Dr. Paul Adams named Irish Fellow
On a day when many profess to be Irish, we want to recognize Dr. Paul Adams, a gastroenterologist in the Department of Medicine, who was named an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland at a ceremony in Dublin last fall in recognition of his work in the field of genetic hemochromatosis.The Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) has existed from their founding in 1654. An Honorary Fellowship was created in the 18th century to recognize the contribution of non-RCPI Fellows to the development of medicine in Ireland and has been given to physicians and non-physicians for lifetime contributions to their field.
Given that hemochromatosis is the most common genetic disease in Ireland (1 in 4 carry the gene) Dr. Frank Murray, Registrar of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, introduced Dr. Adams as a Canadian whose research is in their national interest. “Hemochromatosis is near and dear to our heart as it has been determined to be a Celtic disease,” says Dr. Murray. “We believe conferring fellowships is crucial to keep the lifeblood flowing through.”
Dr. Adams has worked in the field of genetic hemochromatosis since 1977 when he did research for Dr. Leslie Vahlberg at Western on summer break from medical school at Queens. He has been the chair of a European task force to study population screening and was the Principal Investigator of the HEIRS (Hemochromatosis and Iron Overload Screening) study which screened over 100,000 participants for iron overload.
Dr. Adams has published his research in the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Genetics, Lancet, Gastroenterology, Hepatology and has been funded by the National Institute of Health (Bethesda, MD) for 13 years. He is a Lawson Research Institute Scientist and a Scientist of the Program of Experimental Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Western University.
