James Collip

<h2 id="education">Education</h2>

<p>Born in <a href="/facts/Belleville%2c_Ontario/X9RQL7Vx">Belleville, Ontario</a>, he enrolled at <a href="/facts/University_of_Trinity_College/0vzT3xu6">Trinity College</a> at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Toronto/FpGjQNm9">University of Toronto</a> at the age of 15, and studied <a href="/facts/Physiology/fh25y2pQ">physiology</a> and <a href="/facts/Biochemistry/fa2pWEBp">biochemistry</a>. He obtained a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the same university in 1916.
</p>
<h2 id="career">Career</h2>
<p>In 1915, at the age of 22, Collip accepted a lecturing position in <a href="/facts/Edmonton/ePFNJlBN">Edmonton</a> in the department of physiology at the <a href="/facts/University_of_Alberta/08ERvE5c">University of Alberta</a> 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 on <a href="/facts/Blood/03zEulkj">blood</a> <a href="/facts/Chemistry/SrNqkGVm">chemistry</a> of <a href="/facts/Vertebrates/tT54FSTT">vertebrates</a> and <a href="/facts/Invertebrates/3CyqCVnN">invertebrates</a>.
</p><p>He took a <a href="/facts/Sabbatical/3QgUGTej">sabbatical</a> leave beginning in April 1921, and travelled to Toronto on a <a href="/facts/Rockefeller_Foundation/jdNMyMYI">Rockefeller</a> Travelling Scholarship for a six-month position with Professor <a href="/facts/John_Macleod_(physiologist)/pYfQxcp4">John MacLeod</a> 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 the <a href="/facts/Marine_Biological_Laboratory/xpgyHlte">Marine Biological Laboratory</a> in <a href="/facts/Woods_Hole%2c_Massachusetts/UafESIpo">Woods Hole, Massachusetts</a>, and <a href="/facts/St._Andrews_Biological_Station/gKB3u1r0">St. Andrews Biological Station</a> in <a href="/facts/Saint_Andrews%2c_New_Brunswick/01qFHelg">Saint Andrews, New Brunswick</a>, before he returned to Toronto late in the year.
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<h2 id="success-of-insulin">Success of insulin</h2>
<p>MacLeod was overseeing the work of <a href="/facts/Frederick_Banting/gTqf4aEJ">Frederick Banting</a> and <a href="/facts/Charles_Best_(medical_scientist)/ItV9A7PH">Charles Best</a> in their search for a treatment for <a href="/facts/Diabetes/2xeHXbsI">diabetes</a> 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-old <a href="/facts/Leonard_Thompson_(diabetic)/3HUscIlq">Leonard Thompson</a> 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".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> 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.'"<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> 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.
</p>

<p>Due to disagreements between Banting and MacLeod, there was ill will generated within the team. The <a href="/facts/Nobel_Prize_in_Physiology_or_Medicine/rlnpJX84">Nobel Prize for Medicine</a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p><p>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 to <a href="/facts/McGill_University/amouytVp">McGill University</a> in Montreal by his former graduate advisor, <a href="/facts/Archibald_Macallum/l1293Yw8">Archibald Macallum</a>. 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 the <a href="/facts/University_of_Western_Ontario/BcvT1C80">University of Western Ontario</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> He is regarded as a pioneer of <a href="/facts/Endocrine_system/PDvN5cpj">endocrine research</a>. He did pioneering work with the <a href="/facts/Parathyroid_hormone/Dh7Uld78">parathyroid hormone</a> (PTH).
</p><p>He died on June 19, 1965, at the age of 72.
</p>
<h2 id="honours-and-awards">Honours and awards</h2>
<ul><li>Fellow of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Society_of_Canada/betD1djj">Royal Society of Canada</a>, 1925</li>
<li>Fellow of the <a href="/facts/Royal_Society/KI5yXCuV">Royal Society</a>, 1933<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li>
<li>Honorary Doctorate <a href="/facts/Doctor_of_Science/RCVkMNBH">D.Sc</a>, <a href="/facts/Harvard_University/Lhy9L1cx">Harvard University</a>, 1936</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Cameron_Prize_for_Therapeutics_of_the_University_of_Edinburgh/770jkQIx">Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh</a>, 1937</li>
<li>Commander of the <a href="/facts/Order_of_the_British_Empire/HlY9buuN">Order of the British Empire</a>, 1943</li>
<li>Honorary Doctorate D.Sc, <a href="/facts/University_of_Oxford/ExVVQL6V">University of Oxford</a>, 1946</li>
<li>Honorary Doctorate, <a href="/facts/University_of_Alberta/08ERvE5c">University of Alberta</a>, 1946<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Presidential_Medal_of_Freedom/wNtowHA6">Medal of Freedom</a> with Silver Palm (US), 1947</li>
<li>Banting Medal of the <a href="/facts/American_Diabetes_Association/3QzcRSwA">American Diabetes Association</a>, 1960</li>
<li>Honorary Doctorate D.Sc  from the <a href="/facts/University_of_Western_Ontario/BcvT1C80">University of Western Ontario</a>, 30 May 1964<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Collip.
 
