the 1920s, edward mellanby's studies on rickets established that cod liver oil prevented the disease, which helped lead to its eradication. in the 1930s, cecil payne became the first to use penicillin to effect a cure. also in the 1930s, sir hans krebs made significant advancements in the study of cellular energy, codifying his observations in the krebs cycle, for which work he received a nobel prize in 1953. motto and coat of arms crest of the school on the medical school building the motto of the sheffield medical school is ars longa vita brevis, a latin translation of an aphorism from aphorismi by greek physician hippocrates. it translates in english as "art is long, life is short", referring to the difficulty in acquiring and practising the art of medicine. a stone carving bearing the motto was displayed on the sheffield medical institution building on surrey street, from 1829 until the demolition of the building in 1965. the original stone is now situated close to the entrance of the medical school on beech hill road. the coat of arms of the sheffield faculty of medicine was granted by the college of arms on 12 december 2003. it features elements from the coat of arms of the university of sheffield: the crown of success, two sheaves of arrows and the open books, as well as the azure background colour. the rod of asclepius is centred on the shield. it can be seen throughout the medical school on its buildings. a variation of the crest is used by various sheffield medical society sports teams. student life representing over 2000 medical students on campus, sheffield medical society (medsoc) is the largest society at the university of sheffield students' union. the medsoc has 33 academic and non-academic sub-societies as well as its own sports teams. notable alumni and staff british army medical officer william barnsley allen (mbchb, 1914) christopher addison, first arthur jackson professor of anatomy (1896-1901) john beresford leathes, professor of physiology (1914-1933; hon dsc, 1923) edward mellanby, discoverer of vitamin d, chair in pharmacology (1920-1933) nobel laureate howard florey, joseph hunter chair of pathology (1931-1935) lydia manley henry, first female medical graduate at sheffield (mbchb, 1916; md, 1920) robert platt, baron platt of grindleford (mb chb, 1921; md, 1923) radiation oncologist frank ellis (mbchb, 1929) surgeon mike mcmahon (mbchb, 1967) michael bond (mbchb, 1961; md, 1965) pamela shaw, professor of neurology james underwood, professor of pathology michael wells, professor of gynaecological pathology frank woods, sir george franklin professor of medicine moira whyte, sir george franklin professor of medicine john emery, professor associate in paediatric pathology (1972-1980) sir hans krebs, biochemist.