October 19, 1996
Manitoba's Highest Honour Awarded to Dr. Naranjan Dhalla
Manitoba's Highest Honour Awarded to Dr. Naranjan Dhalla– – –Lifetime Commitment to Heart Research Recognized at Cardiovascular Forum
In recognition of a lifetime commitment and contribution to cardiovascular research, Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon today inducted Dr. Naranjan Dhalla into the Order of the Buffalo Hunt, the highest honour the province can bestow.
In making the presentation, Filmon praised Dhalla's quarter century of research in heart disease noting that "he has brought global recognition to the world-class research that has been carried out in the province for decades and has single-handedly attracted over $20 million in funds for medical research in Manitoba."
Recognized as one of the most widely published medical professionals in the world with over 460 research papers and 29 books, Dhalla, 60, is the director of the new Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at the St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre (University of Manitoba).
Born in India, Dr. Dhalla received degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh in the mid-1960s, and is also a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. He served as an assistant professor at St. Louis University before coming to the University of Manitoba where he has worked in the field of experimental cardiology for the past 25 years.
"The people of Manitoba, and perhaps more accurately the people of the world, have benefitted from the tireless, lifelong dedication of Dr. Dhalla," said the premier. "The Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences which is the fruit of a lifelong dedication to heart research, the numerous awards and honours that have been bestowed, all serve to document, recognize and praise a career by which benchmarks and standards have been set for others to follow."
The premier also noted that through Dhalla's efforts, Winnipeg will host over 2,500 of the world's finest cardiovascular researchers in a major conference to be held in 2001, the seventh global conference chaired by Dhalla in Manitoba.
"With credentials that include lecturing at over 100 academic institutions and speaking at over 85 national and international conferences, Dr. Dhalla has also trained over 70 post-doctoral fellows who are now carrying out heart research throughout the world."
Dhalla received the Order of the Buffalo Hunt at the inauguration of the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences during the Manitoba Cardiovascular Forum which is being held in Winnipeg and attended by over 400 people representing 20 countries.
Dr. Dhalla and his wife Ranjit Bal have five children.
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