TMRU Museum – The House that John Built
The Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR) has a rich history that dates back to the 1950's with the pioneering work of the late Professor Sir John Waterlow, a renowned physiologist from the UK.
The CAIHR Museum at TMRU is a dedicated space to honour the rich legacy, impact, and ongoing contributions of the Institute and its researchers to global health. The museum will host artifacts of historical and scientific significance.
Be Inspired by our achievements.
John Waterlow
Professor John C Waterlow CMG FRS FRCP DSc
Professor John Waterlow arrived in the Caribbean in 1945 on a mission for the British Colonial Office to find out why so many young children were dying of malnutrition there. Five years later in 1950 he returned to Jamaica, where he obtained a shared appointment at the new university and the British Medical Research Council lecturing in physiology and continuing his studies on the fatty liver of malnourished children.
After three years in the West Indies he returned to England, but soon went back to Jamaica. He said:
There is so much still to do here, much more than I can do on my own. I shall put it to the MRC that there should be a unit in Jamaica, working initially on malnutrition, but also on other non-communicable diseases where Jamaica might provide the opportunity to make contributions not possible in the UK. Therefore I proposed the name 'Tropical Metabolism Research Unit'.
The TMRU was established at the University College of the West Indies (UCWI) in October 1954 with John Waterlow as its first Director.
John Waterlow was gifted in many ways. In the laboratory, he was able to construct an instrument if it was not available commercially. Thus he constructed and developed a micro-respirometer based on the Cartesian diver apparatus that was 1,000 times as sensitive as the conventional Warburg apparatus. This enabled him to measure enzyme activity in a few milligrams of tissue.
He also constructed a quartz fibre torsion micro-balance sensitive to about two micrograms, to weigh liver biopsy specimens. He taught other academics how to make and calibrate micropipettes. Sixty years ago, none of these items were available commercially.
The research done at TMRU laid the foundations for the effective treatment of severe childhood malnutrition. Mike Golden summed it up: 'The studies in TMRU are bearing fruit in a very dramatic way in Africa. If the mortality rate had remained at about 30 per cent in those countries with national protocols and for those children treated by non-governmental organizations, then about one million more children would have died… The progress in understanding malnutrition and applying the lessons to practical solutions in the field has been remarkable. It would not have happened without TMRU and its successive generations of dedicated scientists'.
The international renown and success of this institution in research in human nutrition, and its continuing role as a centre of excellence under continued capable leadership, attest to the vision, foresight and leadership of its founder.
By his seminal contributions to human nutrition, through the visionary establishment of the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit producing distinguished alumnae and their scientific output, and through his influence on the Caribbean Health Research Council with its impact on governments and Caribbean research culture, John Waterlow has left the Caribbean and the world an unparalleled legacy.
Museum Artefacts
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Bronze Plaque
In 1954, Sir Harold Himsworth, Secretary of the (British) Medical Research Council (MRC) approved funding for the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit (TMRU) by the MRC. TMRU became the first overseas Unit of the MRC. This bronze plaque, evidencing TMRU's status as a part of the MRC, was placed in the original TMRU's Director Office, now the TMRU Museum.
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Angela Waterlow Paintings
Original murals in the TMRU lobby as well as a painting in the original Director’s Office are the work of Angela Waterlow. Married to John Waterlow in 1939, the artist and historian accompanied him to Jamaica in 1945. She became fascinated by the colour and movement of the island, and also contributed large murals to the Faculty of Medical Sciences and the Mary Seacole Hall at the UWI. She died in 2006.
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Steam-driven Centrifuge
This Steam driven centrifuge, constructed by John Garrow, was used to separate blood samples drawn from participants during Andes Mountains experiments on high altitude physiology, led by John Waterlow in the 1960s. Sir George Alleyne, then a researcher at the TMRU described Garrow as “a genius in the workshop!”
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Waterlow's Microbalance
Built by John Waterlow to weigh very small samples of biopsied liver tissue as part of research on the livers of malnourished infants in Jamaica. Waterlow said that he “managed to construct a quartz fibre torsion balance sensitive to about two micrograms” as no suitable instrument was available commercially.
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Garrow's Microbalance
This microbalance was one used by and undoubtedly designed and constructed by John Stuart Garrow, for weighing very small samples of tissue during his time at the TMRU.
