Awards and Accolades - October 2019

Celebrating the achievements of our faculty, staff and students.

Kirsten Bauer - 17 October 2019


Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

Congratulations to Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry alumni Jean Gray, '76 MD and Joseph B. Martin, '62 MD, on being selected for 2020 induction into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. This year's induction ceremony will coincide with the Canadian Conference on Medical Education on April 17, 2020 in Vancouver. Read More.




Faculty & Staff Awards

Robert Burrell, Department of Biomedical Engineering, was inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence, the highest honour that can be bestowed in the province.


Sangita Sharma, Department of Medicine and Alberta Diabetes Institute (ADI), Women and Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI), and Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta (CRINA) member was named a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.


The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) recognized the following:

  • Michael Bullard, Department of Emergency Medicine - AMA Medal for Distinguished Service

  • Frances Harley, Professor Emerita, Department of Pediatrics - AMA Medal for Distinguished Service

  • Vincent Agyapong, Department of Psychiatry - AMA Award for Compassionate Service


David Brindley, Department of Biochemistry, WCHRI and CRINA member, was awarded the Journal of Lipids Research Prize.


Sharon Compton, School of Dentistry, is the winner of the E.N. Skakun Award for service to education.


The Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) Quality Improvement committee are the winners of the David Cook award for significant curricular innovation. Congratulations to the following members of the team:

  • Elaine Yacyshyn, Department of Medicine, WCHRI member

  • Rose Yeung, Department of Medicine, ADI and WCHRI member

  • Shirley Auvigne, PGME

  • Khalid Aziz, Department of Pediatrics, WCHRI member

  • Pam Mathura, Department of Medicine

  • Taniya Birbeck, PGME

  • Ramona Kearney, Associate Dean, PGME


Medo.ai, a U of A spin off company led by Jacob Jaremko, Department of Radiology, has been awarded the Aiconics Best AI Startup award.


Holly Bandi, Research Technologist, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology (pictured below), is the recipient of the U of A Support Staff Research Enhancement Award.


Michael Stickland, Department of Medicine, was awarded the Alberta Boehringer Ingelheim Collaboration Fund.


Richard Fedorak, former dean of FoMD, was inducted into the BioAlberta Hall of Fame.


U of A spin-off company Metabolomics Tech Inc. was named BioAlberta company of the year. Well done!


Vivian Mushahwar, Department of Medicine and Neuroscience & Mental Health Institute (NMHI), is the recipient of the U of A Killam Annual Professorship.


Glen Jickling, Department of Medicine and NMHI member, received an inaugural Killam Accelerator award.


Students, Residents and Trainees

Marissa Nahirney, MD student researcher (Supervisor Michael Hawkes), received the 2019 Benjamin H. Kean Travel Fellowship in Tropical Medicine. Nahirney is the only Canadian to receive the award in 2019.


Drew Young, fourth year Dentistry student, was awarded the Dr. Carl Hawrish Memorial Scholarship for his work in 3rd year endodontics.


Abdullah Ishaque, MD student, is the recipient of the 2019 University of Alberta Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Award.

Ryaan El-Andari (supervisor Jeevan Nagendran), 2nd year MD student researcher, won first place at the U of A Falling Walls competition for his presentation "Breaking the Walls of Heart Valve Replacements." Ryaan will present at the world finals on November 8 - 9 in Berlin.



University of Alberta Alumni Awards


Know an outstanding U of A grad? Nominate them for a 2020 Alumni Award.


University of Alberta alumni around the globe uphold our promise to use their education "for the public good" through their professional achievements, community service and innovation. The Alumni Awards recognize these contributions and tells the stories of our exceptional alumni, inspiring us all to Do Great Things. Help us recognize the FoMD's outstanding alumni with a nomination.


Nomination deadline: December 15, 2019


Questions: alumni.awards@ualberta.ca or 780-492-4523