Archie Cochrane
Physician and epidemiologist, founder of the Cochrane Collaboration
Archibald "Archie" Leman Cochrane (1909-1988) was a Scottish-born physician and epidemiologist, born in Galashiels, Scotland, who became one of the most influential figures in the history of medical research. He is remembered as the father of evidence-based medicine, and both the Cochrane Collaboration and Cochrane Library — international networks for systematic medical reviews, are named in his honour.
Cochrane's Welsh connection is through his career rather than his birthplace: the Medical Research Council founded an epidemiology research unit in Cardiff, of which he became honorary director, and later its full director after 1969. Under his leadership, the Vale of Glamorgan became one of the most thoroughly and accurately epidemiologically mapped areas in the United Kingdom. His archive is held at Llandough Hospital, part of Cardiff University's School of Medicine.
Cochrane pioneered the use of randomised controlled trials in medicine, arguing that healthcare decisions should be based on rigorous, systematic evidence rather than opinion or tradition, a principle that reshaped how medical research and treatment guidelines are conducted worldwide.