Ray V. Rajotte is a world leader in islet transplantation. His pioneering work in islet isolation, cryopreservation, and transplantation in various animal models allowed the Islet Transplantation Group, which he started in 1982, to take their basic research to the bedside in 1989 by carrying out Canada’s first clinical islet transplant to the standard of care for brittle diabetes in 2000. Using what has become known as the Edmonton Protocol, clinical success was improved from 8% to 100% of the diabetic patients becoming insulin independent following an islet transplant. The Edmonton Protocol has set the standard for islet transplantation, which other centers around the world are now trying to emulate. To solve the islet supply problem, Dr. Rajotte has recently shown for the first time that neonatal pig islets can work long term in primates – moving them one step closer to using this therapy in humans.