Arthur Ainsberg talked about his book Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle (St. Martin’s Press, 2010), which recounts the development of insulin to treat diabetes. The author recounts the case of Elizabeth Hughes, who at eleven-years-old in 1919 was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and was treated by starvation. Ms. Hughes would be one of the first patients treated with insulin injections due to the discovery of purified insulin from animal pancreases by Canadians Frederick Banting and Charles Best. Dr. Michael Bergman then spoke about the history of the types of insulin and syringes. Their talks were illustrated by slides. A brief video was shown of Jean Ashton and Stephen Edidin of the New York Historical Society talking about the “Breakthrough Exhibit” based on the book that they then had on display. A video from dLife featuring Professor Michael Bliss and early users of insulin Bob and Gerald Cleveland as well as many others was also shown. Dr. Jesse Roth commented on the presentations. Then the panelists responded to questions from members of the audience.
This was an event at the New York University School of Medicine in New York City.