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The Canadian Bioethics Society accepts nominations for two awards in recognition of those who have made significant contributions to bioethics in Canada.
The CBS-SCB Lifetime Achievement Award is given annually to an individual whose demonstrated scholarship and/or leadership has contributed significantly to bioethics in Canada.
The Distinguished Service Award recognizes outstanding and dedicated service to the Canadian Bioethics Society-Société canadienne de bioéthique. The award will be presented to an individual or group that has advanced the mission of the CBS-SCB in a significant and lasting manner.
Dr. Paula Chidwick is an ethicist working on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinabek nations, protected by the “Dish With One Spoon” Wampum agreement. She is passionate about and committed to building trusting partnerships with all communities to develop innovative, ethical solutions to the complex problems in healthcare. Dr. Paula Chidwick holds a PhD in Philosophy specializing in Bioethics from the University of Guelph and completed a fellowship with the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. She also holds certificates in Adaptive Leadership (Harvard) and Integrative Thinking (Rotman) and is a graduate of the Health Quality Ontario IDEAS Program. Dr. Chidwick is the first Director of Ethics at William Osler Health System (WOHS) and the first full-time ethicist at a community hospital in Canada. She is also the founding Director of the Ethics Quality Improvement (EQI) Lab (2017), an innovative approach to ethics quality improvement in healthcare and ethics that takes a patient-centred approach to safe, effective, and equitable care. Two projects in the EQI Lab have led to Accreditation Canada’s leading practices: Checklist to meet Ethical and Legal Obligations (ChELO Checklist) and Prevention of Error-Based Transfers (PoET Project). Dr. Chidwick also founded the Clinical Ethics Internship Program at WOHS, a training program that offers mentorship and hands-on experience for emerging ethicists, emphasizing personalized learning approaches.
Dr. Chidwick’s impact in bioethics has national and international reach – her work includes serving on COVID-19 advisory tables, bioethics groups, and leading projects through the EQI Lab, including receiving a grant from the World Health Organization (WHO). Dr. Chidwick has pioneered innovative approaches to ethics and patient care, with, for example, the publication she co-authored “Trust and conflict in death determination-reflections on the legacy of Taquisha McKitty,” that addressed a case of brain death and encouraged a different approach to the ethical issues and working families through collaboration and knowledge of what was important to them. Dr Chidwick works with the Canada-US Coalition to Ending Race Correction, addressing the legacy of racism in medicine, and is a testament to her dedication to fostering an inclusive, respectful and just healthcare environment.
Dr. Kirby’s accomplishments include:
Playing a key role in developing the Nova Scotia Health Ethics Network.
Developing and applying the Deliberative Engagement Framework, still used to guide decision-making in Nova Scotia around disclosure of large-scale adverse events.
Facilitating decision-making processes regarding a cancer care MRI machine in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and a cardiac catheterization lab in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Being invited to join the Protocol Redevelopment Working Group to update the protocol to create the Nova Scotia Pandemic Critical Care Triage Protocol (2020).
Contributing to a range of work related to the changes to Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) legislation with regards to mental disorder as the sole underlying medical condition (MD-SUMC) for MAiD a:
an invited member of an informal Advisory Group for Senator Stanley Kutcher regarding future amendments to Bill C-14 (2020-21), a presenter to the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs regarding the Senate review of Bill C-7, and a member of the Expert Panel on MAiD and Mental Illness (2021-22).
Consulting to the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) (2007-11).
Providing an ethics review of national health frameworks, such as the National Advisory Committee of Blood and Blood Products: A Framework for Rationing of Blood during the Red Phase of a Blood Shortage for Massively Bleeding Patients (2011).
Offering input to the National Framework for Advance Care Planning in Canada (2011).
Promoting quality healthcare ethics practice locally through mentoring new members of the Department of Bioethics’ Ethics Collaboration Team, and nationally through his founding membership of Practicing Healthcare Ethicists Exploring Professionalization (PHEEP), now the Canadian Association of Practicing Healthcare Ethicists (CAPHE-ACESS).
Bartha Marie Knoppers`s accomplishments include:
The CBS-SCB Lifetime Achievement Award is normally given to one individual each year. However In 2019, the Awards committee felt that there were two outstanding nominees and made an exception to honor both Daryl Pullman and Eugene Bereza.
Daryl Pullman is a Professor of Medical Ethics in the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University and a Clinical Ethics Consultant with the Eastern Health Authority. His graduate degrees include an MA and PhD in Philosophy from the University of Waterloo.
He has broad and diverse research interests including research ethics, ethics and aging, privacy, issues related to genetic research and therapy, and human dignity and moral epistemology and has published widely. He has served on many national ethics committees including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Stem Cell Oversight Committee, the CIHR Standing Committee on Ethics, the “Ethical, Legal and Social Issues” lead for the CIHR Institute of Genetics, and co-chair of the Ethics Advisory Committee for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.
