Prestigious honour for three trailblazing professors
Three University of Manitoba professors have been elected to the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the country’s most esteemed association of scholars and scientists.
The new Fellows are Patricia Martens, an internationally recognized expert in population and public health, Aftab Mufti, a pioneer in the field of bridges and intelligent sensing, and Grant Pierce, considered one of the top cardiovascular scientists in the world. Election to the RSC is considered the highest honour an academic can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences. The three professors are among 84 new Fellows elected for 2013.
“I congratulate Professors Martens, Mufti and Pierce on this honour and recognition for their outstanding achievements in their fields of research,” said Digvir Jayas, vice-president (research and international) and Distinguished Professor at the University of Manitoba. “We are proud of their accomplishments.”
Patricia Martens
A community health sciences professor and director of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, she is an internationally known researcher who focuses her work on population health with particular interests in the health status, inequities, healthcare use patterns of rural and northern residents, mental health, child health, breastfeeding issues, and the health of Aboriginal peoples. She has made over 400 presentations as an invited speaker and published over 250 articles, books and abstracts. She has received numerous awards, most recently the R.D. Defries Award, the highest award of the Canadian Public Health Association for outstanding contributions in the field of public health, as well as Member of the Order of Canada in 2013.
Aftab Mufti
An engineering professor emeritus and former president of ISIS Canada Research Network, a Network of Centres of Excellence, he is known for his many developments in the field of civil engineering and pioneering the field of Civionics Engineering and Structural Health Monitoring. He has authored co-authored and edited numerous books and book chapters and written more than 350 technical publications. He is the recipient of 24 awards, and became a Member of the Order of Canada in 2010 for his contribution to and leadership in the field of civil engineering, notably for researching the use of advanced composite materials and fibre optic sensors in the construction and monitoring of bridges and other infrastructures.
Grant Pierce
A physiology and pharmacy professor at the U of M and an executive director of research at St-Boniface Hospital Research, he has made major contributions toward the understanding of heart dysfunction in diabetes, the role of oxidized cholesterol and sodium-hydrogen exchange in ischemic heart disease, and the prevention of cardiovascular disease through nutraceuticals. His research, published in 200 manuscripts in high impact journals and in seven textbooks, has been cited over 4,000 times. He has exhibited exceptional leadership abilities over the course of his career.
Fellows and award winners from across the country will be officially inducted and honoured on Nov. 16 in Banff, Alberta. This will bring the total number of current Royal Society Fellows from the University of Manitoba to 45.
Founded in 1882, the Royal Society’s mission is to recognize scholarly, research and artistic excellence, to advise governments and organizations, and to promote a culture of knowledge and innovation in Canada and with other national academies around the world.
For more information contact Janine Harasymchuk, marketing communications office, University of Manitoba, at 204-474-7300.
Research at the University of Manitoba is partially supported by funding from the Government of Canada Research Support Fund.