John Dossetor

John Dossetor (1925-2020) studied medicine at Oxford and at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, England, graduating with medical degrees in 1950.

During the next 5 years, he completed a postgraduate clinical residency training in London, interrupted by service with the Royal Army Medical Corps. His research contributed to the field of nephrology and transplantation.

In 1955, Dossetor emigrated to Canada to become associated with McGill University / Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Quebec. At the Royal Victoria Hospital, he was coordinating physician for the first successful kidney transplant in Canada and the Commonwealth between identical twins in 1958.

This event led Dossetor to dedicate his career to kidney research, including improvements in treatment and transplantation. In 1961, he obtained a PhD in Experimental Medicine at McGill University with a thesis focused on circadian rhythms of electrolyte excretion and renal function. He was appointed Director, Renal and Urologic Research, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal with immunological aspects of renal transplantation being his research focus from 1961-1969 as he was appointed a Career Investigator of the Medical Research Council of Canada (until 1989). In 1964, he was co-founder of the Kidney Foundation of Canada, and then founding member of the Canadian Society of Nephrology, and the Canadian Society of Transplantation. In 1969, he was appointed Professor of Medicine, University of Alberta, and Director of the Division of Nephrology and Immunology, and Co-Director of a Research Group in Transplantation established by MRC, Canada, at the University of Alberta.

Dossetor developed an interest in medical ethics in the early 1980s. In 1986, he was appointed as Director and, later, first Professor of Bioethics, at the University of Alberta. He created and chaired the University of Alberta Hospital's Clinical Ethics Committee. In 1986, he was a founding member of the Canadian Society of Bioethics. In 1996, he was part of the group initiative leading to the establishment of the Provincial Health Ethics Network in Alberta, and was Vice-Chair and Executive Director of the Network from 1996-98. In 2001, Dossetor was appointed to the Canadian Council for Donation and Transplantation. 

During  the span of his career, John Dossetor had 295 medical/scientific publications as well as authored and co-authored 10 books. His last book, Beyond the Hippocratic Oath, served as a reflective memoir of the evolution of modern medicine and bioethics.

Dossetor received the 125th Canadian Confederation commemorative medal for his work with the Kidney Foundation of Canada in 1992, and he was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for his achievements in the fields of medicine and bioethics in 1995. He was awarded the Queen's Jubilee Gold Medal in 2003, and the Canadian Medical Association's Dr. William Marsden Award in Medical Ethics in 2007. Finally, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 from the Canadian Bioethics Society.