Dr. Stewart Harris receives Order of Canada
Dr. Stewart Harris received his Order of Canada insignia at a ceremony held at Rideau Hall, on Friday, May 13, 2016. The Governor General bestowed the honour on two Companions, four Officers and 42 Members.
The Order of Canada is one of Canada’s highest civilian honours, established in 1967, during Canada’s centennial year. It recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. Over the last 45 years, more than 6,000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order.
Dr. Harris graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Cellular and Microbial Biology from the University of Calgary. He completed his MD at the University of Calgary in 1982. He received an MPH. in Epidemiology from The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland followed by completing his Fellow in Preventative Medicine in 1987.
Dr. Harris joined the Departments of Family Medicine and Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry as an Assistant Professor, in 1995 and became an Associate Professor in 2000. Dr. Harris became a Professor in 2006.
He currently holds the Canadian Diabetes Association Chair in Diabetes Management as well as the Ian McWhinney Chair of Family Medicine Studies. He is also a Research Scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute.
His research focuses on developing and evaluating strategies to improve clinical outcomes for patients with type 2 diabetes. Dr. Harris has published 240 peer review papers. He is an actively practising diabetologist at St. Joseph’s Heath Care London.
His current and previous research, as well as clinical involvement in diabetes care provides a strong base to fulfill a research agenda focused on health services, primary care, population health and First Nations.
Dr. Harris was the recipient of the Dr. Gerald S. Wong Service Award (2007), the co-recipient of the Dean’s Award of Excellence, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry (2010), and the Hellmuth Prize for Achievement in Research, Western University (2014).
Dr. Harris has more than 20 years experience working with First Nations (FN) communities. As part of the current FORGE AHEAD program, he leads a research team with extensive expertise in multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaboration in the fields of diabetes care, participatory action research, and knowledge translation. The FORGE AHEAD team spans nine provinces and represents a wide variety of voices, including First Nations community representatives, Indigenous and non-Indigenous health care providers, clinician scientists, academic researchers, representatives from the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), representatives from the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB) of Health Canada, representatives from the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA), and representatives from the Heart & Stroke Foundation).
Stewart Harris, C.M.
London, Ontario
Stewart Harris has dedicated his career to improving diabetes care among vulnerable populations. In the early 1990s, he served as the medical director for the Sioux Lookout Program in northern Ontario, where he helped identify a major epidemic of diabetes and highlighted the prevalence of the disease. As a professor and chair in diabetes management at Western University, he has helped lead initiatives to track and reduce diabetes in other First Nations communities, and remains at the forefront of designing and implementing nationwide public health strategies.