<ul><li><a href="https://insulin.library.utoronto.ca">The Discovery and Early Development of Insulin digital collection, University of Toronto</a></li>
<li><a href="https://insulin.library.utoronto.ca/about/collip">Biography of James Bertram Collip</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Noble, R. L. (1965). "Memories of James Bertram Collip". Canadian Medical Association Journal. 93 (26): 1356–1364. PMC 1935207. PMID 5321114. <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1935207" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1935207</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"The discovery of insulin: A story of monstrous egos and toxic rivalries". 11 January 2022. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023. <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-discovery-of-insulin-a-story-of-monstrous-egos-and-toxic-rivalries-172820" target="_blank">https://theconversation.com/the-discovery-of-insulin-a-story-of-monstrous-egos-and-toxic-rivalries-172820</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"TVO Today | Current Affairs Journalism, Documentaries and Podcasts". Archived from the original on 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-06-12. <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/booze-paranoia-and-black-eyes-the-true-story-behind-the-discovery-of-insulin" target="_blank">https://www.tvo.org/article/booze-paranoia-and-black-eyes-the-true-story-behind-the-discovery-of-insulin</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"The discovery of insulin: A story of monstrous egos and toxic rivalries". 11 January 2022. Archived from the original on 12 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023. <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-discovery-of-insulin-a-story-of-monstrous-egos-and-toxic-rivalries-172820" target="_blank">https://theconversation.com/the-discovery-of-insulin-a-story-of-monstrous-egos-and-toxic-rivalries-172820</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>"James Collip MD PhD | Canadian Medical Hall of Fame". www.cdnmedhall.org. Archived from the original on 2021-04-12. Retrieved 2019-12-07. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210412010244/http://www.cdnmedhall.org/inductees/jamescollip" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20210412010244/http://www.cdnmedhall.org/inductees/jamescollip</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>Barr, M. L.; Rossiter, R. J. (1973). "James Bertram Collip 1892-1965". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 19: 234–267. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1973.0009. PMID 11615724. S2CID 35038024. <a href="/wiki/Biographical_Memoirs_of_Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society" target="_blank">/wiki/Biographical_Memoirs_of_Fellows_of_the_Royal_Society</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>"Past Honorary Degree Recipients | Chancellor and Senate". www.ualberta.ca. Retrieved 2021-06-08. <a href="https://www.ualberta.ca/chancellor-and-senate/honorary-degrees/past-honorary-degree-recipients.html?0=collip" target="_blank">https://www.ualberta.ca/chancellor-and-senate/honorary-degrees/past-honorary-degree-recipients.html?0=collip</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>"HONORARY DEGREES AWARDED" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 March 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024. <a href="https://uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/senate/honorary/honorary_degrees_by_year.pdf" target="_blank">https://uwo.ca/univsec/pdf/senate/honorary/honorary_degrees_by_year.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

James Collip open-in-new

James Collip