology at the Sherrington School of Physiology (1946-1956); Tutor to Women Students at St. Thomas's Hospital Medical School (1946-1949); Senior Lecturer in Experimental Physiology at the Sherrington School of Physiology (1956-1961), the Department of Medicine (1961-1963) and the Department of Gynaecology (1964-1965); Reader in Reproductive Physiology, Department of Gynaecology (1965-1976); and Professor of Perinatal Physiology (1976-1982).

During this time Maureen Young became an expert on foetal growth, foetal nutrition and placental transport mechanisms. She took an active interest in relevant organisations, was a member of the first ever organising committee of the European Placenta Group in 1984 and during the 1970s held various offices in the Neonatal Society.

Maureen Young participated in several of the Wellcome Witnesses to Twentieth Century Medicine Seminars, including "Origins of neonatal intensive care in the UK" (1999), "The rhesus factor and disease prevention" (2003) and "Prenatal Corticosteroids for Reducing Morbidity and Mortality After Preterm Birth" (2004). A small amount of material relating to her involvement in these may be found in GC/253.

The papers of the Physiological Society are deposited at Wellcome Collection and can be found in SA/PHY.

Wellcome Collection

This collection has been catalogued and is available to library members. Some items have access restrictions which are explained in the item-level catalogue records.