Richard Dugard Grainger FRCS FRS (1801 – 1 Feb 1865) was an English surgeon, anatomist and physiologist.

Grainger was born in Birmingham, the son of a surgeon, and educated at a grammar school. He was the brother of Edward Grainger

Edward Grainger

Edward Grainger , teacher of anatomy, and dresser to Sir Astley Cooper. Grainger opened an anatomical school in Webb Street, Southwark, London in 1819 after his offer to teach at Guy's Hospital was rejected. The school was highly successful until the College of Surgeons changed their by-laws to...

, whose anatomical school he carried forward. He ran the private Webb Street anatomy school for twenty years before joining St Thomas's Hospital as a lecturer from 1842 to 1860.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England

Royal College of Surgeons of England

The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body and registered charity committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients, regulating surgery, including dentistry, in England and Wales...

 and delivered their Hunterian oration in 1848. He was an inspector for the Children's Employment Commission (1841), the Board of Health (1849), author of a report on cholera

Cholera

Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...

 (1850) and inspector under the Burials Act 1853. Grainger refused money from a testimonial, which was then used to found the Grainger prize. He was the author of Elements of general anatomy (1829) and Observations on... the spinal cord (1837).

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in January 1846 for his work on the spinal cord

Spinal cord

The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain . The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system...

, which supported Marshall Hall

Marshall Hall (physiologist)

Marshall Hall FRS was an English physician and physiologist. His name is attached to the theory of reflex arc mediated by the spinal cord, to a method of resuscitation of drowned people, and to the elucidation of function of capillary vessels....

's work on the reflex arc. His application citation read: The Discoverer of the structure of the Fallopian Tube in Mammalia. The Author of Observations on the Structure & Functions of the Spinal Cord, &c. Distinguished for his acquaintance with the science of physiology. Eminent as a Physiologist.

A tall, stooping man, he was a medical and social reformer, and was active in the Christian Medical Association.