U of T Medicine Professor Named CIHR Health Researcher of the Year
Dr. Arthur S. Slutsky, a Professor in the Department of Medicine and vice-president of Research at St. Michael’s Hospital, was named Canada’s 2014 Health Researcher of the Year by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for his outstanding efforts to improve critical care practices and advance pulmonary medicine.
Combining his expertise in engineering and medicine, Slutsky has saved lives by improving approaches to pulmonary and critical care.
“I’m humbled to receive this award; Canada is a powerhouse in health research, with many deserving candidates in different fields,” said Slutsky. “The success I’ve had in my career is a testament to my superb collaborators at St. Michael’s, the University of Toronto and internationally, and most importantly to my supportive family.”
The Health Researcher of the Year award is CIHR’s most prestigious prize. It was created to honour and recognize an outstanding Canadian researcher who has demonstrated a high degree of innovation, creativity, leadership and dedication in health research. This career achievement recognizes Slutsky for his contributions to improving the health of Canadians.
Slutsky is a renowned expert in intensive care medicine and a mentor to students and colleagues alike. His research interests span the field of critical care medicine, including acute lung injury, non-conventional ventilation, asthma, pathophysiology and lung transplantation. His basic research discoveries related to the mechanisms of ventilator-induced lung injury have had an impact on clinical practice and have played a role in reducing the mortality of patients with acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
“As a world-leading scientist, Slutsky’s work has had enormous impact on the care of those who are critically ill and has shaped health care delivery here at home and around the world,” said Dr. Alain Beaudet, CIHR president.
Slutsky’s research is helping to increase the number of donor lungs available for transplantation. He has published more than 450 peer-reviewed papers, reviews and editorials, and he is the most cited scientist in the world in the field of mechanical ventilation.
“An expert in pulmonary and critical care medicine, Dr. Slutsky has been instrumental in helping St. Michael’s become one of the premier critical care hospitals in the country,” said Dr. Robert Howard, president and CEO of St. Michael’s Hospital. “On behalf of the hospital, the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, I’d like to congratulate Art on this amazing achievement.”
Slutsky has received a number of prestigious awards, including the American Thoracic Society Assembly on Critical Care Lifetime Achievement Award, Honorary Member of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, and the University of Toronto Engineering Alumni Medal for 2014, which symbolizes the highest honour that the association can confer upon an engineering graduate.
CIHR presented the award to Slutsky at a reception held at St. Michael’s Hospital on Dec. 10.
