Recent Honours and Awards

Professor Cindi Morshead

Professor Cindi Morshead has received a Connaught Innovation Award for her team’s development of a novel gene therapy to promote the repair of the brain following injury. The Connaught Innovation Awards recognize research that helps accelerate the development and commercialization of promising technologies. 

 

Professor Donald Redelmeier

Professor Donald Redelmeier has been recognized with a President's Impact Award. Redelmeier is a professor in the department of medicine and a senior scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. Redelmeier is honoured "for his science contributing to fewer traffic crashes worldwide, including new laws in all Canadian provinces and territories against using a cellular telephone while driving."

 

Professor Danielle Bentley

Professor Danielle Bentley has been awarded the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in Life Sciences. This award recognizes excellence in teaching, coordination, and/or development of undergraduate lecture or seminar courses in Arts and Science offered by the Basic Science Departments in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.
 

Professor Trevor Moraes

Professor Trevor Moraes has been awarded the Excellence in Undergraduate Laboratory Teaching in Life Sciences. This award is for excellence in teaching, coordination, and/or development of undergraduate laboratory-based courses in Arts and Science offered by the Basic Science Departments in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.
 

Professors David Jenkins and Leonardo Salmena

Professors David Jenkins and Leonardo Salmena have been recognized with the Excellence in Linking Undergraduate Teaching to Research in Life Sciences award. This award is for excellence, mentorship, and innovative methods that link undergraduate teaching to experiential research opportunities such as research project courses, summer student research projects, or equivalent programs.
 

Professor Gary Lewis

Professor Gary Lewis has been selected as the recipient of the American Diabetes Association's 2022 Edwin Bierman Award. This award recognizes researchers who have made outstanding scientific contributions to the understanding and treatment of diabetes and macrovascular complications. 

 

Professor Paula Ravitz

Professor Paula Ravitz has been honoured by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada with the 2022 John Ruedy Award for Excellence in Medical Education, which recognizes the development of innovative print materials, electronic learning aids or other teaching aids.

Dr. Ravitz is an associate professor of Psychiatry at U of T and a clinician-scientist at Sinai Health, where she holds the Morgan Firestone Psychotherapy Chair.

 

Professor Edward Etchells

Professor Edward Etchells has been honoured by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada with the 2022 Clinical Teacher Award, which recognizes exceptional clinical teaching contributions in Canada.

Dr. Etchells is a professor in the Department of Medicine in U of T's Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and a clinician-scientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

 

Professor Onye Nnorom and La Toya Dennie

Professor Onye Nnorom and La Toya Dennie have been named 2022 Nominees by 100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women, which highlights the social, educational, political, and professional accomplishments of Black Canadian women.

Dr. Nnorom is the Black health theme lead for Temerty Medicine and the equity, diversity and inclusion lead for the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Ms. Dennie is a an advisor, anti-racism projects, for the Toronto Academic Health Science Network.

 

Office of Communications

The Office of Communications has been recognized with a 2021 Excellence Through Innovation Award (ETIA) for their work on the Insulin 100 Campaign.

The ETIA is awarded by the Division of People Strategy, Equity & Culture to recognize achievements by librarians and staff in several areas: enriching the student experience; promoting and advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in all our activities; elevating the employee experience; improving administrative and operational processes; and fostering community connection.

 

Professor Chung-Wai Chow

Professor Chung-Wai Chow is part of a multidisciplinary team of researchers at the University of Toronto that has been awarded the Brockhouse Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The prize recognizes outstanding Canadian teams of researchers from different disciplines who combine their knowledge and skills to produce excellent achievements in natural sciences and engineering.

Chow is recognized alongside fellow team members Greg EvansJeff BrookMiriam DiamondMarianne HatzopoulouJim WallaceCheol-Heon Jeong and Jim Wallace for developing innovative tools and strategies for studying air pollution and its effects.

Chow is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine. 

 

Professor Nicole Woods

Professor Nicole Woods is the recipient of a Women's Executive Network Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award. As part of the awards program, Woods was honoured with a Manulife Science and Technology award, which recognizes women in STEM roles who challenge the status quo for knowledge and female empowerment. 

Woods is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and Associate Director at The Wilson Centre where she is also the Richard and Elizabeth Currie Chair in Health Professions Education Research. She is also Research Institute Director of The Institute for Education Research at University Health Network. 

Professor Dina Brooks

Professor Dina Brooks is the recipient of the 2021 Thomas L. Petty Distinguished Pulmonary Scholar Award for cardiac rehabilitation. 

This award is granted by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and is presented to an individual who has made significant advances in pulmonary rehabilitation through their research and scholarly contributions and has earned national prominence in their field through contributions in contemporary research and/or education.

Prof. Brooks is a Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute.

 

 Professor Melanie Kirby-Allen

 Professor Melanie Kirby-Allen has been named a co-winner of the 2021 MSA Citizenship Award.

