Club members John Dirks, Peter Kopplin, Christopher Rutty and Alison Li, along with colleagues Gary Goldberg, Erling Norrby of Stockholm and James Wright of Calgary and partners Christine Kopplin, Andrea Rutty, and Elsebeth Welander-Berggren were warmly welcomed to Aberdeen by John Otto and Kimberlie Hamilton, co-founders of the JJR Macleod Memorial Statue Society, and by our good friend Kenneth McHardy.
Ivan Semeniuk has an excellent article in today’s Globe & Mail titled “Prize Fight: One century later, experts revisit the hidden feud behind Canada’s First Nobel,” describing the complex history behind the award to Banting and Macleod for the discovery of insulin. Semeniuk attended the symposium hosted by the Toronto Medical Historical Club last month and describes the hidden tensions among the key figures as well as the evolution of the story of the discovery over the past 100 years. Several speakers at the symposium, John Dirks, James Wright, and Ken McHardy, are interviewed in the article.
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.
Christopher Rutty is interviewed in this article “L’insuline, découverte vitale et bisbille créatrice : le 1er Nobel canadien a 100 ans” at CBC/Radio-Canada. Today marks the 100th anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Frederick Banting and JJR Macleod for the discovery of insulin.
Chris is also featured in the television story on the centenary that is available here.
We are delighted to announce that “J.J.R. Macleod, Reconsidered: Insulin and Beyond,” an issue of Canadian Journal of Health History (Volume 40, issue 2) is now live on the UTP journals site. It is available via Open Access, thanks to a generous grant from AMS Healthcare. This issue is co-edited by Alison Li, Christopher Rutty, and James Wright and includes articles by Kenneth McHardy, Edwin Gale, Christopher Rutty, and James Wright.
This special issue emerges from the historical workshop on JJR Macleod hosted by the Toronto Medical Historical Club on May 4, 2022, after the “Banting, Bliss, and Beyond” day-long symposium. The planning committee for the symposium consisted of John Dirks, Chair, Peter Kopplin, Secretary, Aubie Angel, Alison Li, Christopher J. Rutty, and Carol Sawka.
We invite you to read these articles which explore the life and career of Macleod, a scientist whose accomplishments have received relatively little attention and whose role in the discovery of insulin continues to be misunderstood.
