Award: Logan Van Nynatten named CMHF Award recipient
Congratulations to Logan Van Nynatten, Medicine Class of 2020, one of this year's recipients of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF) Award for Medical Students.
The Award is given annually to second-year medical students from across the country who have an established track record of community leadership, superior communication skills and demonstrated interest in advancing knowledge. The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Award aims to recognize young leaders who exemplify qualities of CMHF Laureates: perseverance, collaboration and an entrepreneurial spirit.
Van Nynatten was raised on a small family farm near Stratford, Ontario and says he learned many lessons from his rural upbringing and family-instilled values of honesty, altruism, respect and integrity. Now a second-year medical student, Van Nynatten also earned a Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMSc) at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry.
He developed a passion for bridging the worlds of laboratory research and clinical medicine while working alongside research supervisor and mentor Jimmy Dikeakos, PhD, associate professor in Microbiology and Immunology. Through his research, Van Nynatten is aiming to characterize determinants of HIV-1 disease progression and to identify a biomarker of HIV-1 disease progression.
“Receiving this award is an extremely humbling experience. I believe it is not solely a recognition of my own accomplishments, but an incredible acknowledgement of the investment my mentors have made in my personal and professional development,” he said. “Indeed, this award is a great encouragement to pursue further opportunities in health care research, leadership and innovation.”
Van Nynatten already has a number of awards for academic and research excellence to his name, including a Western University Gold Medal, the Kimberly-Clark Research Award, a Helen Atfield White Scholarship, and the Governor General of Canada Academic Medallion.
Recipients of the CMHF Award receive a cash prize of $5,000 and a travel subsidy to attend the 2019 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Montreal on May 2, 2019, where they will have the opportunity to meet CMHF Laureates and interact with health leaders from across the country.
“We celebrate the achievements of the giants of health care in Canada to fuel our pride, but also to inspire the next generation of health leaders with world-changing potential,” said CMHF Board Chair Dr. Bryce Taylor in a news release. “The outstanding feedback we continue to receive from our award recipients about the impact of this award and networking at the induction ceremony confirm for us the importance of this initiative.”
