Last week, two McGill alumni were announced to be among the 2012 class of inductees to the prestigious Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame comprises 88 laureates and recognizes inspirational figures who have made remarkable and innovative contributions to the field of medicine. Dr. F. Clarke Fraser and Dr. Peter T. Macklem both attained their M.D., C.M. degrees from McGill’s faculty of medicine and spent much of their professional lives at McGill University and in hospitals of the McGill University Health Clinic (MUHC).
Dr. Fraser (M.D., C.M ‘50) is being honoured for his accomplishments in medical genetics, a field of study which he is credited to have pioneered in North America. His specific research involves multifactorial disease and the genetics of cleft palate. He has directly improved the wellbeing of countless patients through his contributions to the creation of genetic counselling, and his founding of the now-named F. Clarke Fraser Clinical Genetics Centre at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the first of its kind in Canada.
Dr. Macklem (M.D., C.M. ‘56) is being recognized for his contributions to advancements in the field of respiratory medicine. His work involves significant innovations in small airway physiology and the discovery of the causal link between early heart damage and smoking. Dr. Macklem has served as Physician-in-Chief at the Royal Victoria Hospital, the chair of the department of medicine at McGill, and Physician-in-Chief of the Montreal Chest Institute. He passed away in February, 2011.
The induction of two McGill alumni with close ties to the university and the MUHC reflects the quality of McGill’s faculty of medicine both in training and drawing the brightest of the medical profession.
“Whenever a member of the MUHC and McGill family is recognized nationally and internationally, we are reminded of how fortunate we are to attract and retain brilliant, dedicated professionals,” the Hon. Arthur T. Porter, MUHC Director General and CEO, said in a press release.
The recognition also affirms and adds to McGill University’s prestige internationally. “McGill’s international reputation is built on the shoulders of exceptional individuals, such as this year’s laureates, Dr. Fraser and Dr. Macklem, from the university’s faculty of medicine and its teaching hospital community,” the Interim Vice-Principal of Health Affairs and Interim Dean of Medicine, Dr. Samuel Benaroya, said.
The 2012 induction ceremony will be held in Toronto on March 21, 2012, where Fraser and Macklem will be recognized alongside five other inductees: Dr. John James Rickard Macleod, Terry Fox, Dr. Armand Frappier, Dr. John Dirks, and Dr. Lap-Chee Tsui. Twenty-one previous laureates have shared connections with the MUHC, McGill University, or both.
