The Department of Experimental Pathology was proposed by Sir Howard Florey in 1948 with Dr G. M. Watson appointed a Research Fellow in Experimental Pathology on 1 December 1948. Due to shortage of laboratory space and suitably trained personnel, the Department of Experimental Pathology was not physically established within the John Curtin School of Medical Research until the latter part of 1953. The Department's staff members, Dr G. M. Watson, Senior Research Fellow, and Dr G. B. Mackaness, Research who had worked in the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at the University of Oxford moved to Canberra in January 1954. From 1 January 1982 to 31 March 1988, Peter Doherty was Professor and Head, Department of Experimental Pathology. Following a recommendation of the 1988 School Review, the John Curtin School of Medical Research moved from a departmental to a divisional structure in 1989.