The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame honours excellence in health in Canada: announcing the 2018 inductees

LONDON, ON, Oct. 3, 2017 /CNW/ - Dr. Bryce Taylor, Chair of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF) announced today that Dr. Philip Berger, Dr. B. Brett Finlay, Dr. Vladimir Hachinski, Dr. Balfour Mount, Dr. Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg and the late Dr. Emily Stowe, have been selected for induction into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

These Canadian and international leaders will celebrate this important recognition at a ceremony held in association with Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University on April 12, 2018 at the London Convention Centre in London, Ontario.  

Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Laureates are individuals whose contributions to medicine and the health sciences have led to extraordinary improvements in human health. Their work may be a single meritorious contribution or a lifetime of superior accomplishments. Pioneers in their field, they are role models for Canadians and an inspiration to our youth to pursue careers in the health sciences.    

"The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame is proud to welcome these six individuals whose outstanding contributions to health have made Canada, and the world, a better place," said Dr. Taylor. "Their impact is well documented and they have earned their place alongside the current 125 Laureates of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame."

"Schulich Medicine & Dentistry is proud to be the partner host for the 2018 Induction Ceremony in London, Ontario honouring the inspiring individuals who have made such a tremendous impact on human health," said Dr. Michael J. Strong, Dean of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University. "It is particularly exciting considering that London is also home to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, and we are planning for a vibrant evening to pay tribute to the outstanding line-up of laureates."

Dr. Philip Berger, O.ONT MD CCFP FCFP FRCPC (Hon), (Toronto, ON)           
Dr. B. Brett Finlay, OC OBC PhD FRSC FCAHS, (Vancouver, BC)
Dr. Vladimir Hachinksi, CM  MD  FRCPC  DSc  FAAN  FAHA  FRSC, (London, ON)
Dr. Balfour Mount, OC OQ MD FRCSC LLD, (Montréal, QC)
Dr. Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg, MDCM FRCPC FCCMG, (Winnipeg, MB)
The late Dr. Emily Stowe, MD  (Toronto, ON)

BIOS ATTACHED, PHOTOS AVAILABLE AT http://cdnmedhall.org/induction-ceremony

Dr. Philip Berger's 40-year career as a family physician is a record of advocacy and activism on behalf of health care for all people, regardless of their circumstances. Chief of Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital (1997-2013), he has been at the forefront of many battles for enlightened and humane health care despite indifference or opposition. He worked to promote methadone treatment, needle exchanges, documentation and recognition of the aftereffects of torture, an academic infirmary for the homeless, and clinical treatment of AIDS in Africa. Many medical practices now considered standard were once controversial initiatives requiring courage to defend and achieve. In 1987 Dr. Berger co-founded the Toronto HIV Primary Care Physicians Group and established the HIV Project Centre Primary Care Mentor Program. An advocate for victims of torture, he founded the Amnesty International Canadian Medical Network (English), and co-founded the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture. In 2012 he co-founded Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, coordinating nationwide protests by physicians against cuts to refugee health, which led to a successful Federal Court of Canada Charter challenge restoring health coverage to about 100,000 refugees.

Dr. Brett Finlay, Peter Wall Distinguished Professor at the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia, is extending our understanding of how microbes interact with humans in both health and disease, uncovering their role in asthma, malnutrition and enteric diseases, with implications for prevention, treatment and cure. His research in the field of cellular microbiology has led to human and animal vaccines and treatments for drug-resistant infections. Dr. Finlay is also known to a broader public as the co-author of the provocative best-seller, Let Them Eat Dirt: Saving Your Child from An Oversanitized World, which presents scientific evidence concerning possible dangers of excessive sanitation in childhood environments. This public application of his profound research into the mechanisms of microbes at the molecular level has revealed their positive contributions to human wellness in addition to their role in infectious disease. Researcher, author, teacher, lecturer, co-founder of companies devoted to microbiome modification of the immune system, Dr. Finlay is one of a small number of scientists advancing our fundamental knowledge of life processes while providing understandable guidance and advice to parents concerned with the care and well-being of children.

Dr. Vladimir Hachinski, a world-renowned neurologist, has transformed the understanding, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the two greatest threats to the brain, stroke and dementia. Prior to the 1970's, stroke was untreatable. Together with John W. Norris, Dr. Hachinski, pioneered acute stroke units, now the standard of care yielding the best outcomes for stroke patients of all ages, severities and kinds. He coined the term "brain attack" for stroke to emphasize urgency in dealing with stroke symptoms. Dr. Hachinski and his colleagues David Cechetto and Shawn Whitehead, identified a link between Alzheimer's and stroke and the brain's insula role in sudden death, along with a host of new concepts captured in his new terminology: multi-infarct dementia, leukoaraiosis, vascular cognitive impairment, and brain at risk stage. The eponymic Hachinski Ischemic Score (HIS) is now a standard means for identifying the treatable components of dementia. Distinguished University Professor of Neurology, Western University, Dr. Hachinski has authored, co-authored, or co-edited 17 books and more than 800 frequently-cited scientific publications. He led the adoption of a proclamation on behalf of the World Stroke Organization and all major international brain organizations aimed at uniting stroke and dementia communities in their joint prevention of stroke and potentially preventable dementias.

