2004 INDUCTEE John FitzGerald, MD PhD Infectious Disease, Allergy & Immunity, Leadership in Organizational Development

John FitzGerald posthumously inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

Ottawa, Ontario

A polio virus research program was launched

By 1952, the Salk Polio vaccine was administered using the Connaught Lab’s synthetic non-allergic nutrient base, Medium 199.

The Canadian Government re-established its Venereal Disease Control Division

It then called on Connaught Laboratories to produce penicillin for the treatment of infected military personnel.

Dr. FitzGerald served as Dean of the University of Toronto Medical School

Around the same time, he also became the first Canadian to be appointed a Scientific Director of the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation.

The University of Toronto created its School of Hygiene

As the academic arm of the Connaught Laboratories, it became the first learning institution in Canada dedicated to public health and preventative medicine. Dr. FitzGerald served as its first director.

Connaught Laboratories began testing diphtheria toxoid

Over the next three years, Connaught Labs worked with the provincial governments to conduct field trials. Soon, Canada became a world leader of diphtheria toxoid development.

Insulin was discovered

Dr. FitzGerald provided Banting and his team with access to Connaught’s facilities and research funding to facilitate insulin production.

Connaught Laboratories was established

Connaught Laboratories soon became a world leader in vaccine production and, by 1920, all provinces were distributing a full range of Connaught preventive medicines to the public for free.

After medical school, Dr. FitzGerald pursued further studies that shaped his vision for Canadian public health

He travelled first to the Pasteur Institute in Paris and Brussels in 1910 and then went on to the University of Freiburg in 1911.