On behalf of Dr. Bernard Jasmin, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, here are this year’s recipients of the Alumni Awards of Distinction. Awards will be presented during Homecoming Weekend’s Sunday Brunch on October 6 at the Shaw Centre. For more information about Homecoming at the Faculty of Medicine visit the event web page.
Exceptional Leadership Award: Dr. Elizabeth Douville & Dr. Geneviève Moineau
The Exceptional Leadership Award is presented to an alum who has demonstrated professional excellence, leadership and dedication to the community. This award honours excellence in advancing the delivery of health care working across academic hospitals and research pillars. The recipient is a true champion in the realm of medicine who demonstrates excellence as a community leader.
Dr. Elizabeth Douville (PhD 1994): Dr. Douville is the general partner and co-founder of AmorChem II Ventures Inc., a Québec-based seed venture fund dedicated to financing and commercializing university technologies. She obtained her Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Ottawa in 1994, studying the role of protein tyrosine kinases in oncogenesis. She then received postdoctoral training at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, United Kingdom from 1994 to 1997 where she studied oncogenes and their signal transduction pathways.
Dr. Geneviève Moineau (MD 1984): Dr. Moineau is currently the president and CEO of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC), the academic partnership of Canada's faculties of medicine. She is a uOttawa MD graduate who went on to complete her Pediatric Residency at the University of Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children. She is also a faculty member in the Department of Paediatrics at uOttawa where she holds the rank of associate professor, and practices pediatric emergency medicine at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Gaston Harnois, Dr. Jean-Lucien Rouleau & Dr. Ruth Slack
The Lifetime Achievement Award honours a lifetime of significant contributions to the community and achievement in health care and medicine. Recipients are leaders in their respective field and have demonstrated professional excellence and selfless dedication over their years of work.
Dr. Gaston Harnois (MD 1959): Dr. Harnois is a leading expert in psycho-social rehabilitation, mental health policy and health care reform, both nationally and internationally. Working in close collaboration with Douglas Institute Research Centre in Montreal, Dr. Harnois was most active in Latin America and the Caribbean throughout his long career. In October 2004, he presided over the Montreal-based World Health Organization’s Conference on Intellectual Disabilities. During the conference, the Montreal Declaration on Intellectual Disabilities was adopted. The declaration supports the right of people with intellectual disabilities to equality, non-discrimination, and self-determination, and defends their right to help in order that they might integrate within society.
Dr. Jean-Lucien Rouleau (MD 1974): Dr. Rouleau obtained his medical degree in 1974 and has held numerous senior administrative positions such as director of the Cardiac Program/Cardiology Divisions at the University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto; dean of Université de Montréal, Faculty of Medicine (2003-2010); and scientific director of the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) (2010-2015). In 2011, he directed the development of what has become the largest strategic program of CIHR—the Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR). He is presently director of the cardiac research axis at the Montreal Heart Institute. His h-index for scholarly citations impact is over 100. He has published over 485 scientific articles in journals such as Circulation, JAMA, The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. He presently chairs the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Surgical Treatment for Ischemic Heart Failure (STICH) trial, and is an executive committee member of several large clinical trials.
Dr. Ruth Slack (PhD 1991): The work of Dr. Slack, at the uOttawa Brain and Mind Research Institute (uOBMRI), gives new hope to Canadians affected by brain damage. She directs an internationally recognized research program, focusing on neural regeneration and survival, primarily investigating the workings of neural precursors in the production of new neurons. She has chaired numerous CIHR committees, and has also served on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Stroke Network, the Bruyère Hospital Research Institute and the Canadian Association for Neuroscience. Dr. Slack completed a PhD in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, in which she is now a professor. After serving as Interim Vice-Dean, Research at the Faculty from 2017 to 2019, she was named Director of the uOBMRI in June.
Rising Star Achievement Award: Dr. Jason G. Andrade, Dr. Karen K. Lee & Dr. Taryn-Lise Taylor
This Rising Star Achievement Award recognizes an outstanding alum who has demonstrated professional excellence and exceptional leadership while making significant contributions to health care and medicine. This award honours young alumni with 10 to 20 years of professional experience in their medical specialty.
Dr. Jason G. Andrade (MD 2004): Dr. Jason Andrade is a cardiac electrophysiologist at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), with a joint appointment at St. Paul's Hospital and the Montreal Heart Institute. He is also an associate professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia, and adjunct professor at the Université de Montréal. At VGH, Dr. Andrade is director of the Electrophysiology Program. He serves as medical lead for Provincial Atrial Fibrillation Care, and is co-chair of the CCS Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines. Previously, Dr. Andrade was education chair for the Canadian Heart Rhythm Society. He has co-authored more than 125 peer-reviewed articles as well as numerous scholarly articles, book chapters, and a handbook of cardiac electrophysiology.
Dr. Karen K. Lee (PhD 2009): Dr. Lee is the current vice-president of research at the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, where she oversees research operations and provides leadership on initiatives set in motion to find the cure for MS and improve the quality of life for people who are affected by MS. In addition, Karen serves as the managing director for the endMS Research and Training Network, where she provides leadership to regional training centres across Canada and ensures effective implementation of programs to attract and retain MS researchers. Dr. Lee completed a Ph.D. in Cellular Molecular Medicine from uOttawa.
Dr. Taryn-Lise Taylor (MD 2004): Dr. Taylor is currently the co-owner & medical director of the Carleton Sport Medicine Clinic caring for the varsity athletes. She also assists Dr. Andrew Marshall, an orthopaedic surgeon, in the operating room at Hôpital Monfort. After medical school, Dr. Taylor completed a family medicine residency and a primary care sport medicine fellowship at uOttawa. She has been on the Executive of the Ontario Medical Association’s Sport and Exercise Medicine Section since 2005 and is an active member of the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine. She has experience working with Hockey Canada, Soccer Canada, Rugby Canada, Softball Canada and Skate Canada.
