Tonight, University of Manitoba Distinguished Professor Emeritus and alumnus Dr. Allan Ronald, along with five other eminent doctors, will be inducted into the world’s only national Medical Hall of Fame.
Other inductees are: Dr. Albert Auguayo, Dr. John Bienenstock, the late Dr. Jonathan C. Meakins, the late Dr. Paul David, and Dr. D. Lorne Tyrrell. Located in London, Ont., the Medical Hall of Fame is dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of Canadian medical heroes.
Who: Allan Ronald [MD/61] OC
What: The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame
When: Thursday, April 28, 2011
Where: London Convention Centre, 300 York Strett, London ON
For more information please contact Ilana Simon, Director of Communications & Marketing, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba, at 204-789-3427 or (cell) 204-295-677 ([email protected]),
Or, Heather Sercombe, The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame at 519-488-2003 or (cell) 519-282-2697 ([email protected])
Biography – Dr. Allan Ronald, OC
1938 –
Dr. Allan Ronald
Born in Portage la Prairie, MB., Dr. Allan Ronald is an internationally respected expert in infectious disease. As a mentor of young physicians, his limitless enthusiasm and dedication has ensured the advancement of infectious disease as a discipline.
After receiving his doctorate in medicine from the University of Manitoba in 1961, Ronald proceeded to Maryland, Washington, and Pakistan for his training in Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, and Clinical Microbiology. His return to Winnipeg in 1968 set in motion the creation of the Manitoba Infectious Disease Program. It became internationally recognized and has been acknowledged as Canada’s centre of excellence in the research and training of infectious diseases.
In 1980, Ronald assisted the University of Nairobi in creating one of the premiere initiatives in health collaborations between northern and southern institutions: The University of Manitoba/University of Nairobi World Health Organization Research and Training Program in Sexually Transmitted Diseases. More than 50 Africans have earned Masters or PhD degrees due to this program. In 2001 the Ugandan-based Academic Alliance for AIDS Care and Prevention in Africa was established, of which Ronald is a founding member. A father of three and grandfather of 12, he and his wife, a nurse, have assisted in providing thousands of Africans with antiretroviral therapy and training in HIV care. Beyond Africa, Ronald spent a year in Hong Kong assisting the Infectious Diseases Program that would later oversee that region’s SARS epidemic.
Ronald, a trailblazer with exceptional leadership skills, has chaired the University of Manitoba’s Infectious Diseases, and the Department of Internal Medicine. Recognized for its elite status in Canada, the Department of Medical Microbiology was also under his leadership for nine years. Associate dean of Research from 1993 to 1998, Ronald has made contributions to Winnipeg’s teaching hospitals as director of the Department of Clinical Microbiology, head of Infectious Diseases and Infection Control, and physician-in-chief. President of the International Society for Infectious Diseases from 1996-98, Ronald has served on Medical Research Council/CIHR committees for more than 35 years. Over 500 original articles, book chapters and reviews are included in his bibliography.
An Officer of the Order of Canada, Dr. Ronald has been recognized for his numerous contributions with the prestigious Gairdner Foundation Wightman Award (2006), and the Canadian Medical Association’s highest honour, the F.N.G. Starr Award. Selected as one of the 30 Outstanding Manitobans in 2009, he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2000).
