Our research history

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) was founded in 1852 by Charles West, a forward-thinking doctor who recognised that children have very different medical needs to adults.

His solution was to establish a hospital dedicated solely to caring for children and trying to find new and better ways to improve their health.

The history of GOSH documents the course of developments and some of the foremost doctors who led the way in finding new ways to help the children in their care.

The hospital is developing a series of booklets which illustrate just some of the amazing breakthroughs in paediatric medicine developed by doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital:

Breakthroughs in children’s medicine - Heart and lung
View our interactive heart and lung breakthrough guide

Breakthroughs in children’s medicine - Cancer
View our interactive cancer breakthrough guide