Great Women Who’ve Made a Mark on Diabetes History
Dr. Priscilla White
An early pioneer in diabetes, Dr. Priscilla White practiced alongside the legendary Dr. Elliot Joslin in Boston and co-founded the Joslin Diabetes Center, not long after the discovery of insulin in the 1920s. She immediately began working with children with diabetes in that clinic, becoming a trailblazer in children’s diabetes care and pregnancy in the 1920s-40s (including advocacy for women with diabetes to receive specialized care during pregnancy). She was instrumental in the creation of the Clara Barton Camp for Girls in the early 1930s. History shows that the fetal success rate was 54 percent when Dr. White began working at Joslin, and by the time she retired in 1974, it had risen to more than 90 percent. During her 5 decades of work, she managed the deliveries of over 2,200 women with diabetes and the supervision of roughly 10,000 cases of type 1 diabetes (T1D). After retiring she continued working on the emotional problems of young people with diabetes. In 1960, Dr. White became the first woman to receive the prestigious Banting Medal, and she’s been named one of the 12 most outstanding physicians in the world.
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