Boris Petrovitch Babkin FRS,

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. T ...

D.Sc Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

LL.D Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the earl ...

(russian: Бори́с Петро́вич Ба́бкин; 17 January 1877 – 3 May 1950) was a Russian-born

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

, who worked in Russia, England and Canada.

Career

Babkin graduated from the Military Medical Academy,

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, with a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1904. He held professorships at the Novo-Alexandria Agricultural Institute and the

University of Odessa Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University ( uk, Одеський національний університет Iмені І. І. Мечникова, translit=Odeskyi natsionalnyi universytet imeni I. I. Mechnykova), located in Odesa, Ukraine, i ...

, before being imprisoned and exiled from Russia in 1922, due to his criticism of the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

. He then spent two years in England, working at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

under

Ernest Starling Ernest Henry Starling (17 April 1866 – 2 May 1927) was a British physiologist who contributed many fundamental ideas to this subject. These ideas were important parts of the British contribution to physiology, which at that time led the world ...

, before joining

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

, Nova Scotia, as Professor of Physiology. In 1928 Babkin became a research professor at

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

, Montreal, under Prof John Tait, where he spent the remainder of his career. He chaired the Physiology department between 1940 and 1941, following Tait's retirement, and, following his retirement, was invited to become

Research Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

Neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

Wilder Penfield Wilder Graves Penfield (January 26, 1891April 5, 1976) was an American Canadians, American-Physicians in Canada, Canadian neurosurgeon. He expanded brain surgery's methods and techniques, including mapping the functions of various regions of th ...

; a position he held until his death in 1950. In 1950, he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

for "''his work on the digestive glands, conditioned reflexes and the cortical representation of autonomically innervated organs. He demonstrated that a) the three pancreatic enzymes are secreted in parallel, b) sympathetic and parasympathetic fibres innervate different cells in the salivary glands and c) histamine stimulates exclusively gastric parietal cells. His researches not only refuted Heidenhain's theory of "secretory" and "trophic" nerves but led to the conception of the elements of the digestive glands being activated by different nerves and hormones. Author of "Die aussere Sekretion der Verdauungsdrusen" and "Secretory Mechanism of the Digestive Glands"''" His personal papers are conserved at the

McGill University Library McGill University Library is the library system of McGill University in Montréal, Québec, Canada. It comprises 13 branch libraries, located on the downtown Montreal and Macdonald campuses, holding over 11.78 million items. It is the fourth-la ...

in the collections of the

Osler Library of the History of Medicine The Osler Library, a branch of the McGill University Library and part of ROAAr since 2016, is Canada's foremost scholarly resource for the history of medicine, and one of the most important libraries of its type in North America. It is located i ...

and the McGill University Archives.

Honours

* 1904, Doctor of Medicine, Imperial Military Medical Academy * 1924, Honorary Doctor of Science, University College London * 1943, Honorary Doctor of Letters, Dalhousie University * 1949, Friedenwald Medal,

American Gastroenterological Association The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) is a medical association of gastroenterologists. Approximately 16,000 scientists and physicians are members of the organization. Overview The American Gastroenterological Association is a pr ...

* 1950,

References

1877 births 1950 deaths Russian physiologists Soviet physiologists Fellows of the Royal Society White Russian emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Russian descent Soviet emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century Russian scientists S.M. Kirov Military Medical Academy alumni {{Russia-scientist-stub