The honour recognizes Kirby-Allen and her co-nominees, Professors Steven Miller and Michelle Science for their extraordinary service to the medical community. The MSA Citizenship Award was instituted by the SickKids Medical Staff Association in 2009 to recognize a member who has delivered extraordinary service to the hospital community at SickKids and/or to the larger external medical community, and has espoused fairness, equity, mutual respect, effective communication, support of diversity and a positive and safe working environment.

Prof. Kirby-Allen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and a member of the Haematology Section in the Division of Haematology/Oncology at SickKids.

 

Professor Linda Rapson

Professor Linda Rapson is the co-winner of the 2021 Dr. Rogers Prize.

This award highlights the important contributions of complementary and alternative medicine to health care, and recognizes those who embody the same level of vision, leadership, and integrity as that of the late Dr. Roger Hayward Rogers for whom the award is named. Rapson is credited with playing a pivotal role in broadening mainstream acceptance of acupuncture practice.

Prof. Rapson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and is the medical director of the Rapson Pain and Acupuncture Clinic. 

 

Professors Daniel Drucker and David Jenkins 

Professors Daniel Drucker and David Jenkins have been selected for induction into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

Prof. Drucker is recognized for revealing the potential for gut hormones to achieve dramatic clinical outcomes in the treatment of life-limiting and life-threatening metabolic and intestinal disorders.

Prof. Jenkins is recognized for inventing the glycemic index to classify carbohydrates and their effects on blood glucose levels, associated with the incidence of diabetes, stroke, and cardiovascular disease mortality. 

 

Professor Patricia Houston

Professor Patricia Houston has been honoured with the 2021 Ian Hart Award for Distinguished Contribution to Medical Education by the Canadian Association for Medical Education. This award recognizes senior faculty who have made exceptional contributions to medical education throughout their academic careers. Dr. Houston has been Vice Dean of the MD Program, and was recently appointed Vice Dean, Medical Education at the University of Toronto. In this expanded role, Dr. Houston retains responsibility for the MD Program with additional oversight of Postgraduate Medical Education and Continuing Professional Development programs.

 

Professor Anne Bassett

The U.S. Brain & Behavior Research Foundation has honoured Professor Anne Bassett with the 2020 Lieber Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Schizophrenia Research, which comes with $50,000. Dr. Bassett is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at U of T and is director of the clinical genetics research program at the Campbell Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She is also director of the Dalglish Family Hearts and Minds Clinic at the Toronto General Hospital, University Health Network, the world's first clinic for adults with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome.

 

Professor Sachdev Sidhu

Professor Sachdev Sidhu has been elected a Fellow of the U.S. National Academy of Inventors. The honour recognizes academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. Dr. Sidhu is a professor Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, and in the Department of Molecular Genetics at U of T.

 

Professor Peter Tzakas

Professor Peter Tzakas has been honoured with the 2020 PA Educator of the Year Award from the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants, in recognition of his significant impact on the education of PAs in Canada. Dr. Tzakas is the program director of the PA Program and a professor of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, as well as a physician at Michael Garron Hospital.

 

Professors Nir Lipsman, Trevor Pugh and Juveria Zaheer

Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 is an awards program that identifies outstanding young achievers in Canadian business, visionaries and innovators changing the way things are done, and honourees often create even more remarkable track records of achievement post-award.

Three faculty members from Temerty Medicine made the list this year: Dr. Nir Lipsman, a professor of Surgery at U of T and a neurosurgeon at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Dr. Trevor Pugh, an assistant professor of medical biophysics at U of T and a senior scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network; and Dr. Juveria Zaheer, an assistant professor of Psychiatry at U of T and a clinician scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

 

Professor Scott Gray-Owen

The Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities has honoured Professor Scott Gray-Owen with an Award of Excellence, for his role in facilitating and overseeing research and training in U of T's combined containment level 3 laboratory. The award recognizes exemplary work by professors and instructors at Ontario’s publicly-assisted, Indigenous and private postsecondary institutions during COVID-19. Dr. Gray-Owen is a professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and the academic director of the C-CL3 unit at U of T.

 

Professor Daniel Drucker

Professor Daniel Drucker is one of three winners of the 2020 Warren Alpert Prize. Dr. Drucker, who is also a senior scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health, was recognized along with Joel Habener of Harvard Medical School and Jens Juul Holst of the University of Copenhagen. The trio won for their discoveries about the function of key intestinal hormones, the hormones' effects on metabolism and subsequent design of treatments for Type 2 diabetes, obesity and short bowel syndrome.

The $500,000 award will be shared among the recipients, and is given by the Warren Alpert Foundation in recognition of work that has improved the understanding, prevention, treatment or cure of human disease. The prize is administered by Harvard Medical School.

