Honour: Dr. Robert Hegele named George Lyman Duff Memorial Lecturer
Congratulations to Dr. Robert Hegele, who was named the 2019 George Lyman Duff Memorial Lecturer at the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Scientific Sessions.
The Duff Lecture was established in 1956 by the Society for the Study of Arteriosclerosis in memory of Dr. Duff, one of Canada’s most distinguished pathologists and medical educators. The annual award is selected by leadership from the Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
Dr. Hegele, a Distinguished University Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry and a scientist at Robarts Research Institute, was acknowledged for more than three decades of work examining DNA in both clinical and lab settings.
“As a young doctor attending AHA meetings in the past, a highlight for me was always listening to the Lyman Duff lecturers talk about their research,” said Dr. Hegele. “To have now received this award seems almost unimaginable, but it primarily serves to recognize my amazing lab group at Robarts Research Institute and the incredible students I’ve worked with over the years.”
Dr. Hegele holds the Wolfe Distinguished Medical Research Chair, the Edith Schulich Vinet Chair in Human Genetics and the Blackburn Chair in Cardiovascular Research. He is also an endocrinologist at the lipid clinic at London Health Sciences Centre.
A global expert in the field, Dr. Hegele’s lab has discovered the molecular genetic basis of more than 20 human diseases. He has also co-authored many clinical practice guidelines for cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes.
Dr. Hegele is only the second Canadian to be awarded the lectureship.
