Proud Of Our History Statement of Purpose Dr. Frederick Banting Chairman's Message Investing in Research Board of Trustees Grant Review Panel Contact Us Home » About Us » Proud Of Our History On June 4, 2005, The Banting Research Foundation marked 80 years of financial support to Canadian investigators at the beginning of their independent career in medical research. The discovery of insulin in 1921 by two young investigators at the University of Toronto, Dr. Frederick Banting and Charles Best, was one of the most important medical achievements of the twentieth century. Few realized that the team succeeded in their research despite the lack of a track record and inadequate funding. To accomplish his dream of finding a cure for diabetes, Dr. Banting sold his car to help finance his medical research. At that time, there was no granting organization that supported medical research in Canada and research to produce insulin was considered unlikely to succeed. This discovery brought worldwide acclaim to Frederick G. Banting and his colleagues, Charles H. Best and James Collip, and to their adviser John J.R. MacLeod. Banting and MacLeod were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1923. Prior to the discovery of insulin there was no way to treat diabetics. Today, the lives of millions worldwide are saved through the use of this hormone. Recognizing the need for an organization that would provide funds to assist Dr. Banting and his associates with ongoing research, a group of prominent citizens led by Sir William Mulock, then Chancellor of the University of Toronto, proceeded to organize Canada’s first foundation for medical research. On June 4, 1925, the Province of Ontario granted the Letters Patent to The Banting Research Foundation, named in honor of Dr. Banting and his colleagues. Sir Robert Falconer, the then President of the University of Toronto, was the first Chairman of the Foundation, and Lieutenant Colonel R.W. Leonard was the first Honorary Secretary- Treasurer. The first fundraising campaign for the Foundation initiated by this group raised $450,000 from individual and corporate donations in 1925. These funds supported Dr. Banting’s on-going research, as well as that of other new investigators who had good ideas but little money. In continuing this tradition, the Foundation awards a yearly grant to the Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Canadian investigators at the beginning of their career in medical research. In 1952, the Foundation received an endowment from the estate of Kate Taylor. Income from the Endowment Fund is used to support the research of new Canadian investgators. Once established in their field, virtually all of our grantees subsequently succeed in securing grants from larger agencies such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and the National Cancer Institute of Canada to continue the research they began with the initial support from The Banting Research Foundation. The Banting Research Foundation has been instrumental in helping to launch the careers of past and present grantees, whose scientific discoveries fulfill the legacy of Sir Frederick's discovery of insulin.