Since its foundation the Group promoted communication between scientists, clinicians and historians through seminars, symposia, a Summer School, initiated the short-term sabbatical leave scheme that allows practitioners to undertake a historical project, and held and published Witness Seminars. Originally a part of the Wellcome Trust and then the Academic Unit of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, from 2000–2010 it was a constituent part of the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL, in October 2010 it moved to the School of History, QMUL.