Sheila Reith

Sheila Baillie Mackenzie Reith CBE is a retired British hospital physician, credited with co-invention of the insulin pen, which she conceived.

Career

Reith graduated in 1962. She worked at the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, from the mid-1970s and became a specialist in the treatment of diabetes.

She had moved to Stirling Royal Infirmary by January 1981.

Insulin pen

Reith's daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was four.

She developed the idea at the Southern General Hospital from 1978 with her colleague and fellow physician John Ireland and John Paton, a bioengineer recruited at the University of Glasgow's Department of Clinical Physics and Bio-Engineering, for the project.

Reith revealed in a 2009 letter to the Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh that she and her colleagues made no money from the invention, with the then Greater Glasgow Health Board holding the patent on their behalf and receiving income until it sold the rights to pharmaceutical company Novo.

Awards and recognition

Reith and her two collaborators were recognised on 28 March 1984 in an early day motion in the House of Commons, tabled by Michael Forsyth and other MPs.

She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours, "for services to people with diabetes".

She was given a Lifetime Achievement award at the 2024 Pride Of Britain Awards.

Personal life

Reith's husband David is deceased. She has at least one son and one daughter.