Defining health care as "a relational process involving movement towards an experience of integrity and wholeness," Dr. Balfour Mount has worked to ensure compassion has kept pace with power in our treatment of life-limiting and life-ending illnesses and disease. Credited with coining the term "palliative care," Dr. Mount recognized the need for humane and compassionate 'whole-person' care to alleviate suffering and enhance dignity for terminally ill patients and their families. A 1973 research study of patients with life-limiting illnesses at McGill's Royal Victoria Hospital piqued Dr. Mount's interest in the needs of the terminally ill and their families. He travelled to the United Kingdom to learn firsthand about the hospice movement and eventually persuaded the leadership of the Royal Victoria Hospital to open the first comprehensive Palliative Care Service in 1975, and began the McGill Programs in Whole Person Care in 1997. Dr. Mount is generally recognized as having achieved integration of palliative care as integral to effective and humane health care. Future generations of patients and their families will experience dignity and compassion facing some of their greatest challenges because of his vision.

Distinguished Professor of the University of Manitoba, and clinician scientist in the Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, Dr. Cheryl Rockman-Greenberg, has devoted her career to bringing advanced medical knowledge and care to isolated and often vulnerable Indigenous populations. Working closely with the communities themselves, Dr. Rockman-Greenberg developed diagnostic tests, screening programs, and treatments for disorders once poorly understood, improving the lives of generations of children and their families. As an academic clinician, Dr. Rockman-Greenberg's research focused on applied molecular genetics and the identification of the molecular basis of genetic disorders overrepresented in unique populations, notably hypophosphatasia (HPP), a metabolic bone disorder, and glutaric aciduria type 1 (GA1), a complex disorder of organic acid metabolism, affecting Mennonite and Indigenous populations respectively. She was the Canadian principal investigator for an industry-sponsored clinical trial of a new enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) drug for the treatment of HPP, a treatment that recently received Health Canada approval and has already transformed an untreatable disorder into a treatable one. Dr. Rockman-Greenberg assured that residency training would include mandatory rotations in rural and remote areas to improve access to health care throughout the province.

Emily Stowe was the first female physician to practice medicine in Canada. Already the first female public school principal in Ontario, she applied to the Toronto School of Medicine in 1865. She was denied entry. She enrolled at the New York Medical College for Women, obtained her degree in 1867 and returned to Canada, setting up practice in Toronto. In 1871 Emily Stowe became one of the first two women to attend lectures at the Toronto School of Medicine and on July 16, 1880, she was finally granted her medical license by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. In 1883, she spearheaded the creation of Woman's Medical College in Toronto. Fifteen years later, "The Dispensary", was opened, a medical clinic created to provide practical clinical experience to students, eventually becoming Women's College Hospital Dr. Stowe also helped found the influential Toronto Women's Literary Guild, Canada's first suffragette group. Determined to help make medical education more readily available for women, she pressured University of Toronto to reverse its policy, enabling her daughter, Augusta Stowe-Gullen to become the first woman to graduate from a Canadian medical school.

ABOUT THE CANADIAN MEDICAL HALL OF FAME 
Established in 1994, the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF) is a national charitable organization that fosters future generations of health professionals through the celebration of our country's rich medical history, scholarship program, award program for medical students and the delivery of both local and nationwide education programs for youth.  Each year, up to six individuals are recognized for their extraordinary contribution to improving the health of Canadians and people world-wide. The stories of the laureates are showcased on the web www.cdnmedhall.org and in a portrait gallery and media theatre located in downtown London, ON.

ABOUT WESTERN
Western University delivers an academic experience second to none. Since 1878, The Western Experience has combined academic excellence with life-long opportunities for intellectual, social and cultural growth in order to better serve our communities. Our research excellence expands knowledge and drives discovery with real-world application. Western attracts individuals with a broad worldview, seeking to study, influence and lead in the international community.

ABOUT THE SCHULICH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & DENTISTRY
The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University is one of Canada's preeminent medical and dental schools. Established in 1881, it was one of the founding schools of Western University and is known for being the birthplace of family medicine in Canada. For more than 130 years, the School has demonstrated a commitment to academic excellence and a passion for scientific discovery.

SOURCE Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

MEDIA CONTACT: Lissa Foster, Executive Director, Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, office: 519.488.2003, x6110, cell: 519.636.0660, [email protected]