Douglas Harold Copp (January 16, 1915 – March 17, 1998) was a Canadian scientist who discovered and named the hormone

calcitonin Calcitonin is a 32 amino acid peptide hormone secreted by parafollicular cells (also known as C cells) of the thyroid (or endostyle) in humans and other chordates. in the ultimopharyngeal body. It acts to reduce blood calcium (Ca2+), opposing th ...

, which is used in the treatment of bone disease. Born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, he received his MD from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

in 1939 and his PhD in biochemistry from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

in 1943. In 1950 he became the first head of the physiology department in the newly established Faculty of Medicine at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. In 1967 he received the Gardner International Award jointly with the British endocrinologist Iain Macintyre who had sequenced calcitonin and showed it originated in the thyroid gland. He was a Fellow of both the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(elected 1971) and the Royal Society of Canada.

Honours

* In 1971 he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

and was promoted to Companion in 1980. * In 1972 he was awarded the

Flavelle Medal The Flavelle Medal is an award of the Royal Society of Canada "for an outstanding contribution to biological science during the preceding ten years or for significant additions to a previous outstanding contribution to biological science". It is n ...

Award of the Royal Society of Canada. * In 1994 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. * In 2000 he was inducted into the Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame.The Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame: The Hall
, Canada Science and Technology Museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copp, Harold 1915 births 1998 deaths Canadian biochemists Companions of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Canadian Fellows of the Royal Society People from Toronto Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine UC Berkeley College of Chemistry alumni University of Toronto alumni 20th-century Canadian biologists