Harold Copp decided to enter medicine after his brother died from a bullet wound when a burglar shot him. Copp became head of the physiology dept. at UBC in Vancouver in 1950. He decided to investigate the regulation of calcium in the body, and discovered calcitonin, a hormone that inhibits the release of calcium from the bones. Copp became world-famous for his discovery and was inaugurated into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame by the Medical Research Council in May, 1994.
More detail: Copp earned his MD in 1939 at the U. of T., graduating with a gold medal, and received his PhD in biochemistry in 1943 at Berkeley, becoming an assistant professor in the new radiation lab there. Because he did not approve of the McCarthy oath he was required to give, in 1950 Copp moved to Vancouver, BC, and became head of the physiology department at the new medical school at UBC. He decided to investigate the regulation of calcium in the body. Calcium was known to regulate the contraction of muscle fibres, the firing of nerve cells, and the flow of chemicals in and out of cells. It was believed a hormone stimulates the release of calcium from the skeleton when blood calcium level is low. Copp discovered that another hormone, which he called calcitonin, is also involved that inhibits the release of calcium from the bones. Copp is famous all over the world for his discovery, which is used in synthetic form to treat diseases such as osteoporosis, Paget's disease, hypercalcemia, and rheumatoid arthritis, among other conditions. Calcitonin is also a painkiller 30 to 50 times stronger than morphine, yet is nonaddictive. He was inaugurated into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame by the Medical Research Council in May, 1994.
Sources: "Everywhere but Canada, you say?" by Jim Christy, Georgia Straight, July 1, 1994
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