All Canadians have benefited from their sustained leadership contributions to Canada's health care system.
Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard, C.M. - As Director of the Maritime School of Social Work at Dalhousie University, Wanda Thomas Bernard is highly regarded for addressing racial and cultural diversity in social work education and in the community. She is a thoughtful leader who has generously shared her expertise in family and social development with local, provincial and national organizations, notably as a founding member of the Association of Black Social Workers.
Dr. Marlene Brant Castellano, O.C. -- As an Institute Advisory Board member for CIHR's Institute of Aboriginal Peoples' Health, Marlene Brant Castellano has worked throughout her life for the rights and well-being of Aboriginal peoples. Professor Emeritus at Trent University, Dr. Castellano helped pave the way for Native studies as an academic discipline and was central to the work of the influential Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, where she served as Co-Director of Research.
Dr. Thomas De Koninck, C.M. -- Thomas De Koninck is professor and former dean of the faculty of philosophy at Université Laval, and has authored works that received international acclaim, including De la dignité humaine and La nouvelle ignorance et le problème de la culture. He is also well-known for the excellence of the courses he gives and his commitment to promoting philosophy, and is a member and past president of the Canadian Philosophical Association.
Dr. Jean Gray, C.M. - The Chair of CIHR's Institute Advisory Board for the Institute of Gender and Health, Jean Gray is one of Canada's outstanding medical educators. As a Professor Emeritus of medical education, medicine and pharmacology at Dalhousie University, she has developed tools to better evaluate residents in training and has championed mentoring programs for women medical students.
Dr. Betty Havens, C.M. - As a former member of CIHR's Institute Advisory Board for the Institute of Aging, as well as current professor and senior scholar at the University of Manitoba, Betty Havens is a leading gerontologist who is committed to improving the lives of senior citizens. While working in the provincial Department of Health in 1971, she designed and conducted the Aging in Manitoba Longitudinal Study, the longest continuous and most comprehensive investigation of its kind in Canada.
Dr. Mark J. Poznansky, C.M. - As President, CEO and Scientific Director of the Robarts Research Institute, Mark Poznansky has been instrumental in recruiting researchers, and expanding the scope of research activities, as well as the commercialization of medical innovations for the future benefit of Canadians. Formerly the Associate Dean of Medicine in charge of Research at the University of Alberta, he is currently a professor of Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario.
Dr. Marc Renaud, C.M. -- An eminent sociologist and former professor at the Université de Montreal, Marc Renaud founded the research group at the university on the social aspects of health and prevention. Currently President of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, he was made a member of the Commission d'enquête sur les services sociaux et de santé du Québec and of the National Forum on Health, and has also played a leadership role in the Conseil québécois de la recherche sociale and in the International Association of Health Policy.
