Dr. Guy Rouleau elected to Royal Society of Canada
The Neuro’s director, Dr. Guy Rouleau, has received yet another honour in recognition of his sterling scientific career. The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) that its members had elected Dr. Rouleau as one of its new Fellows. He joins a currently active membership of more than 2,000 highly distinguished scientists, scholars and artists who nominate and elect up to 75 new members each year.
In making its decision, the RSC noted his many significant contributions toward identifying genetic risk factors that underlie neurological and psychiatric diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, autism and schizophrenia. The RSC further noted that his laboratory has also shed light on the molecular mechanisms related to these genes.
“I am pleased and honored to join such a splendid institution as the Royal Society of Canada,” said Dr. Rouleau. “The RSC does great work supporting academic and artistic excellence across our country.”
Dr. Rouleau, a Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery at 91ÉçÇř and the Wilder Penfield Chair in Neuroscience, has received many other honours and awards during his three decades of research. In 2012, Quebec awarded him its highest award for scientific achievement, the Prix du Quebec - Prix Wilder Penfield, named after The Neuro’s founding director. Among other distinctions, Dr. Rouleau has received the Prix d’Excellence du Collège des MĂ©decins du QuĂ©bec, and the 2007 Henry Friesen Prize from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Dr. Rouleau earned his MD magna cum laude at the University of Ottawa, and a PhD in genetics at Harvard University. He received post-graduate training at The Neuro, at the Massachusetts General Hospital and at the Montreal General Hospital.
Before coming to The Neuro, Dr. Rouleau was associated with Université de Montréal, where he directed the CHU Ste-Justine Research Centre and founded and directed the Centre of Excellence in Neuroscience.
Along with his duties as director of The Neuro, where he also operates his own laboratory, Dr. Rouleau is Director of the Réseau de Médecine Génétique Appliquée – Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé.
The Neuro’s faculty, staff and friends congratulate Dr. Rouleau on his induction into Canada’s illustrious national academy.
About the Royal Society of Canada Fellowships ĚýĚýĚýĚý
New Fellows to the Royal Society of Canada are nominated and elected by their peers who are themselves Fellows of the Society. Over 3,700 scholars and artists have been inducted into to the fellowship over the past 130 years.
Today, the Society counts over 2,000 Canadian Fellows. While the early fellowship was drawn primarily from Quebec and Ontario, since that time its geographic reach has expanded to include scholars and artists drawn from every region of Canada.
The initial cohort of Fellows was composed exclusively of men. The first woman elected to the Society was Alice Wilson, who joined the fellowship in 1938. Today there are over 300 women members of the Society, including Patricia Demers, who in 2005 became the first woman to hold the position of President. During the past 25 years the percentage of women elected has grown from 5 to 28 per cent.
Approximately 20 per cent of the fellowship indicates French as their first language. Most Fellows hold, or have held, positions in Canadian universities, although many are primarily affiliated with research institutes, government agencies, or private sector laboratories and think tanks. Today the by-laws provide that up to 75 nominees may be elected each year. In addition to Regularly Elected Fellows, the Society also inducts up to seven Specially Elected Fellows per year for contributions to the objectives of the Society other than by scholarship and research.
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