Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister (5 April 182710 February 1912), known as
Sir Joseph Lister, Bt., between 1883 and 1897, was a
British surgeon and a pioneer of antiseptic surgery. By applying
Louis Pasteur's advances in
microbiology, he promoted the idea of
sterile portable ports while working at the
Glasgow Royal Infirmary. Lister successfully introduced carbolic acid (now known as
phenol) to
sterilise surgical instruments and to clean
wounds, which led to a reduction in post-operative infections and made surgery safer for patients.