Daryl has had a profound and transformative impact on ethics in Newfoundland and Labrador since his arrival in 1998 and is recognized nationally and internationally as an ethics scholar.
The CBS-SCB Lifetime Achievement Award is normally given to one individual each year. However In 2019, the Awards committee felt that there were two outstanding nominees and made an exception to honor both Eugene Bereza and Daryl Pullman.
Eugene Bereza is a family physician with a background in literature, music therapy, palliative care and bioethics. He studied medicine and completed his residency at McGill University before pursuing a post-doctoral fellowship at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago.
Throughout his career, he has been actively engaged in academic medical ethics, clinical ethics, research ethics and health policy development across the spectrum of care in Quebec through his work at the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, the McGill University Health Centre, the Montreal Neurological Institute, as well as many provincial and national professional organizations.
His main area of interest has always been end-of-life care, with a special emphasis on palliative care and euthanasia, especially in Quebec’s multicultural context. He is widely recognized as a skilled educator and mentor to students across a variety of disciplines.
Françoise Baylis is a philosopher whose innovative work in bioethics, at the intersection of policy and practice, has stretched the very boundaries of the field.
Her extensive publication record spans many topics, including research involving children, the role of bioethics consultants, women’s health, human embryo research, and novel genetic technologies. Her work challenges readers to think broadly and deeply about the direction of health, science and biotechnology.
Dr. Storch’s focus on ethics commenced in the early 1980s with a focus on human rights, and the publication of her ground-breaking 1982 text, “Patient rights: Ethical and legal issues in health care and nursing.” In 1984 she joined the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, Bioethics Committee. Since then her scholarly focus has remained on nursing ethics, bioethics, health ethics, and research ethics.
She has published 32 peer-reviewed articles related to ethics, 3 edited books, 5 monographs, and 26 book chapters directly related to ethics. Dr. Storch’s high profile in health care ethics has been reflected in 11 Canadian awards, and one international award.
She is a warm, caring, compassionate and visionary leader who does not seek out edification or praise for herself, rather her style is to help create a space where each person can contribute to the development of new knowledge.
Dr. Storch embodies the characteristics of a true leader in nursing and health care ethics; committing to the development of knowledge to improve patient care, acting as a scholar, advocate and change agent within the system, and providing advice and knowledge to students and health care providers she teaches. Her work has had an impact in the development of public policy that has benefited many Canadians.
Dr. John Dossetor, OC, BM, BCh, PhD, FRCPC – Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta. John Dossetor exemplifies scholarship and leadership in health care ethics in the areas of teaching, clinical ethics, and research.
As Director of the Division of Nephrology and Clinical Immunology at the University of Alberta and Professor of Nephrology, Dr. Dossetor’s interest in medical ethics sparked a career change that led to him become the first Professor of Bioethics at the University of Alberta in 1986. With several colleagues, he developed the Joint-Faculties Bioethics Project, creating teaching resources, courses, seminars and a newsletter that exist to this day. He became the first Director of the Division of Bioethics and Bioethics Centre in 1990. In January 1998, the Bioethics Centre was renamed the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre in honour of Dr. Dossetor’s outstanding contributions to health and ethics at the University of Alberta and in Canada.
Dr. Dossetor is one of the founding members of the Canadian Bioethics Society, of which he was its first President, from 1988-1990. He was also a founding member and Executive Director of the Provincial Health Ethics Network in Alberta. His pioneering work and world-renown in the field of nephrology also created international opportunities for ethics education and dialogue.
Dr. Dossetor has penned 295 medical/scientific publications and authored or co-authored 10 books. His latest book, Beyond the Hippocratic Oath, published in 2005, is a memoir of the evolution of modern medicine and bioethics reflected through his own experiences.
The CBS-SCB Lifetime Achievement Award is normally given to one individual each year. However In 2011, the Awards committee felt that there were two outstanding nominees and made an exception to honor both of Kathleen Glass and Christine Harrison.
Throughout the course of her career, Dr. Kathleen Glass has worked assiduously to advance the profile of bioethics and bioethicists. She served as the Acting Director of the National Council on Ethics in Human Research, and as a member of the National Placebo Initiative. She made substantial contributions to the Canadian Bioethics Society as a member of the Executive Committee and as a member at large.
Until her recent retirement, Kathleen was a professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Human Genetics at McGill University. She also held a position as Clinical Ethicist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Her research interests include ethical and legal issues relevant to children, the elderly, psychiatric patients, and research subjects.
