A plaque has been unveiled at the University of Sheffield's Jessop Building to honour Cecil Paine, a scientist who in 1930 achieved the first successful therapeutic use of penicillin, two years after Alexander Fleming discovered the drug's antibacterial properties. The recognition matters because Paine's breakthrough, though little-known for decades, directly enabled the medical advances that followed, and the plaque ensures his contribution is not lost to history.

Paine used unpurified penicillin derived from mould supplied by Fleming to successfully treat eye infections in two babies and a miner, succeeding where earlier attempts, including Fleming's own, had not. His findings helped pave the way for Sir Howard Florey's Oxford team to purify the drug and carry out the first clinical trial in 1941. Because Paine never published his research or kept detailed records, his role was largely unrecognised until it was publicised in the 1980s. Professor Sheila Francis of the university's cardiovascular biology department said his "pioneering work" was little-known despite having "helped pave the way for a treatment that has saved millions of lives," and the plaque was unveiled with the mayor and lady mayoress in attendance.