A pioneer in biomedical research
A pioneer in biomedical research James Till and Ernest McCulloch stunned the scientific world with their discovery of transplantable stem cells. Their ground-breaking study of the radiation sensitivity of normal mouse bone marrow cells in 1961 established, for the first time, a quantitative method to study individual stem cells in adult bone marrow. In collaboration with Dr. Lou Siminovitch, a trailblazer for molecular biology in Canada, they went on to prove that marrow cells were capable of self-renewal. Together, Till and McCulloch made many contributions to the understanding of normal and abnormal blood cell development as stem cells revolutionized the treatment of cancer and laid the foundations for regenerative medicine.
Ernest McCulloch and James Till were jointly nominated and inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.