Announcement: Dr. Cindy Hutnik named the Marcel and Louise Brunette Research Chair in Ophthalmology
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Cindy Hutnik, Chair/Chief of the Department of Ophthalmology, has been named the inaugural Marcel and Louise Brunette Research Chair in Ophthalmology.
The $5-million endowed research chair was made possible by a $2.5M donation by St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation, matched by Western University. The chair will help build research capacity and provide leadership between the hospital and university to forge new discoveries in eye health and eye care.
Dr. Hutnik, MD, PhD, FRCSC is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Ophthalmology at Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry and Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at the Ivey Eye Institute at St. Joseph’s Health Care. She has a well-established research program at Lawson Health Research Institute in St. Joseph’s Hospital, which delivers strong clinical results.
She earned her doctoral degree at the National Research Council followed by undergraduate medical training, both in Ottawa, Canada. She then obtained her ophthalmology training at Western University, followed by subspecialty glaucoma training under the mentorship of Dr. Paul Kaufman at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA.
Dr. Hutnik is a member of a number of editorial and research review boards. She has served as medical education section editor for the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology. She supervises an independent program of clinical, basic science, educational research and collaborates with local colleagues engaged in health economics research.
In addition, Dr. Hutnik is currently the provincial glaucoma representative on the Tariff Committee and the Academic Representative of the Eye Physician and Surgeons of Ontario (EPSO), Chair of the Governing Committee of the Academic Medical Organization of Southwestern Ontario (AMOSO), President of the Canadian Glaucoma Society and a Board member of the Glaucoma Research Society of Canada.
Her major research interest is focused on the pathophysiology and management of glaucoma. She has supervised and mentored more than 200 students at all levels of training. Her work has been presented and published nationally and internationally and has been recognized with dozens of awards.
With Dr. Hutnik as the inaugural Chair, Schulich Medicine and its health care partners are well-positioned to nurture the type of innovative research and discovery that will preserve and save eyesight for the many Canadians living with vision loss.
Please join me in celebrating Dr. Hutnik, the Marcel and Louise Brunette Research Chair in Ophthalmology.
Sincerely,
John Yoo, MD, FRCS(C), FACS
Dean, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Western University
