Tag: Charles Best

News

Freeze-dried blood serum from the 1940s gives hope to researchers of today

Posted on
Kanwal Singh from Defence Research and Development Canada helped Dr. Beckett take freeze-dried plasma from 1943, which this empty bottle once contained, and see how well it had held up over time. [Photo: SAMMY KOGAN/THE GLOBE AND MAIL]

Club member Christopher Rutty is featured in this fascinating story that appears in today’s Globe & Mail. Dr Rutty is resident historian and manager of the Sanofi Toronto archives where an 80-year old bottle in a museum display-case provided striking evidence of the value of freeze-dried blood serum.

Events

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Nobel Prize for the Discovery of Insulin to Banting and Macleod: Impact and Legacy

Posted on
Nobel Laureate Dr Arthur Mcdonald; Professor Erling Norrby of Stockholm; Her Excellency Signe Burgstaller, Ambassador of Sweden to Canada; Nobel Laureate John Polanyi; Dr John Dirks

On November 27, 2023, the Toronto Medical Historical Club hosted a successful symposium celebrating the 100th anniversary of the award of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Frederick Banting and JJR Macleod for the discovery of insulin. The event brought together a distinguished panel of speakers to reflect on the impact and legacy of the insulin discovery and to inspire future research advancement.

Insulin 100 News

“It Works! Now What?” by Christopher Rutty

Posted on
Photograph of the Connaught Laboratories ca. 1923 [UToronto, Insulin collection]

Congratulations to Christopher Rutty whose new article ““It Works! Now What?” Insulin Development, Production, and Distribution at Connaught Laboratories, University of Toronto, 1922–24″ appears in the Canadian Journal of Health History.

Chris’ article focuses on Connaught’s intimate involvement in the history of insulin from January 1922 through the summer of 1924, tracing the challenges and innovations of developing larger-scale production methods, the establishment and expansion of Canadian insulin production capacity, and the key role the labs played in spearheading the global distribution of insulin.

Insulin 100 News

Rethinking the “discovery” of insulin

Posted on
JJR Macleod, Charles Best, Frederick Banting, JB Collip [UT Insulin]

Alison Li has two new articles offering perspectives on the discovery of insulin during this year’s centenary celebrations.

“Rethinking the ‘discovery’ of insulin” appeared in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, 25 October 2021

“Insulin’s centenary: complexity and collaboration” appeared in The Lancet, 13 November 2021, as part of an issue on the challenging theme: “100 years of insulin: technical success but access failure.”