John Sydney Edkins

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John Sydney Edkins

1863-1940

British physician who first identified the role of gastric enzymes in food digestion. Unfortunately, his ideas fell into disfavor and he left research for teaching. However, his research was vindicated shortly after his death and launched an entire field of inquiry into the hormonal regulation of cells that secrete such enzymes. Sadly, by the time this took place, Edkins had been dead for over two decades.