Charles Robert Scriver (November 7, 1930 – April 7, 2023) was a Canadian

pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

and biochemical geneticist. His work focused on inborn errors of metabolism and led in establishing a Canada-wide newborn

metabolic Metabolism (, from ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the ...

screening program.

Early life and education

Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Scriver graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1951 and from the Faculty of Medicine of

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in 1955.

Scientific career

Scriver was appointed to the Department of Paediatrics at McGill and as a Markle scholar in 1961, becoming a professor in pediatrics in 1969. He was the Samuel Rudin Distinguished Visiting Professorship at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

from 1979 to 1980 and was the Alva professor Emeritus of Human Genetics in the Faculty of Medicine of McGill University. In 1969 he discovered that

rickets Rickets, scientific nomenclature: rachitis (from Greek , meaning 'in or of the spine'), is a condition that results in weak or soft bones in children and may have either dietary deficiency or genetic causes. Symptoms include bowed legs, stun ...

could be caused by

vitamin D deficiency Vitamin D deficiency or hypovitaminosis D is a vitamin D level that is below normal. It most commonly occurs in people when they have inadequate exposure to sunlight, particularly sunlight with adequate ultraviolet B rays (UVB). Vitamin D def ...

among poorer children who drank bottled milk instead of infant formula. He persuaded Quebec suppliers to add vitamin D to their milk, leading to a decrease in the rate of rickets. Scriver played a critical role in developing scientific and ethical policies associated with the international Human Genome Project - created to decode more than three billion DNA base pairs and identify all human genes.Western University 2007 Convocation
/ref> Scriver was co-editor of the authoritative multi-volume textbook entitled ''The Metabolic & Molecular Bases of Inherited Disease'', published by McGraw-Hill.

Death

Scriver died in Montreal on April 7, 2023, at the age of 92.

Honours

* He was awarded the McLaughlin medal from the Royal Society of Canada in 1981. * In 1985 he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

* In 1991, he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. * In 1995, he was awarded the Government of Quebec's Prix Wilder-Penfield. * In 1996 he was promoted to Companion of the

* He was the 1996 recipient of the

Canadian Medical Association The Canadian Medical Association (CMA; ) is a national, voluntary association of physicians and medical learners that advocates on national health matters. Its primary mandate is to drive positive change in health care by advocating on key hea ...

Medal of Service, awarded to a physician who has made "an exceptional and outstanding contribution to the advancement of health care in Canada." * In 1997 he was made a Grand Officer of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

. * In 2001 he was inducted into the

Canadian Medical Hall of Fame __NOTOC__ The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame is a Canadian charitable organization, founded in 1994, that honours Canadians who have contributed to the understanding of disease and improving the health of people. It has an exhibit hall in London, ...

. * In 2001, he was inducted into the

Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame The Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame, was located at the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, Ontario, honoured Canadians who have made outstanding contributions to society in science and engineering. It also promoted role m ...

.Pierre Dansereau, Charles Scriver Inducted Into The Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame
, News Release, Canada Science and Technology Museum, November 8, 2001. * In 2008, he was awarded the Paediatric Academic Leadership Award for Clinical Investigation by the Paediatric Chairs of Canada * In 2010, he was honored by the American Pediatric Society with the 2010 John Howland Award * In 2010, he was awarded the Pollin Prize for Pediatric Research * He received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

and the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

Honorary degrees

The University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames River bisecting t ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

; Doctor of Science (

D.Sc. A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

) June 13, 2007UWO List of Honorary degrees

References

* * 1930 births 2023 deaths Canadian geneticists Canadian pediatricians Companions of the Order of Canada Canadian fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Grand Officers of the National Order of Quebec McGill University Faculty of Medicine alumni Academic staff of McGill University Physicians from Montreal {{Canada-med-bio-stub Recipients of the John Howland Award