Claude L. Pierre Masson (November 12, 1880 – May 11, 1959) was a Canadian medical doctor. He was considered one of the leading histopathologists of his era. He was born in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

and studied medicine at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

and the

Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines ...

. Originally, Masson planned a career in clinical medicine, but, after suffering poor health, decided to change his area of interest to biology. Masson was offered the chair of pathology at the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

. He is credited with first describing neurocrine secretion and his work led to the development of modern

neuroendocrinology Neuroendocrinology is the branch of biology (specifically of physiology) which studies the interaction between the nervous system and the endocrine system; i.e. how the brain regulates the hormonal activity in the body. The nervous and endocrine ...

. He was also known for his research into brain tumours. Masson developed at three- stain protocol used in

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vi ...

known as " Masson's trichrome stain". In 1927, he left Strasbourg to become chair of the Pathology department at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...

. Masson reworked the pathology curriculum at the university and reorganized the pathology laboratories there. He retired from that position in 1954. He died at the age of 79 and was buried in the

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run a ...

. Masson was named to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 1997.

References

1880 births 1959 deaths Physicians from Dijon Canadian pathologists Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery French emigrants to Canada University of Paris alumni {{canada-med-bio-stub