Charles Best (medical scientist)
Charles Herbert Best CC, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSC, FRCP[1] (February 27, 1899 – March 31, 1978), was an American-Canadian medical scientist and one of the co-discoverers of insulin with Frederick Banting. He served as the chair of the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research at the University of Toronto and was further involved in research concerning choline and heparin.
For other people named Charles Best, see Charles Best (disambiguation).
Charles Best
Early life[edit]
Charles Herbert Best was born in Pembroke, Maine, on February 27, 1899, to Luella Fisher and Herbert Huestis Best, a Canadian-born physician from Nova Scotia.[2] His father, Herbert Best, was a doctor in a small Maine town with a limited economy based mostly on sardine-packing.[2] His mother, Lulu Newcomb, later Lulu Best, was a soprano singer, organist, and pianist. Charles Best grew up in Pembroke before going to Toronto, Ontario, to study medicine in 1915.[2]
By the time Best had reached college age and was choosing between such schools as McGill University and the University of Toronto, family connections persuaded him to pursue his studies in Toronto. Family illness had guided Best's research interests—his Aunt Anna dying of diabetes had profound effects on him.[2] It was for this reason, and the fact that his father was a physician, that he chose to study at University of Toronto and train to become a doctor.[2] His university studies were interrupted following his first year by the onset of the First World War.[1] He served as an infantry soldier, reaching the rank of acting Sergeant Major.[2] Following his service, he eventually returned to university in Toronto, but was falling behind in his classes.
Professor of physiology[edit]
Best succeeded Macleod as professor of physiology at University of Toronto in 1929.[13] During World War II he was influential in establishing a Canadian program for securing and using dried human blood serum. In his later years, he was an adviser to the Medical Research Committee of the United Nations World Health Organization
Personal life[edit]
Best later claimed that the greatest moment of his life occurred when he met his future wife, Margaret Mahon (1900–1988) following his return.[2] Best married Margaret Hooper Mahon in Toronto in 1924 and they had two sons. One son, Henry Best was a well-regarded historian who later became president of Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. Best's other son was Charles Alexander Best, a Canadian politician and geneticist. Best is the grandfather of Susan MacTavish Best.[14]
Best died on March 31, 1978, in Toronto.[15] He is interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto, not far from Sir Frederick Banting.