Leading neurosurgeon and President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (RCSPG), Professor Sir Graham Teasdale, was conferred with an Honorary Fellowship of RCSI at the College’s Postgraduate Conferring Ceremony today.

Born in County Durham, Sir Graham, qualified from the University of Durham Medical School, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1963. He moved to Scotland in 1967 where he trained in neurosurgery and neurosurgical research at the Institute of Neurological Sciences, Glasgow. From 1981 to 2003 he was Professor and Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Glasgow, Chairman of the University's School of Neuroscience and Associate Dean for Medical Research.

A prolific researcher Sir Graham’s main interests include the assessment of coma, guidelines for the management of head injuries and the assessment of outcome and incidence of disability. He has also, with colleagues, developed a scale for the assessment of subarachnoid haemorrhage and has initiated trials on the management of acute neurosurgical conditions. His research has added much to knowledge and understanding of cerebral ischaemia, the place of neuroprotective agents and the genetic aspects of brain damage in head injuries.

Sir Graham was also instrumental in devising the Glasgow Coma Scale or (GCS) which is routinely used today as a valuable and easily assessed marker of severity of head injury. As a world renowned neurosurgeon Sir Graham is author of some 400 refereed publications and has held office in several societies both in the UK and internationally including President of the Society of British Neurological Surgeons and Chairman of the European Brain Injury Consortium. He has received numerous prestigious awards, is a member of the editorial boards of the leading journals in neurosurgery and an Honorary Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS).

In 2005 was knighted for his services to neurosurgery. Delivering the citation for Sir Graham RCSI Past-President Professor Niall O’Higgins said: “It is appropriate that we in this College recognise officially what we have appreciated for years-the extraordinarily high achievements of Sir Graham in academic surgery and his international reputation as a medical leader.”

Approximately 100 students were conferred with postgraduate awards at today’s ceremony including Intercollegiate Board Speciality Diplomas in General Surgery, Neurosurgery, Oral and Maxillofacial surgery, Plastic Surgery and Paediatric surgery and both Intercollegiate Memberships and Memberships of the RCSI. New Members and Fellows of the Faculties of Radiology, Dentistry and Sports and Exercise Medicine were also conferred.