University of Western Ontario Professor Emeritus Dr. Calvin Stiller and Department of Biophysics founder Dr. Alan Burton will be inducted into The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Tuesday.
The induction ceremony will be held at the BMO Centre in Calgary.
Stiller will be inducted in the category of Applied Research/Builder/Clinical Care and Burton will be inducted into the Applied Research/Basic Research/Builder category.
Dr. Calvin Stiller
A physician, scientist, administrator, policy innovator and entrepreneur, Dr. Calvin Stiller developed one of the most dynamic organ transplant programs in the nation and championed countless other initiatives that have enriched research enterprise in Canada. He is called a visionary with organizational genius.
Stiller, who was born and raised in Saskatchewan, was Canada’s major voice in organ transplantation during the 1970’s, 1980’s and early1990’s when the field transformed from a risky experimental undertaking to a reliably successful venture.
In the late 1970’s Stiller obtained the promising new drug Cyclosporine and organized its first multi-centre clinical trial in kidney transplantation in North America, creating the foundation for subsequent studies that put Canada on the world stage.
Today, Cyclosporine remains the drug of choice to combat tissue rejection after transplantation.
He was responsible for the controversial but groundbreaking research that showed that Cyclosporine, an immunosuppressant, could halt the progression of Type 1 Diabetes – demonstrating that it was an immune disorder.
Stiller has been the architect of many institutions, including The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, Robarts Research Institute, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, MaRs, and the Stiller Centre. From 1984 to 1996, he established and led the Multi-Organ Transplant Service at The University of Western Ontario’s University Hospital, the first of its kind in Canada and one of the first in the world.
A remarkable crusader for organ donation and the organ donor card, he popularized, if not coined, the term “Gift of Life.”
He was appointed to the board of the Medical Research Council of Canada in 1987. In 1996, he was named Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year.
Convinced that there was a serious lack of capital available to Canadian bioscientists, he honed his idea of involving the private sector in stimulating a real Canadian-grown life sciences industry. Accordingly, he built four venture funds – the largest being Canadian Medical
Discovery Fund – that served as the catalyst for biotechnology in Canada and developed early-seed investments in discoveries coming out of universities.
A recipient of numerous prestigious awards and honours, Stiller is a Member of the Order of
Canada (1995) and the Order of Ontario (2000), and has received the Queen’s Jubilee Award (2002). Recognized for Life Time Achievement by the Canadian Society of Transplantation (2003), he also holds three honorary doctorate degrees.
Dr. Alan Burton
Considered a founding father of modern biophysics and a pioneer in interdisciplinary health research, Burton was a brilliant scientist and a superb raconteur who had a profound and lasting effect on those he encountered.
One of the first physicists to become a biophysicist at a time when biophysics was not in vogue, Burton had an uncanny ability to crystallize physical concepts in medicine and make learning relevant, exciting and fun.
In 1945, Burton was recruited to The University of Western Ontario where he founded and led from 1948-1970 the first Department of Biophysics in a Canadian medical school. It is now one of Canada’s largest biophysics departments, known for its innovative graduate program.
In his later years, Burton turned his energies towards the problem of cancer, including protection against cancer by altitude.
Awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire for his contributions during the World War II, Burton served as President of the American Physiological Society (1956), Biophysical Society (1966) and the Canadian Physiological Society (1959). He was honoured with the Gairdner Foundation International Award for Cardiovascular Research (1961) and received two honourary degrees.
The Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western named their CFI-funded biophysics laboratory the Alan C. Burton Laboratory for Vascular Research in his honour. The Alan C. Burton Lecture was established at Western in 1991.
Burton died in 1979.