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Whole Body Counter
John Stuart Garrow, who served a two-year term as Director during one of Waterlow’s absences, was described by many as a genius of inventiveness. One important example was his involvement in the design of a Whole Body Counter to measure total body potassium of an infant in vivo. Packard (later Hewlett-Packard) constructed it and, for a time, the prototype operated at the TMRU.
This item is not an artefact in the musuem. -
Commercial Microbalance
This commercial torsion balance was eventually procured for the precise weighing of small masses up to 500 milligrams.
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Commercial Microbalance
This commercial torsion balance was used for even more precise weighing of small masses up to 25 milligrams.
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English Mahogany Microbalance
This Stanton Instruments, 1960 scientific balance was used in the TMRU laboratory for reagents or larger tissue samples, though it was not sensitive enough to measure very small biopsy samples. Sir George Alleyne said that he used a balance like this for weighing rat kidney slices during his time at the Unit.
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Commercial Microbalance
This is one of the commercial microbalances used for work in the TMRU laboratory in later years. These microbalances are still being used today.
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Balances and Scales
Balances of varying capacities were used for large samples or small animals like rats. This is a OHAUS Dial-O-Gram™ balance which is still used today as it is an extremely precise mechanical balance with high readability.
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Balances and Scales
De Grave Short and Co. Ltd (UK) brass balance. They were listed in 1882 as manufacturers of bullion, assay & chemical balances & weights, for which they were awarded a prize at the Inventions Exhibition for improvements in balances in 1885. Weighing is achieved by placing known weights in one pan to balance the load in the other pan.
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Balances and Scales
This scale has equal arms with the pans hanging above the beam. Weighing is achieved by placing known weights in one pan to balance the load in the other pan. This type of scale was also seen in Post Offices, used to weigh mail.
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Microscope Set
This Cooke, Troughton & Simms (York, UK 1922) microscope set was in general use in the TMRU laboratory
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Slide Rule
During the 1950s and early 1960s, slide rules were the equivalent of today’s computers. Sir George Alleyne asserts that this slide rule belonged to John Waterlow or John Garrow – he thinks the latter. “This was used in the days before computers. Everyone had a slide rule (I still have mine) but none were as powerful as the one shown here. I recall when we bought the first Facit calculating machine about 1968.”
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Wall Mounted Barometer
This barometer was mounted on the wall in the Director’s office and may have related to John Waterlow’s Andes experiments on high-altitude physiology. Sir George Alleyne asserts that Waterlow would not have had it without a specific purpose: “It might have been used where small variations in atmospheric pressure were important in his experiments.”
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Seated Beam Balance
This large balance was constructed by H. FEREDAY & SONS LIMITED for whole body weights. Sir George Alleyne asserts that this was not connected to a particular experiment and was rarely used during his time at TMRU.
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Mass Spectrometer
The Mass Spectrometer, purchased around 1959 with funds from Wellcome Trust, was used for more than a decade. Prof David Picou became an expert in its maintenance and use in gas analysis and it was later used by Prof Alan Jackson and Prof Michael Golden. The instrument chamber had to be regularly filled with dry ice to keep parts of the instrument cold and the tubes had to be rigorously cleaned to prevent contamination of samples.
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Revolving Surface Writing Board
This vintage Wilson and Garden revolving chalkboard was a free standing classroom blackboard invented in 1911 by William Brownie Garden (December 2, 1869 – 1960) a Scottish inventor and entrepreneur. This one was perhaps manufactured in 1970 and contains three different boards; lined, graph and blank. It is said that the largest board of all is in Oxford University in the Clarendon Laboratory, a giant over 20 feet high.
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Antique Swivel Chair
Chair belonging to the late Professor Aggrey Brown, Former Director of the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) and late Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the Mona Campus. Donated by his widow, Dr Suzanne Francis-Brown, founding Curator of the UWI Museum.
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Homemade Toys & Books
Sally Grantham-McGregor noted that the malnourished children on the TMRU ward were sad and apathetic. A programme of stimulation was developed for these children, and a Community Health Aide used home made toys to play with each child while on the ward. A mobile made from discarded materials was also attached to their cribs.
Artwork
Living the Legacy
Items for Sale
The Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica, 1956-2006, The House that John Built, eds. Forrester T, Picou D, Walker S. Kingston, Ian Randle, 2007
Available for Sale at the TMRU. Contact Us.
