James Collip

James Bertram Collip was an indispensable member of the Toronto team that discovered insulin. Joining Frederick Banting, Charles Best, and J.J.R. Macleod in late 1921, Collip applied his masterful biochemical knowledge to overcome the toxic contaminants in raw pancreatic extracts. In January 1922, his refined extract was successfully injected into fourteen-year-old Leonard Thompson, proving clinically effective without fatal reactions.

Collip went on to a stellar career in endocrinology, isolating parathyroid hormone (PTH), contributing to ACTH characterization, and serving as Dean of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and made a Companion of the Order of Canada.