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OHRI founder inducted into The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame


May 1, 2014

Dr. Ronald Worton, the founding Chief Executive Officer of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (then the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute), was inducted into The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame on April 24. A renowned medical researcher and trailblazer in disease gene discovery, Dr. Worton and his team discovered the causal gene for Duchenne and Becker Muscular Dystrophy. This breakthrough in medical genetics at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto resulted in greater understanding of the disease and revolutionized diagnosis and patient care. Following a distinguished 25 year career at Sick Kids, Dr. Worton became the first CEO and Scientific Director of OHRI in 2001, which he helped grow into one of Canada’s premier health research institutes before retiring in 2008. In his acceptance speech at an induction ceremony held in Kingston, Ontario, in front of 500 academic, health-care and business leaders, Dr. Worton said the two things he is most proud of from his career are the discovery of the gene for Duchenne and Becker Muscular Dystrophy, and his role in establishing the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. See details in the news release issued when the announcement of his induction was made in September 2013.

Photo Credit: Greg Black, Queen’s University

About the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) is the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital and is an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa, closely associated with the university’s Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences. OHRI includes more than 1,700 scientists, clinical investigators, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and staff conducting research to improve the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human disease.

Media contact
Paddy Moore
Communications and Public Relations
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
613-737-8899 x73687
613-323-5680 (cell)
padmoore@ohri.ca