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Background to the establishment of CFMS

The last twenty years has seen a significant decline in academic forensic medicine in the United Kingdom and especially in London. In 1980 there were five London Medical Schools with academic departments of forensic medicine/pathology headed by five professors and with an overall complement of 18 forensic pathologists. At the present time there are no academic centres in London and all forensic cases are carried out by pathologists on a self employed basis. Thus there was until recently, no provision for teaching and research within an academic institution.

It was clear that there was an urgent need for the re-introduction of a viable forensic medical centre in the London and the South East of England which would aim to promote a high standard of academic excellence. It was proposed therefore that such a centre be established within Barts and the London at the William Harvey Research Institute which is sited at Charterhouse Square.

The Group was established in 2006 and now acts as a stimulus and hub for the development of academic Forensic Medicine and related Medical Sciences in the London area and further afield. It was named in memory of one of Britain’s most eminent forensic practitioners, James Malcolm Cameron who was the last Professor of Forensic Medicine in London and who was based at the old London Hospital Medical College at Whitechapel. “Taffy” Cameron as he was affectionately known to his friends and colleagues, gave 30 years service to the London Hospital Medical College and was a firm advocate of academic forensic medicine and its promotion as a broad based discipline within the university system.