Michael Woodruff

Biography

Sir Michael Woodruff was Professor of Surgery at the University of Edinburgh from 1957 to 1976. Woodruff was born in London before moving to Australia where he completed his medical studies. He later joined the Royal Australian Medical Corps during World War Two and was captured by the Japanese. In October 1960 at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary he performed the first successful kidney transplant in the UK. He researched transplant rejection and immunosuppression, and developed a drug to prevent rejection. Woodruff was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1968 before being knighted in 1969.

Details

• Date of interview: February 1999
• Archive reference: OBJ/ORA/1/43
• Interviewer: Martin Eastwood