The CBS-SCB Lifetime Achievement Award is normally given to one individual each year. However In 2011, the Awards committee felt that there were two outstanding nominees and made an exception to honor both Christine Harrison and Kathleen Glass.
Christine Harrison received her BA and Master’s degrees in Philosophy from the University of Guelph, and her PhD in Philosophy from McMaster University. She is Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto, and a member of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics.
Dr. Harrison is the former Director of Bioethics at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. She has served as President of the Canadian Bioethics Society and Chair of the Canadian Pediatric Society Bioethics Committee.Dr. Harrison has had a profound influence on the field of bioethics in general and pediatric bioethics specifically. She has published many book chapters and articles including a landmark work in clinical ethics on the topic of medical decision-making for children.
George Webster has worked as a Clinical Ethicist with the Health Care Ethics Service at St. Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba since 1997, where he is engaged in ethics consultation, ethics education, policy review and development, and research ethics with 12 health care facilities affiliated with the Catholic Health Corporation of Manitoba. From 1982 to 1996, he was Director of the first full-time hospital-based Ethics Service in Canada at St. Michael’s Hospital, St. Joseph’s Health Centre and Providence Centre in Toronto. He completed his Doctoral studies at the Toronto School of Theology, University of Toronto.
He is a member of the Canadian Bioethics Society and the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities. He holds an appointment in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba.
Nuala Kenny was born in New York and entered the Sisters of Charity of Halifax in 1962. She received her BA from Mount Saint Vincent University in 1967 and an MD from Dalhousie University in 1972.
After an extensive career in pediatrics and medical education, Dr. Kenny founded the Department of Bioethics at Dalhousie University in 1996. She is currently a professor in the Departments of Bioethics and Pediatrics at Dalhousie. She was a founding member of the National Council for Bioethics in Human Research. She is Past President of both the Canadian Pediatric Society and the Canadian Bioethics Society.
Her research interests include professional character formation, ethics in health policy and public health, pediatric ethics, and end-of-life care.
Susan Sherwin holds a Dalhousie University Research Professorship and has served as Chair of the University’s Department of Philosophy.
Internationally, she is considered one of the world’s foremost feminist ethicists, and she serves on committees for numerous organizations such as the Royal College, UNESCO, and Health Canada on the Advisory Group on Reproductive and Genetic Technologies.
Dr. Sherwin has been recognized with the Killam Prize in the Humanities from the Canada Council for the Arts in 2006 as well as a fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada.
Hubert Doucet (BA, Université de Montréal; MA, University of Ottawa; Doctorate, religious studies, Université Marc Bloch Strasbourg) chairs the Bioethics Committee, University Hospital Sainte-Justine in Montréal and is a member of its Clinical Ethics Unit. He is Associate Professor of Bioethics at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Montreal.
He serves on the Ethics Commission, Science and Technology of Québec and the Scientific Committee of the Institut national d’Excellence en Santé et en Services Sociaux (INESSS). Throughout his career, his research has sought to promote dialogue within the field of bioethics, whether between health professionals and patients, researchers and research subjects, members of multidisciplinary teams, citizens and those promoting technological development, particularly in genomics.
Abbyann Lynch has been a leader in laying the foundations for the field of bioethics in Canada. She was a founder of the Canadian Bioethics Society and a charter member of the National Council in Bioethics in Human Research. Dr. Lynch has also served as Director of the Bioethics Department of the Hospital for Sick Children, President of Associated Medical Services providing support to initiatives in the History of Medicine and in Bioethics, and founder and Director of Ethics in Health Care Associates, a Toronto consulting group. She has been a board member with the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, the Toronto Grace Health Centre, and Senior Peoples Resources in North Toronto.
She has been awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.
In 1937, Edward Keyserlingk emigrated from Berlin to Canada and grew up in Vancouver and Montreal. He studied philosophy and religious studies in Montreal and pursued postgraduate studies in ethics in Montreal and biblical studies in Rome. He then studied at McGill, where he received a graduate diploma in law in 1983 and a Ph.D. in bioethics and health law in 1985. In the same year, Professor Keyserlingk joined the McGill faculty. He was appointed Director of the Biomedical Ethics Unit at the McGill Faculty of Medicine in 1995, a position he held until his retirement in 2000.
In research, Professor Keyserlingk is primarily interested in the following fields: ethics, norms, and professional responsibilities; institutional ethics; law reform and health policy design; establishing links between ethics and policy development in the public sector; the role of ethics and law and their interaction; intensive care and end-of-life decisions; euthanasia, suicide, and the withdrawal of life support; responsibilities of researchers and research institutions; ethics in a multicultural context. He has published numerous papers in academic journals and is the author of many working papers and reports to Parliament, including communications produced at the invitation of the Special Senate Committee on euthanasia and assisted suicide. His ethical and legal analyses have been cited in court rulings, including those of the Supreme Court of Canada.