 

Professor Angela Colantonio

The Brain Injury Association of America has honoured Professor Angela Colantonio with the 2020 William Fields Caveness Award, for research on a national and international level that has improved the lives of people with brain injury. Dr. Colantonio is the director of U of T's Rehabilitation Sciences Institute and a professor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy. She is also a senior research scientist at the KITE/Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network.

 

Professor Anne-Claude Gingras

Professor Anne-Claude Gingras has been elected as a 2020 associate member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, for her achievements in life sciences. Dr. Gingras is a professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics at U of T and a senior investigator at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health. She is an expert in mass spectrometry-based proteomics technology that allows identification and quantification of proteins from various biological samples.

 

Office of Communications

The Faculty of Medicine Office of Communications has been honoured with a 2020 Circle of Excellence Award (Gold) from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, in the category of Magazines, Alumni/General Interest. The award recognizes UofTMed magazine's winter 2019 and spring 2019 issues, on death and sex respectively.

 

Office of Communications

The Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education honoured the Faculty of Medicine's Office of Communications with the 2020 Gold Award for Best Print Magazine as part of their Prix d'Excellence Celebration. The award recognized the Faculty's Death issue, published in winter 2019, which looked at the experience of dying in Canada and how we can make it better.

 

Professor Deborah O'Connor

The Canadian Nutrition Society has honoured Professor Deborah O'Connor with the 2020 Earle Willard McHenry Award for Distinguished Service in Nutrition, which recognizes teaching, leadership and research. Dr. O'Connor is professor and chair in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and a scientist in the Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition at U of T. She is also a senior associate scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children, with a focus on maternal and infant nutrition and health.

 

Professors Harvey Anderson, David Jenkins and Mary L'Abbé

The Canadian Nutrition Society has honoured Professors Harvey Anderson, David Jenkins and Mary L'Abbé with 2020 Fellow Distinction Awards. These new awards are part of the Society's 10th anniversary celebrations, and recognize outstanding contributions to nutrition science or practice in Canada and globally. All three faculty members are professors in U of T's Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition. Dr. Jenkins is a professor in the Department of Medicine at U of T as well, and a staff physician and scientist at St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto. Dr. Anderson is also a professor of Physiology.

 

Professors Brenda Andrews and Lewis Kay

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has honoured Professors Brenda Andrews and Lewis Kay as international members. They were two of just 26 scientists to receive the recognition, joining a total of 501 scientists from countries outside the U.S. Dr. Andrews is the director of the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, and a professor of Molecular Genetics at U of T. Dr. Kay is a professor of Molecular Genetics, Chemistry and Biochemistry at U of T, and a senior scientist at SickKids Research Institute.

 

Professor Debra Katzman

Professor Debra Katzman has been honoured with the Lawrence S. Neinstein Award in Young Adult Health from the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. The award recognizes an individual whose educational scholarship has had a significant and positive impact on young adult health. Dr. Katzman is a professor of Paediatrics at U of T, a physician at The Hospital for Sick Children and a senior associate scientist at SickKids Research Institute.

 

Professor Meredith Giuliani

The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada has honoured Professor Meredith Giuliani with the 2020 Young Educators Award, which recognizes individuals within their first seven years as a faculty member who have produced change in their university or in the medical community as a whole through their vision, work, and interaction with colleagues. Dr. Guiliani is an associate professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and a staff radiation oncologist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

 

Professor Kathy Boutis

The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada has honoured Professor Kathy Boutis with the 2020 John Ruedy Award for Innovation in Medical Education, which recognizes  individuals or groups who have developed innovative print materials, electronic learning aids or other teaching aids. Dr. Boutis is a professor in the Department of Paediatrics and a staff physician at The Hospital for Sick Children.

 

Professor Daniel Drucker

Professor Daniel Drucker has been awarded the Endocrine Society's John D. Baxter Prize for Entrepreneurship for his contributions to diabetes treatment, which include finding new mechanisms of hormone action that have enabled development of drugs for patients with type 2 diabetes. The society awards the prize biennially, along with $50,000. Dr. Drucker is a professor in the Departments of Medicine, and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, at U of T. He is also a senior scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System.

 

Professor Richard Bazinet

The American Oil Chemists’ Society health and nutrition division has recognized Professor Richard Bazinet with the Ralph Holman Lifetime Achievement Award — the society's highest honor.  Dr. Bazinet is a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at U of T, who studies the regulation and role of brain lipid metabolism in neurodegenerative diseases and neuropsychiatric disorders.

 

Professor Jill Cameron

Professor Jill Cameron has been elected as a Fellow of the American Heart Association, for scientific and professional accomplishments, volunteer leadership and service. Dr. Cameron is a professor in the Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, as well as the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at U of T. She is also an affiliate scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network.

 

Professor Michael Fehlings

Professor Michael Fehlings has been honoured with the 2019 Vilhelm Magnus Medal from the Norwegian Neurosurgical Society. Dr. Fehlings is a professor of Surgery at U of T and a senior scientist at the Krembil Research Institute, Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network.