Honouring impact with the 2024 Dean's Alumni Awards
Alumni of the University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine dedicate their lives to supporting their communities’ health needs through their work across the clinical, fundamental science and rehab sectors. This year, the Faculty proudly celebrates four particularly outstanding individuals as selected by an alumni committee with the Dean’s Alumni Awards — recognizing their exceptional achievements and contributions to the advancement of health and health care.
Honourees include a leading authority on psoriatic arthritis and lupus, an internationally recognized immunologist, a paediatrician and infectious and tropical disease specialist, and an esteemed leader in aging and long-term care. Together, they’ve had an enormous impact on countless lives — those they’ve interacted with personally, as well as the many more who’ve benefited indirectly from their work — and each is deservedly seen as a leader in their respective field.
“Through their leadership and the depth and breadth of their work, this year’s alumni award recipients are deserving of every accolade,” says Lisa Robinson, dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. “They each embody the values of excellence, commitment and compassion that define our alumni community.”
Temerty Medicine’s 2024 Dean’s Alumni Awards honourees are:
Lifetime Achievement
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.
Impact Award
Akiko Iwasaki (PhD ’98 Immunology)
Akiko Iwasaki is the Sterling Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University and a principal investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is also the current 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.
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.
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.
The 2024 Dean’s Alumni Award recipients will be formally honoured at an intimate celebration this fall.
