1922
Drs. Charles Best and Frederick Banting
First clinical use of insulin for diabetes
(L-R) Best as a student, with Dr. Banting, standing on the roof of the Toronto medical building, 1922 (photo: Library and Archives Canada)
1935
Dr. Gordon Murray
First clinical use of the anticoagulant heparin
Dr. Murray (photo: Gordon Murray, Quest in Medicine, The Ryerson Press, Toronto, 1963)
1946
Dr. Gordon Murray
North America’s first artificial kidney designed and used clinically
The Murray hemodialysis machine consisted of an electric motor-driven syringe pump system mounted on metal plate and a roll of cellulose acetate casing (photo: UHN)
1950
Dr. Vera Peters
First use of radiation to cure Hodgkin disease
Patient receiving radiation therapy (photo: National Cancer Institute)
1950
Dr. Vera Peters
Development of lumpectomy for breast cancer, which would later (in 1975) be shown to be as effective as radical mastectomy for breast cancer patients
Dr. Peters assisting a patient (photo: UHN)
1950
Drs. Bill Bigelow, John Callaghan and John Hopps
First external heart pacemaker used in an open-heart resuscitation
Dr. Bigelow at the official opening of the Toronto General Hospital's expanding cardiovascular unit in 1962
1953
Dr. Bill Bigelow
Use of total body cooling as a method of making heart surgery safer
Dr. Bigelow, March 14, 1972 (photo: Robert Lansdale photography; University of Toronto Archives. 2014-37-5MS)
1961
Drs. Ernest McCulloch and James Till
Identification of blood forming stem cells—a discovery that enabled the first bone marrow transplants
(L-R) Drs. McCulloch and Till, holding a copy of the original publication (photo: courtesy of Martin Tosoian)
1971
UHN Bone Marrow Transplant Unit
First allogeneic blood stem cell transplant (transplants between unrelated donors)
The transplanted blood stem cells are capable of repopulating the entire blood system (red and white blood cells are depicted in the above illustration)
1974
Dr. Victor Ling
Identification of P-glycoprotein as a major cause of cancer drug resistance
Illustration of the structure of P-glycoprotein (image: Wikimedia Commons)
1975
Dr. Jack Cunningham
Development of software to control radiation therapy that would become the world standard for the next 20 years
Physicists form the PM Cancer Centre (previously known as the Ontario Cancer Institute) with cobalt radiation therapy equipment. Pictured (L-R) are Drs. Cunningham, Harold Johns, Jan Cederland and John Hunt (photo: UHN)
1977
Dr. Stanley Fenton
Development of improved peritoneal dialysis technique that allows home peritoneal dialysis
Patient undergoing home peritoneal dialysis
1983
Dr. Joel Cooper
First successful single-lung transplant
(L-R) Dr. Cooper, who led the TGH team that performed the world’s first successful lung transplant on Tom Hall in 1983, reunited with Barbara Hall, wife of the transplant recipient, at the 30th Anniversary celebration. (photo: UHN)
1984
Dr. Tak Mak
Discovery of the T-cell receptor
Dr. Mak in the 1980s (photo: UHN)
1986
Drs. Joel Cooper and Alec Patterson
First successful double-lung transplant
(L-R) Monica Assenheimer, second single-lung recipient; Tom Hall, world’s first single-lung recipient; and Ann Harrison, world’s first double-lung recipient (Source: Dr. Thomas R.J. Todd)
1989
Drs. T Douglas Bradley and John Floras
Treatment of sleep apnea in patients with heart failure by a mechanical assist device (CPAP) that improves cardiac mechanics and cardiovascular function
(L-R) Drs. Bradley and Floras (photos: UHN)
1994
Dr. John Dick
Identification of leukemia stem cells
Dr. John Dick
1996
Drs. Malcolm Moore and Ian Tannock
Development of the world’s first chemotherapy treatment for hormone-resistant prostate cancer
(L-R) Drs. Moore and Tannock (photos: UHN)
1997
Dr. Tirone David
Creation of a heart valve (known as the Toronto SPV) that can be custom fit to each patient and results in faster recovery and shorter hospital stays
Dr. David (photo: UHN)
1999
Drs. Karen Davis, Jonathan Dostrovsky, Bill Hutchison and Andres Lozano
Identification of brain cells that control pain
Illustration of a neuron
2003
Drs. Sidney Kennedy and Andres Lozano
First use of deep brain stimulation to help those with treatment-resistant depression
(L-R) Drs. Kennedy and Lozano (photos: UHN)
2003
Dr. Paul Goss
First alternative treatment to taxol identified for preventing breast cancer recurrence in survivors
Patient receiving chemotherapy
2003
Dr. Steven Gallinger
Genetic test designed to determine if chemotherapy will be an effective treatment for colon cancer
Dr. Gallinger
2004
Dr. Ian Tannock
A drug called docetaxel is found to prolong survival and improve quality of life for prostate cancer patients
Dr. Tannock (photo: UHN Photographics)
2005
Dr. Norman Boyd
Breast density is identified as a major risk factor for breast cancer and later found to be highly inheritable
Dr. Boyd
2006
Dr. John Dick
Colon cancer stem cells identified
Dr. Dick (photo: UHN StRIDe)
2008
Drs. Igor Jurisica, Frances Shepherd and Ming Tsao
Discovery of a gene signature that predicts lung cancer patients’ response to chemotherapy in combination with surgery
(L-R) Drs. Jurisica, Tsao and Shepherd (photo: UHN)
2008
Dr. Shaf Keshavjee
First transplant using donor lungs repaired outside of the body (ex vivo) using a newly developed lung perfusion technique
The Toronto XVIVO System (pictured) enables donated lungs to be repaired outside of the body (Photo: UHN)
2009
Dr. Andres Lozano
Deep brain stimulation found to improve memory in patients with early Alzheimer disease
Dr. Lozano (photo: UHN)
2011
Dr. John Dick
Human blood stem cell isolated in its purest form—as a single stem cell capable of regenerating the entire blood system
llustration depicting hematopoiesis—the process through which a single blood stem cell differentiates into other types of blood cell
2014
Drs. Marc de Perrot and John Cho
Radiation therapy prior to surgery found to double survival rates in mesothelioma patients
Drs. de Perrot and Cho