LONDON, Ont. - A pioneer in nerve regeneration and a physician known as Quebec's Father of Cardiology are among six doctors being inducted Thursday into Canada's Medical Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame, located in London, Ont., is dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of "Canadian medical heroes."
The six inductees are:
Argentina-born Dr. Albert Aguayo, who retired last year from McGill University in Montreal, initiated a rebirth of regenerative medicine by demonstrating that nerve fibres are capable of regeneration. Aguayo and his team were the first to show that nerve fibres and function in the central nervous system of adult mammals could be restored after injury.
Dr. John Bienenstock was born in Budapest, Hungary, and began his scientific career at Hamilton's McMaster University in 1968. His landmark studies led to new approaches in immunization and an improved understanding of how the nervous and immune systems communicate with one another.
The late Dr. Paul David, a pioneering cardiologist, established the Montreal Heart Institute in the city of his birth. Under his direction until his retirement in 1985, the institute performed Canada's first heart transplant and first coronary angioplasty. David was subsequently appointed to the Senate.
The late Dr. Jonathan Campbell Meakins, born in Hamilton, is being honoured for his role as an "outstanding teacher and promoter of clinical research." The former dean of medicine at McGill University was also a founding father and the first president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Dr. Allan Ronald, born in Portage la Prairie, Man., is an internationally respected expert in infectious disease. He was instrumental in the creation of the Manitoba Infectious Disease Program, an institution recognized as Canada's centre of excellence in research and training related to infectious diseases.
Dr. D. Lorne Tyrrell of Edmonton was responsible for saving thousands of lives when his research at the University of Alberta led to the development of the first antiviral drug to treat hepatitis B. Last year, the former dean of medicine secured the largest donation ever received by the university, enabling him to found the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology.