Professor Keyserlingk was the founding president of the Canadian Bioethics Society, bringing together academic ethicists and physicians to develop a robust interdisciplinary approach to ethics in medicine. The model is admired internationally for its unique collaborative approach. Through his work, Edward Keyserlingk made a profound and lasting contribution to medical ethics in Canada. His contributions to research ethics and health policy have directly informed Canadian jurisprudence and legislation, benefited Canadians working with patients in hospital settings, and set high standards for policymakers and physicians.
In 2004 he received the Medal of Honour from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) in recognition of his work as a clinician, scholar, teacher, humanitarian and pioneer in medical ethics. Dr Keyserlingk also served as the Government of Canada Public Service Integrity Officer, during which time he proposed a Canada law reform commission report on physician assisted death in 1994-5. Dr Keyserlingk is the former Director of the Biomedical Ethics Unit and retired Professor, Department of Social Studies in Medicine, an Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Religious Studies, Clinical Ethicist, Montreal General Hospital, and Associate Member, McGill Centre for Studies in Aging.
Dr. Ian Mitchell is a Professor of Paediatrics in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He is a long-standing member of the Canadian Bioethics Society-Société canadienne de bioéthique, serving as CBS-SCB President from 2003-2004 and chairing the CBS-SCB conference in 2004. Dr. Mitchell was previously the Director of Bioethics in the Faculty of Medicine at University of Calgary. He led undergraduate medical education in ethics at University of Calgary for many years and has been honoured with numerous awards for excellence in teaching. In 2013, the Canadian Medical Association honoured Dr. Mitchell with the Marsden Award in Medical Ethics, describing him as practicing with “insight, innovation and fearlessness”.
Patricia (Paddy) Rodney is an Associate Professor with the University of British Columbia (UBC) School of Nursing. She is also a Faculty Associate with the UBC Centre for Applied Ethics, a Research Associate with Providence Health Care Ethics Services, an ethics consultant for the BC Provincial Advisory Panel on Cardiac Health, and a Board Member of the Association of Registered Nurses of BC (ARNBC). Paddy’s research and publications focus on end-of-life care for seriously ill older adults and the moral climate of health care delivery. Paddy has a long-standing affiliation with the Canadian Bioethics Society-Société canadienne de bioéthique, which she considers to be a great source of wisdom and terrific colleagues. She is a Past President of the Canadian Bioethics Society-Société canadienne de bioéthique (2007-2009; President-Elect 2006-2007 and Past President 2009-2010). Further, she has co-chaired two Canadian Bioethics Society-Société canadienne de bioéthique (CBS-SCB) Conferences–one in 1997 and now in 2014.
Al-Noor served as a Coordinator and subsequently Executive Director of the Provincial Health Ethics Network of Alberta over a period of 16 years. In 2013, he assumed the role of Executive Director of the Clinical Ethics Service for Alberta Health Services. He is a past President of the Canadian Bioethics Society-Société canadienne de bioéthique and has served on a number of ethics committees in Calgary and Edmonton. Al-Noor has worked with a number of NGOs in the area of international/community development and social justice, including the Arusha Centre, Canadian Council on International Cooperation, University of Calgary International Centre, YMCA International and Aga Khan Foundation Canada. His primary interests include poverty and moral obligation, resource allocation and ethics education in organizations.
Nuala Kenny was born in New York and entered the Sisters of Charity of Halifax in 1962. She received her BA from Mount Saint Vincent University in 1967 and an MD from Dalhousie University in 1972.
After an extensive career in pediatrics and medical education, Dr. Kenny founded the Department of Bioethics at Dalhousie University in 1996. She is currently a professor in the Departments of Bioethics and Pediatrics at Dalhousie University.
She was a founding member of the National Council for Bioethics in Human Research. She is Past President of both the Canadian Pediatric Society and the Canadian Bioethics Society-Société canadienne de bioéthique. Her research interests include professional character formation, ethics in health policy and public health, pediatric ethics, and end-of-life care.
Dr. Michael D.Coughlin has worked as a clinical ethicist for over 20 years and is an Associate Professor at McMaster University in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences. His background includes degrees in philosophy, theology and developmental biology, and he has held Faculty appointments at New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical College and at McMaster University.
Michael recently retired from the position of Ethics Consultant at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, a position he initiated in 1986. During that time he served both as clinical ethicist and as secretary and ethicist for their Research Ethics Board.
Michael was involved with the Catholic Health Association of Canada in helping to draft the Health Care Ethics Guide and the current Health Ethics Guide. He is a founding member and a Past President of the Canadian Bioethics Society-Société canadienne de bioéthique.
