b. 20 Nov 1892, Bellville, Ontario- d. 19 June 1965, London, Ontario
Dean of Medicine, Western University
James Bertram Collip became a medical researcher. During a sabbatical from U of Alberta he was working with J.J.R. MacLeod in Toronto when at Banting's request MacLeod asked Collip to join the team investigating the internal secretion of the pancreas. A skillful biochemist, he produced the first insulin suitable for use on human beings. With Best and Banting, he was one of the original patentees of insulin, and in 1923 received from MacLeod a one-quarter share of the Nobel Prize money awarded to Banting and MacLeod.
PhD (biochemistry), U of T, 1916; Jan 1922 Collip discovered a way to produce a nontoxic, antidiabetic pancreatic extract. Serious quarreling with Banting and production problems in the lab resulted in Collip returning to U of A after his sabbatical. Endocrinological research, one of first to isolate parathyroid hormone; 1928 succeeded A.B. Macallum as professor of biochemistry at McGill, where for the next decade he and his students were leaders in endocrinology, pioneering in the isolation and study of the ovarian and gonadotrophic hormones. Dean of Medicine, Western, 1947-61. Collip had been the best scientist on the insulin team, and afterwards made the most significant contributions to medical research. He did not court honours and seldom discussed the discovery of insulin. During the 1930s he became a good friend of Banting.
Sources: The Canadian Encyclopedia, 1988 (Michael Bliss, The Discovery of Insulin, 1982)
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