Like his grandfather, Dr. Warren's principal area of research and expertise was the surgical treatment of tumors. He published extensively on this subject, specializing in surgical treatments for breast cancer. He developed a particular model of dissection knife for use with tumors of the breast and had it produced by Codman and Shurtleff, the famous Boston firm of instrument makers.
For nearly a quarter of a century, he was the chairman of the Cancer Commission of Harvard University and was instrumental in raising funds for the construction of the Collis P. Huntingdon Memorial Hospital for Cancer Research. The Longwood campus remains Dr. Warren's most enduring memorial at Harvard Medical School, as he and Dr. Henry Pickering Bowditch together were the driving force for raising donations for the construction of the Quad facilities and encouraging local hospitals to remove to the new medical area.
]]>On his return to America in 1802, Dr. John Collins Warren entered into partnership with his father and also began to assist him with anatomical lectures, dissections, and demonstrations at Harvard Medical School. He was named Adjunct Professor of Anatomy and Surgery in 1809, then, at his father's death, assumed the Hersey Professorship of Anatomy and Surgery. He held that post until he was granted professor emeritus status in 1847. Dr. Warren was also the first dean of the Medical School and promoted its removal from Cambridge to Boston to obtain better access to clinical facilities. Over the course of his long career, he assembled an extraordinary teaching collection of anatomical and pathological specimens. He presented it to the Harvard Corporation in 1847 along with $5000. This was the beginning of the Warren Anatomical Museum.
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