2015-2016

News Release

REF NO.: 32

SUBJECT: Commemorating the legacy of a medical pioneer

DATE: November 6, 2015

Note to editors:

The Faculty of Medicine will celebrate Commemorating our Legacy, a symposium reflecting on Dr. Cluny Macpherson, Newfoundland medical doctor and inventor of the first gas mask in the First World War, on Monday, Nov. 9.

The full-day event will feature a range of speakers who will deliver talks on Dr. Macpherson and the many medical military contributions the province has made through the years.

Presentations will focus on various aspects of war, from the use of the gas mask in the First World War to a glimpse of modern-day medicine from a Faculty of Medicine alumnus currently serving in the Canadian Armed Forces.

The plenary speaker of the day, Andrew Robertshaw, is a military historian, broadcaster and educator from the United Kingdom. He is well known for his work on combining archaeological techniques with archival research to show what life was like on the frontlines of the battlefields. His talk will discuss the gases used during the First World War and the impact Dr. Macpherson made on the Great War.

The Faculty of Medicine also recently acquired an original gas mask from the First World War, which will be unveiled during the symposium and will be on permanent display in the new Medical Education Centre.

Media representatives are invited to attend. Mr. Robertshaw’s presentation begins at 9 a.m. in the main auditorium in the Health Sciences Centre and the gas mask unveiling will take place at 12 p.m. in the Medical Education Centre Atrium.

For more information, please visit www.library.mun.ca/hsl/archives/about/symposium.

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