Dean's Alumni Awards

Dean's Alumni Award badge

Our Temerty Medicine alumni network consists of more than 71,000 graduates of our life sciences, rehabilitation sciences, MD and MD/PhD programs, as well as former residents and clinical fellows. Together, they are contributing to better health and health care throughout Toronto, across Canada and around the world. 

Every year we celebrate our Temerty Medicine alumni community's impact with the Dean’s Alumni Awards, as selected by a committee of volunteers including alumni. We highlight the contributions of our alumni as they advance clinical care, health research, medical education and more.

Recipients of the 2024 Dean's Alumni Awards

Dafna Gladman

Lifetime Achievement Award

Dafna Gladman (MD ’71, PGME ’76 Rheumatology)

Over the last five decades, Dafna Gladman’s scholarship, leadership, mentorship and advocacy efforts have raised Canada’s profile as a global leader in the field of rheumatology, and her research has significantly advanced global understanding and treatment of both psoriatic arthritis and lupus. She is a senior staff physician and senior scientist with the University Health Network as well as a U of T professor of medicine who served as director of the university’s rheumatology program for thirteen years (1992–2005). In 2004, U of T established the Dafna Gladman Award in recognition of her dedication to mentoring, counselling and academic medicine. She has also received numerous awards, including the 2015 Mentor of the Year Award from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology and Canadian Rheumatology Association.

Akiko Iwasaki

Impact Award

Akiko Iwasaki (PhD ’98 Immunology)

Akiko Iwasaki is the Sterling Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University, the director of the Yale Center for Infection and Immunity and a principal investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is also the former president of the American Association of Immunologists (AAI), which granted her the Thermo-Fisher Meritorious Career Award and the BD Biosciences Investigator Award. Her research into immune responses to a variety of viral infections has contributed greatly to our understanding of how vaccines work, and how they can be improved. Most recently, she has become an internationally recognized leader in the investigation of the causes and consequences of Long COVID — gaining a 200K-strong following on Twitter for her public health advice about COVID-19. Iwasaki is also renowned as a strong advocate for improved support of women and underrepresented minorities in science.

Woman looking into the camera

Humanitarian Award

Anna Banerji (MD ’89)

A paediatrician and infectious and tropical disease specialist, Anna Banerji uses a human rights framework for her advocacy, which focuses on refugee and Indigenous populations. She has been working with refugee children for most of her career, including going to hotels to assess Syrian and Afghan refugee children during the surges. In 2009 she founded what is now the North American Refugee Health Conference (NARHC), the largest academic meeting on refugee health in the world. She has travelled extensively internationally including working in Haiti after the earthquake. Following the tragic loss of her son, Banerji co-founded the Nathan Banerji-Kearney Memorial Award for Indigenous Students at the University of Toronto, awarded to a graduating Indigenous student in Temerty Medicine’s MD program who demonstrates excellence in working with Indigenous communities. She has won several awards, including the 2019 Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce Award for advocacy with Indigenous children, 2022 Ontario Pediatrician of the Year, Top 25 women of influence in 2024, and was invested with the Order of Ontario in 2012.

Nathan Stall

Emerging Leader Award

Nathan Stall (PGME ’15 Internal Medicine, PGME ’17 Geriatrics)

Nathan Stall is the geriatrics lead at Sinai Health and a leader in aging and long-term care both nationally and internationally. He played a pivotal role during the COVID-19 pandemic, serving as the Assistant Scientific Director of Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.  With more than 120 publications in high-impact journals, his scholarly work — particularly during the pandemic — has had significant policy implications for the improvement and redesign of long-term care in Canada. He has also emerged as a trusted and knowledgeable public voice advocating for science and supports for older adults and long-term care. Stall has been recognized for his leadership with the 2020 Institute for Health Services Policy Research Rising Star award from Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the 2021 Royal College Award for Early Career Leadership in Health Policy/Systems and the 2023 University of Toronto President's Impact Award.

Nominate Outstanding Alumni

Help us recognize exceptional alumni and share their achievements with the Temerty Faculty of Medicine community. Nominations for the 2025 Dean's Alumni Awards will open in early 2025.

Individual alumni (including former residents and clinical fellows) can be recognized for one of the following awards:

Lifetime Achievement Award

This award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated a lifetime of exceptional professionalism through leadership, research, teaching, clinical care, administration or public service.

Impact Award

This award recognizes alumni who have significantly impacted their profession and/or field through groundbreaking research, innovation efforts, extraordinary care or other outstanding contributions. The impact of their work should be seen as influential. The recipient can receive this award for a specific achievement or a body of work.

Humanitarian Award

This award honours alumni who have provided extraordinary volunteer service, demonstrating leadership through local or global work. Recipients have enriched the lives of others through their volunteerism in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine or through their work with civic, charitable and social causes beyond the scope of their clinical or academic responsibilities.

Emerging Leader Award

This award is presented to alumni early in their career who have completed their training in the past 15 years. Recipients will have demonstrated outstanding service to Temerty Medicine, their local medical/healthcare community, or a scientific or academic achievement. The recipient can receive this award for a specific achievement or a body of work.

Nominee Eligibility and Criteria

  • Individuals who hold a degree or certificate from — or completed their training at — U of T's Faculty of Medicine (now Temerty Faculty of Medicine) are eligible for consideration (including graduates of our graduate and life sciences, rehabilitation sciences, radiation sciences, Physician Assistant, MD and MD/PhD programs, as well as former U of T residents and clinical fellows). Individuals who only completed post-doctoral research fellowships are not eligible for nomination.
  • Nominations may be submitted by any individual, independently or on behalf of a group or institution. Self-nominations will not be accepted. 
  • Nominees can only be nominated in one category per year.
  • Nominees should exemplify professionalism in keeping with Temerty Medicine's core values and must be in good standing with their regulatory body as applicable.
  • Posthumous nominations will not be accepted.

Please be sure to include with your submission:

  • A letter of nomination highlighting the nominee's achievements and explaining why the nominee should receive the award. Maximum 250 words.
  • One letter of support from an individual familiar with the nominee's work (who is not the nominator nor the nominee’s spouse or relative). 
  • A current copy of the nominee's curriculum vitae.
  • Optional: Supplementary documents (maximum two) that convey the importance of the nominee’s work. These can include notices and reviews, media coverage, abstracts, etc.

Please note, nominations will be kept on file for three years for future consideration.

Selection Committee Eligibility

Each award has its own committee of three to seven alumni who review the nominations and select the award recipient. If space allows, members may choose to serve on more than one award selection committee. Please note, we seek diversity of representation and thought in our selection committees.

If you would like to participate on an awards selection committee, please email Katrina Heisz at katrina.heisz@utoronto.ca.

All committee members:

  • Must be part of the U of T Temerty Faculty of Medicine community of alumni, students, faculty or staff.
  • Cannot be nominated in the current award year.
  • Cannot nominate or provide letters of support for current award candidates.
  • Be available to attend virtual committee meeting(s).

Previous Award Winners

Lifetime Achievement Award

Impact Award

Humanitarian Award (formerly Volunteerism)

Emerging Leader Award (formerly Rising Star)

MD 25th Anniversary Award

Insulin 100 Emerging Leader Award (2021)

We seek diversity of representation and thought in our selection committees and, over time, to achieve a balance across disciplines and backgrounds with our Dean’s Alumni Award recipients. For more information about the Dean's Alumni Awards program, please contact Katrina Heisz at katrina.heisz@utoronto.ca.