Edward Jenner Medal Edward Jenner Medal The Edward Jenner Medal is awarded occasionally by the Royal Society of Medicine to individuals who have undertaken distinguished work in epidemiological research. The award was founded in 1896 by the Epidemiological Society of London (1850–1907) to commemorate the centenary of Edward Jenner’s discovery of a means of smallpox vaccination. The Epidemiological Society became a founder member of the Royal Society of Medicine in 1907. The medal was designed in Bronze by Allan Wyon. It features Jenner’s face on one aspect and the symbol of the Epidemiological Society, the Earth, on the reverse. The medal was re-cast
Edward Jenner of the previously misunderstood life of the nested cuckoo, a study that combined observation, experiment, and dissection. He described how the newly hatched cuckoo pushed its host's eggs and fledgling chicks out of the nest (contrary to existing belief that the adult cuckoo did it). Having observed this behaviour, Jenner demonstrated an anatomical adaptation for it—the baby cuckoo has a depression in its back, not present after 12 days of life, that enables it to cup eggs and other chicks. The adult does not remain long enough in the area to perform this task. Jenner's findings were published in "Philosophical