By Tiffany Barnes-Huggins
Marketing and Communications Officer
On October 1, 2022, the Faculty of Medicine celebrated the first in-person Awards and Recognition Gala since 2019 at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa. Faculty, alumni, staff, donors and learners all gathered to reconnect and celebrate the outstanding achievements of the Faculty community.
The evening began with a reception where guests could mingle and reconnect in a relaxed atmosphere, surrounded by beautiful views of the city centre. The energy and excitement in the room was palpable, no doubt driven by the opportunity to convene again after so much time apart due to the ongoing pandemic.
When guests finally made their way to their seats at the beautifully decorated tables that filled the room, Dr. Bernard Jasmin, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, took to the stage to welcome the crowd and highlight an exciting new initiative spearheaded by uOttawa’s five affiliated health science centers—the Ottawa Academic Health Network. The dean shared a short promotional video on the Network before continuing his welcome address to the guests.
“I’m elated to host this year’s Gala in person for the first time in three years. We’ve experienced an ongoing pandemic, social and economic unrest, an overly burdened health care system and a rapidly growing climate crisis—to say things have been challenging, feels like an understatement,” he remarked.
Cognizant of the impacts of the pandemic on many of the health care workers in the room, the dean made sure to recognize their efforts and thank them for their ongoing work.
“We have also seen frontline and health care workers risk their lives and those of their loved ones in order to provide compassionate care to those affected by the pandemic and I’d just like to take a moment to thank them acknowledge their resilience and strength. You are the pillars of our community,” he continued.
The dean expressed appreciation toward the generous sponsors of the evening and went on to announce the Faculty’s inaugural NFT Gold Coin Series. The series was initiated to explore the future of fintech as a way to serve the Faculty’s donors and engage with innovative partners. Twenty-five randomly selected guests each received a digital Gold Coin from the series during the event.
Before kicking off the ceremony for the Faculty’s annual awards, Dr. Jasmin presented framed certificates to the Faculty’s outgoing leaders for their years of outstanding leadership as vice-deans, chairs and interim chairs in the Faculty’s departments, including Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and various others.
Following these presentations, Dr. Ali Jalali, associate dean of external relations, engagement and advancement, took the stage to open the presentation of the Faculty of Medicine’s prestigious annual awards: The Faculty Member Awards of Excellence, the Alumni Awards of Distinction and the Research Day Awards. He was joined by Dr. Nadine Wiper-Bergeron, assistant dean of graduate and postdoctoral studies and full professor in the Department of Cellular and Mollecular Medicine; Dr. Katey Rayner, assistant dean of research and special projects and full professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology; and five learners from the Faculty to hand out awards to deserving recipients throughout the ceremony.
For each award winner and outgoing leader recognized at the Gala, the dean pledged that a tree would be planted in their name. This token of appreciation and recognition also represents the Faculty’s commitment to an important strategic goal—that of planetary health.
To close out the ceremony, Dr. Jalali thanked the recipients for their hard work as well as the sponsors, staff and service providers that made the remarkable evening possible. “Thank you all for your dedication and commitment to the Faculty of Medicine,” he praised, “and congratulations to all of our award recipients!’”
Throughout the evening, guests enjoyed a delicious dinner and dessert bar while catching up with colleagues and former classmates. The gala was one of a series of events planned by the Faculty for Homecoming 2022, a chance for alumni to come together and reconnect after years apart. A professional photographer was on hand to capture the close bonds of classes of yesteryear.
The night concluded with performances by the SWAY band, whose beats had guests living it up and letting down their hair on the dance floor.
