Eight Sunnybrook physicians awarded King Charles III Coronation Medals
Sunnybrook is proud to share that eight physicians have been awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medals for their outstanding medical contributions.
On May 6, 2023, Canadians celebrated the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III. To mark this historic occasion, the Governor General of Canada, through the Chancellery of Honours at Rideau Hall, awarded 30,000 medals to deserving Canadians.
The medals recognize Canadians who have made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region, or community. Through their hard work and commitment to excellence, these eight physicians are making a difference for Sunnybrook patients, their families and Canadians across the country.
Here is an inside look at the contributions these eight physicians have made in their respective fields:
Dr. Jocelyn Charles
Dr. Jocelyn Charles is a family physician on the Sunnybrook Academic Family Health Team and serves as the medical director for the Sunnybrook Veterans Centre. Dr. Charles is also a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
During her more than 30-year career, Dr. Charles has demonstrated her unwavering commitment to the veterans and her patients both in the hospital and the broader community where she provides home-based primary care to seniors and house-bound patients.
Dr. Charles was also instrumental in the creation of the Last Salute, a book developed to commemorate 40 of the hospital’s Centenarian veterans who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and in Allied Forces.
Dr. Andrea Gershon
Dr. Andrea Gershon is a respirologist and Senior Scientist at Sunnybrook, the University of Toronto and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). She is also a Canadian Institute for Health Research-funded investigator focusing on respiratory disease.
Dr. Gershon's award-winning research investigates health outcomes, health services, and drug safety and effectiveness in individuals with respiratory disease. Her work studies the lived experience of people with lung disease, with a focus on vulnerable groups, including the elderly, those of lower socioeconomic status, and aboriginal peoples. Government and non-profit organizations use Dr. Gershon's work to help inform international guidelines and policies.
Dr. Michelle Hladunewich
Dr. Michelle Hladunwich is a nephrologist and Chief of the Department of Medicine at Sunnybrook. Dr. Hladunewich has played a key role in the development of the LTC+ Program to support local Long-Term Care homes in North Toronto during and post-pandemic and the establishment of the COVIDEO program, which provided virtual support to COVID-19 patients.
Dr. Hladunewich is a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Renal Network Medical Lead for Glomerulonephritis and Specialty Clinics. As the founder and co-lead of Sunnybrook’s Pregnancy and Kidney Disease Clinic, she is committed to helping women living with renal disease have children.
Her commitment to patient care extends beyond Canadian borders, as she has travelled on six medical missions to assist the people of Ukraine, providing care to military and civilian Ukrainian citizens injured in conflict.
Dr. Mireille Norris
Dr. Mireille Norris is an internist and geriatrician at Sunnybrook and an associate professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She was appointed faculty lead for Black and Indigenous medical learners by the U of T Department of Medicine and is also the site lead for postgraduate geriatric medicine at Sunnybrook.
Dr. Norris has a master degree is health administration from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She is also a recipience of the Lifetime Achievement Award from Black Physicians of Canada (BPC) for her work mentoring underrepresented physicians and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within Canada’s healthcare system.
Dr. Giuseppe Papia
Dr. Giuseppe Papia is a member of the Division of Cardiac and Vascular Surgery and Critical Care Medicine at Sunnybrook. He trained in General Surgery, Vascular Surgery, and Critical Care at the University of Toronto, with a fellowship in Endovascular Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.
At Sunnybrook, he has led the Cardiovascular ICU, served as president of the Medical Staff Association, and sat on the Board of Directors. He is also an associate professor, wellness lead, and chair of Vascular Surgery at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Papia served as the physician lead for the Ontario Hospital Association in the implementation of the Surgical Safety Checklist across all hospitals in Ontario, as well as the Executive Faculty Lead-Checklist Implementation for the Canadian Patient Safety Institute Safer Healthcare Now.
Dr. Papia specializes in patient safety and quality improvement in peri-operative care. He leads Project Saving Legs™, reducing amputations in diabetic and peripheral arterial disease patients. He holds the J. Ross and Patricia Quigley Chair in Limb Preservation at U of T and works to address physician wellness and burnout as the Surgery Department’s wellness director.
Dr. Arjun Sahgal
Dr. Arjun Sahgal is a senior scientist in the Odette Cancer Research Program at the Sunnybrook Research Institute, a professor at the University of Toronto and a radiation oncologist at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where he is also chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology.
Dr. Sahgal’s research focuses on improving cancer treatment with Cancer Ablative Adaptive Therapy (CA(A)T), which includes using advanced MR Linac technology for Glioblastomas, studying how brain and spine cancers respond to treatment, and enhancing imaging techniques for brain tumours and predicting spinal fractures after radiotherapy.
Outside of Sunnybrook, Dr. Sahgal is the president of the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society (ISRS), past co-chair of the AO Spine Tumor Knowledge Forum and has received several local, national and international recognitions. Dr. Sahgal is a dedicated physician at the forefront of radiation treatment and research at Sunnybrook and beyond.
Dr. Andy Smith
Dr. Andy Smith is an oncology surgeon and the current CEO of Sunnybrook. For more than 25 years, Dr. Smith has dedicated his career to transforming the Canadian healthcare landscape. As the program chief for the Odette Cancer Centre and regional vice president at Cancer Care Ontario, Dr. Smith’s leadership was instrumental in implementing cancer management standards across the province.
As CEO of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Dr. Smith is pivotal in advancing research and innovation at the hospital. Under his leadership, Sunnybrook has seen ground breaking treatment discoveries, the commercialization of healthcare technologies and significant advances in brain health research. He is also a mentor to many Sunnybrook staff, supporting them with personal development and encouraging self-improvement.
Dr. Lorne Zinman
Dr. Lorne Zinman is a Neurologist who specializes in the research and care of patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Dr. Zinman is an associated scientist in Evaluative Clinical Sciences, the Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre and the Sunnybrook Research Institute. Dr. Zinman is also a professor at the Institute of Medical Sciences and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Outside of Sunnybrook, he is the founder and first chair of the Canadian ALS Research Network, a consortium that facilitates national and international ALS clinical research. He is also the co-architect and leader of the Ontario ALS Provincial Program, which secured annual funding from the Ministry of Health to fund all five ALS clinics in Ontario and provide funding for ALS Canada’s Equipment and Support Services Program.
Congratulations to all on Team Sunnybrook who were awarded a King Charles III Coronation Medal. Your commitment to excellence is what makes this place special!
