Thursday, September 24th 2009

By unknown

By: Santino Marinucci

Ronald Barr, professor of pediatrics in the Hematology/Oncology department at McMaster University has recently been presented with the Canadian Cancer Society’s top award for his outstanding work in cancer research.

Known as the O. Harold Warwick Prize, the award is bestowed upon the Canadian researcher who has produced findings that have led to significant advances in cancer control. Upon being asked how he felt on receiving this prestigious award, Barr replied, “It’s a real award, it seldom goes to someone practicing pediatric oncology, so I’m quite honored.”

Barr’s has participated as an editor on first definitive document on the incidence, survival and mortality of 15 to 29 year-olds with malignant disease. Barr explained his interest in the field: “The interest that resulted in this award is the development, their [the patients] needs are not being met adequately and we need to do better for these people than they have in the past.”

His research interests include international health, particularly cancer in childhood, late effects of cancer treatment, especially on nutritional status and measurement of health-status and health-related quality of life. He has also written and contributed to seven other books and has published over 250 scientific articles.

Barr received his medical degree from the University of Glasgow. He joined the faculty of medicine at the University of Nairobi, where he helped launch the first medical school in Kenya. Barr explained, “The British government committed to helping the Kenyans to set up a medical school because they had none… They (the British) gave responsibility to one university, the University of Glasgow, which began in 1968”. Here he primarily worked as a lecturer of medicine and a hematologist, looking after children with serious blood disorders. After his participation in Kenya, Barr joined the faculty of the University of Aberdeen before moving to the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, as a visiting scientist. He has been on staff at McMaster University since 1977.

The O. Harold Warwick Prize is named after Warwick, a pioneering researcher in cancer control and treatment, who became the first executive director of both the former National Cancer Institute of Canada and the Canadian Cancer Society. The award comes with a $2,000 prize for the recipient and a $20,000 research grant. Previous McMaster winners of the O. Harold Warwick Prize include George Browman, a professor in the Department Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Mark Levine, professor and chair of the Department of Oncology.