The Woolmer lecture is the flagship lecture of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. It takes place annually during the Institute's Medical Physics and Engineering Conference.
The lecture is dedicated to Professor Ronald Woolmer (1908–1962) who was the first Director of the Research Department of Anaesthetics at the Royal College of Surgeons. Woolmer convened a meeting at the Royal College of Surgeons, London, to discuss the evolving field of engineering applied to medicine. It was agreed that the group should hold regular meetings and as a result the Biological Engineering Society (BES) was formed with Ronald Woolmer as the first President. Woolmer died two years after the formation of the BES and it was agreed that a memorial lecture would be sponsored in recognition of his achievements.
| Years | Name | Lecture title | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | A. C. Dornhorst | The Influence of Engineering Techniques on Biological Thought, with Particular Reference to Analogue and Conceptual Models | |
| 1964 | George Godber | Measurement and Mechanisation in Medicine[1] | |
| 1965 | – | Title | |
| 1966 | Ludwig Guttmann | Physiological Integration of the Spinal Man[2] | |
| 1967 | Andrew F. Huxley | Forgetting and Rediscovery in Physiology[3] | |
| 1968 | Roy Yorke Calne | Organ Substitution — Biological or Mechanical?[4] | |
| 1969 | – | Title | |
| 1970 | Lord Bowden | The Social Implications of Technology[5] | |
| 1971 | T. Z. Young | The Worlds of Animals, Men and Gods[6] | |
| 1972 | Lord Brock of Wimbledon | The Changing Face of Surgery and the Part Played by Bioengineering[7] | |
| 1973 | Peter Medawar | All engineering is bioengineering[8] | |
| 1974 | – | Title | |
| 1975 | – | Title | |
| 1976 | – | Title | |
| 1977 | David C. Simpson | Arms: Natural & Artificial[9] | |
| 1978 | Geoffrey Allen | Technology in Medicine — Present and Future[10] | |
| 1979 | – | Title | |
| 1980 | William Gosling | Biology and Engineering — an historic convergence[11] | |
| 1981 | – | Title | |
| 1982 | – | Title | |
| 1983 | – | Title | |
| 1984 | M. M. Jordan | Title[12] | |
| 1985 | – | Title | |
| 1986 | – | Biological design — a neglected art | |
| 1987 | – | Title | |
| 1988 | John Ashworth[13] | Title | |
| 1989 | – | Title | |
| 1990 | – | Title | |
| 1991 | – | Title | |
| 1992 | – | Title | |
| 1993 | – | Title | |
| 1994 | – | Title | |
| 1995 | – | Title | |
| 1996 | – | Title | |
| 1997 | – | Title | |
| 1998 | – | Title | |
| 1999 | – | Title | |
| 2000 | – | Title | |
| 2001 | – | Title | |
| 2002 | Anthony Unsworth | Hip Joint replacement | |
| 2003 | Arun Holden | Title | |
| 2004 | Kevin Warwick | Title | |
| 2005 | Assistive technologies for function restoration | ||
| 2006 | Denis Noble | Cardiac Modelling | |
| 2007 | Michael Brady | Colorectal and Liver Cancer Image Analysis | |
| 2008 | Clive Hahn | Bioengineering Aspects of the Lung: Models and Measurements | |
| 2009 | Martin Birchall | Regenerative Medicine: new challenges, new hopes | |
| 2010 | Mark Tooley | Imitating the Patient | |
| 2011 | Willi Kalender[14] | Developments in Computed Tomography: Is sub-mSv a realistic option? | |
| 2012 | Lionel Tarassenko[15] | Physiology-Driven Signal Analysis and Data Fusion | |
| 2013 | Molly Stevens[16] | Designing Biomaterials for Ultrasensitive Biosensing and Regenerative Medicine | |
| 2014 | David Keating[17] | Medical Physics: A Gateway to Innovation | |
| 2015 | Anthony Barker[18] | Transcranial magnetic stimulation - the first 30 years | |
| 2016 | Andrew Taylor[19] | Can Engineering and Imaging help us design Cardiovascular devices? | |
| 2017 | Josef Käs | Why do rigid tumours contain soft cancer cells? | |
| 2018 | Alison Noble[20] | Human Image Recognition, Artificial Intelligence and Shifting Perceptions of Medical Ultrasound | |