Louis Siminovitch

Last updated
Louis (Lou) Siminovitch
Louis Siminovitch.JPG
Born (1920-05-15) May 15, 1920 (age 98)
Montreal, Quebec
Occupation molecular biologist
Awards Order of Canada
Order of Ontario
Flavelle Medal (1978)

Louis "Lou" Siminovitch, CC OOnt FRSC FRS (born May 15, 1920) is a Canadian molecular biologist. He was a pioneer in human genetics, researcher into the genetic basis of muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis, and helped establish Ontario programs exploring genetic roots of cancer.

Order of Canada order

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order and the second highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada. It comes second only to membership in the Order of Merit, which is the personal gift of Canada's monarch.

Order of Ontario order

The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Lieutenant Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour current or former Ontario residents for conspicuous achievements in any field.

Fellowship of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Canada judges to have "made remarkable contributions in the arts, the humanities and the sciences, as well as in Canadian public life".

Contents

Born in Montreal, Quebec to parents who had emigrated from Eastern Europe, he won a scholarship in chemistry to McGill University, earning a doctorate in 1944. He then studied at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. In 1953 he joined Toronto's Connaught Medical Research Laboratories. Later he joined the University of Toronto and worked there from 1956 to 1985. One of his doctoral students was Joyce Taylor-Papadimitriou.

Montreal City in Quebec, Canada

Montreal is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the second-most populous municipality in Canada. Originally called Ville-Marie, or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal, which took its name from the same source as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. It has a distinct four-season continental climate with warm to hot summers and cold, snowy winters.

Quebec Province of Canada

Quebec is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is bordered to the west by the province of Ontario and the bodies of water James Bay and Hudson Bay; to the north by Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay; to the east by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador; and to the south by the province of New Brunswick and the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is historically and politically considered to be part of Central Canada.

McGill University English-language university in Montreal, Quebec

McGill University is a public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was established in 1821 by royal charter, granted by King George IV. The university bears the name of James McGill, a Montreal merchant originally from Scotland whose bequest in 1813 formed the university's precursor, McGill College.

He helped establish the Department of Genetics at the Hospital for Sick Children as geneticist in chief, where he worked from 1970 to 1985. From 1983 to 1994 he was the founding director of research at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto).

Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH) is a hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Mount Sinai is the main hospital of the Sinai Health System, although it is linked by bridges and tunnels to three adjacent hospitals of the University Health Network. During the 2005 annual charity, the hospital reported to the Canada Revenue Agency as having assets of roughly C$ 520 million.

He is the author or coauthor, at last count, of over 147 scientific papers, reviews, and articles in journals and books.

He married Elinore, a playwright who died in 1995. They had three daughters. The annual Elinore & Lou Siminovitch Prize in Theatre is named in his and his wife's honour.

The Siminovitch Prize in Theatre is given to recognize achievement in Canadian theatre; specifically, professional directors, playwrights and designers in three-year cycles. The prize was launched in 2000 to honour the values and achievements of the distinguished scientist Louis ("Lou") Siminovitch and his late wife Elinore Siminovitch who was a pioneering playwright. A group of Dr. Siminovitch’s friends and colleagues came together on the occasion of his 80th birthday to create this award which is national, bi-lingual, and juried by theatre professionals.

Degrees

Honours

Royal Society of Canada academy in Canada

The Royal Society of Canada, also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada, is the senior national, bilingual council of distinguished Canadian scholars, humanists, scientists and artists. The primary objective of the RSC is to promote learning and research in the arts, the humanities and the sciences. The RSC is Canada’s National Academy and exists to promote Canadian research and scholarly accomplishment in both official languages, to recognize academic and artistic excellence, and to advise governments, non-governmental organizations and Canadians on matters of public interest.

The Canadian Centennial Medal is a commemorative medal struck by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1967 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation and was awarded to Canadians who were recommended by governments and professional, educational and cultural associations, as well as military and protective services, veterans' groups, sports associations, and philanthropic and charitable bodies, for having provided valuable service to Canada. Some 29,500 medals were issued after its inauguration on 1 July 1967, of which 8,500 went to personnel in the Canadian Forces.

Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal

The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of Elizabeth II's accession in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The medal was physically identical in all realms where it was awarded, save for Canada, where it contained unique elements. As an internationally distributed award, the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal holds a different place in each country's order of precedence for honours.

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References

  1. ↑ "27 Appointees Named To Ontario's Highest Honour".

Selected publications

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