WRHA cardiac services director named to Order of Canada
Winnipeg Regional Health Authority
Published Thursday, December 27, 2018
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and St. Boniface Hospital would like to congratulate Dr. Ross Feldman, the Medical Director of the WRHA’s cardiac services program, for his appointment to the Order of Canada.
The Governor General’s office named Dr. Feldman a Member of the Order of Canada on Dec. 27, 2018, citing “his leadership in the prevention and control of hypertension in Canada.”
Founded by Queen Elizabeth II in 1967, the Order of Canada recognizes individual Canadians for their “outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation.” Dr. Feldman was one of 103 Canadians newly named to the Order.
“I’m really honoured to be included among the ranks of astronauts, giants of industry, and the Tragically Hip,” Dr. Feldman said. “There are only about 3,000 living Canadians in the Order of Canada, so it’s very humbling.”
Dr. Feldman was nominated by Hypertension Canada, largely for his efforts throughout his career to control and prevent hypertension among Canadians; to help educate the public about it; and for his work in helping to unravel the determinants of heart disease in women.
“This is such a well-deserved recognition of Dr. Feldman’s superior achievements as a clinician, researcher and community role-model. St. Boniface Hospital is proud to have someone of this caliber leading our Cardiac Sciences program, and we wish him our sincerest congratulations,” said Martine Bouchard, President and CEO of St. Boniface Hospital.
Originally from Southern Ontario, Dr. Feldman received his medical degree from Queen’s University, his training in Internal Medicine at University of Toronto and a fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Feldman held prior faculty positions at the University of Iowa, College of Medicine in Iowa City, University of Western Ontario in London (where he served as the Chair, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and also as the Scientific Director of the Robarts Research Institute) and Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he served as Professor and Chair of the Discipline of Medicine. In August 2017, Dr. Feldman joined the WRHA as Medical Director of the Cardiac Science Program and the University of Manitoba as a Professor of Medicine.
“Dr. Feldman’s sustained pursuit of innovative research into hypertension and the clinical leadership he has shown throughout his entire medical career embodies the ideals associated with this honour: to make a better Canada. We are fortunate to have him as a leader and mentor,” said Dr. Grant Pierce, Executive Director of St. Boniface Hospital Research.
A major focus of his efforts has been in the prevention and control of hypertension in Canada, and specifically in the knowledge translation of optimal treatment approaches for hypertension management. Among past leadership positions, Dr. Feldman served as President of the Canadian Hypertension Society. He was the first Chair of the Steering Committee of the Canadian Hypertension Education Program, now Hypertension Canada’s Guidelines. As well, he served as the founding president of Hypertension Canada, leading the process of integrating the efforts of the Canadian Hypertension Society, Canadian Hypertension Education Program and Blood Pressure Canada into what is now the second largest cardiovascular disease not-for-profit agency in Canada.
He is the author of more than 200 original manuscripts, reviews and book chapters. His clinical research focuses on the management of hypertension and specifically the development of innovative strategies to improve blood pressure control. His major fundamental research program focuses on the elucidation of novel cell signaling mechanisms of vascular regulation/dysregulation linked to the development of hypertension and atherosclerosis- especially related to elucidation of the determinants of heart disease in women.
Throughout his career, Dr. Feldman has earned numerous awards and scholarships; he is the recipient of a Career Investigator Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, a George Morris Piersol Research and Teaching Scholarship from the American College of Physicians, the Burroughs-Wellcome Clinical Pharmacology Award, the Senior Investigator Award from the Canadian Society for Clinical Pharmacology as well as the Distinguished Service/Research Award of the Canadian Hypertension Society. He received the George Fodor Award for outstanding contributions to the prevention and control of hypertension (2010) was awarded the Ken Brown Research Award, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, Winnipeg (2014).
