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James Bertram Collip | |
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 Collip in his office at McGill University, c. 1930 | |
| Born | James Bertram Collip (1892-11-20)November 20, 1892 Belleville, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | June 19, 1965(1965-06-19) (aged 72) London, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto |
| Known for | Purification ofinsulin[2] |
| Awards | Flavelle Medal(1936) Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh(1937) Fellow of the Royal Society[1] |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biochemistry |
James Bertram Collip (November 20, 1892 – June 19, 1965) was a Canadian biochemist who was part of theToronto group which isolatedinsulin. He served as the chair of the department of biochemistry atMcGill University from 1928 to 1941 and dean of medicine at theUniversity of Western Ontario from 1947 to 1961, where he was a charter member of TheKappa Alpha Society.[3]
Born inBelleville, Ontario, he enrolled atTrinity College at theUniversity of Toronto at the age of 15, and studiedphysiology andbiochemistry. He obtained a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the same university in 1916.
In 1915, at the age of 22, Collip accepted a lecturing position inEdmonton in the department of physiology at theUniversity of Alberta Faculty of Medicine, shortly before completing his doctorate. He fulfilled the role for 7 years, eventually rising to the position of professor and head of the department of biochemistry in 1922. His research at the time was mainly focused onbloodchemistry ofvertebrates andinvertebrates.
He took asabbatical leave beginning in April 1921, and travelled to Toronto on aRockefeller Travelling Scholarship for a six-month position with ProfessorJohn MacLeod of the University of Toronto's department of physiology. There his research program (on the effect of pH on the concentration of sugar in the blood) would take him to theMarine Biological Laboratory inWoods Hole, Massachusetts, andSt. Andrews Biological Station inSaint Andrews, New Brunswick, before he returned to Toronto late in the year.
MacLeod was overseeing the work ofFrederick Banting andCharles Best in their search for a treatment fordiabetes which they had begun in May 1921. In December, when Banting and Best were having difficulties in refining the pancreatic extract, MacLeod freed Collip from his other research to enable him to join the research team. Collip's task was to prepare insulin in a more pure, usable form than Banting and Best had been able to achieve to date. In January 1922, after 14-year-oldLeonard Thompson suffered a severe allergic reaction to an injection of insulin, Collip achieved the goal of preparing a pancreatic extract pure enough for Thompson to recover and to use in clinical trials. Despite Collip's breakthrough, Banting was furious as he saw that "Collip's discoveries were not a cause for celebration but a new threat".[4] At some point between January 17 and 24, Collip and Banting reportedly had a physical altercation in the labs, supposedly when "Collip visited Banting and Best in their lab and told them that he wasn’t going to share the latest extract formulation (which may or may not have had Macleod's blessing) and that he was contemplating leaving the research team and patenting the process on his own". A colleague later lampooned this incident with a "cartoon showing Banting sitting on Collip and titled 'The Discovery of Insulin.'"[5] Nonetheless, successful trials were soon completed and the future of insulin was assured. Banting, Best and Collip subsequently shared the patent for insulin, which they sold to the University of Toronto for one dollar.
Due to disagreements between Banting and MacLeod, there was ill will generated within the team. TheNobel Prize for Medicine was awarded to Banting and MacLeod in 1923. Feeling that Best had been overlooked in the award, Banting shared his portion with Best. In response, MacLeod shared his portion with Collip. Nonetheless, Collip is often overlooked as a co-discoverer of insulin, in part due to Best's public relations campaign that downplayed Collip's crucial role.[4]
Following this early success, Collip returned to Edmonton to take up a position as Head of the new Department of Biochemistry, and to pursue his own studies on hormone research. In 1928 he was recruited toMcGill University in Montreal by his former graduate advisor,Archibald Macallum. Collip served as Chair of McGill's Department of Biochemistry from 1928 to 1941. From 1947 to 1961, Collip was appointed Dean of Medicine at theUniversity of Western Ontario.[6] He is regarded as a pioneer ofendocrine research. He did pioneering work with theparathyroid hormone (PTH).
He died on June 19, 1965, at the age of 72.
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| Preceded by | President of the Royal Society of Canada 1942–1943 | Succeeded by |
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