Lydia Marie DeWitt and Mary Butler Kirkbride: Prototypical Circa–Early-1900s Women of Pathology and an Analysis of Their Contributions to the Discovery of Insulin

Abstract

Context.— The year 2023 marks the centenary of the Nobel Prize honoring the discovery of insulin. Little-known experimental pathologists Lydia DeWitt, MD, at the University of Michigan and Mary Kirkbride, DSc [Hon], at Columbia University, both just beginning their academic careers, made independent contributions to the discovery that have never been critically examined. This happened at a time when women in pathology were exceedingly rare. Objective.— To explore the facilitative roles of DeWitt and Kirkbride in the discovery and to examine their trail-breaking careers in academic pathology. Design.— Available primary and secondary historical resources were reviewed. Results.— DeWitt made and tested pancreatic extracts from duct-ligated atrophic pancreas (ie, Frederick Banting's great idea to prevent digestion of its hypothetical internal secretion) 15 years before Banting; Banting was unaware of her work. His idea came from reading a paper by pathologist Moses Barron. Prior duct-ligation studies had sometimes been viewed with skepticism because histologic identification of islets in atrophic duct-ligated pancreata was imperfect; Kirkbride addressed this with histochemical staining, convincing Barron and, therefore, indirectly influencing and motivating Banting. The lives and convoluted careers of these 2 early–20th-century women are explored and compared with those of other contemporary women in pathology. A unifying pattern becomes clear: careers in experimental pathology and bacteriology were accepted but performing clinical work in anatomic pathology was not. Conclusions.— Both DeWitt and Kirkbride are prototypical early–20th-century women in academic pathology whose careers were constrained by gender. However, Kirkbride made a unique and unrecognized contribution to the discovery of insulin.