CMHF

Featured Impact Theme:
Women in Medicine

1600
1642

Jeanne Mance founded L’Hôtel-Dieu in what is now Montréal

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1700
1800
1840

After her death in 1771, The Grey Nuns carried on d’Youville’s legacy

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1867

Upon her return from the United States, Dr. Stowe opened her practice on Richmond Street in Toronto

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1876

Dr. Stowe founded the Toronto Women’s Literary Club, later renamed the Canadian Women’s Suffrage Association.

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1883

Dr. Augusta Stowe-Gullen, the daughter of Dr. Stowe, became the first woman to receive a Canadian medical degree when she graduated from Women’s Medical College.

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1883

In an effort to increase women’s access to medical education, Dr. Stowe founded the Women’s Medical College.

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1889

Rejected from the Faculty of Medicine at McGill due to her gender, Maude Abbott enrolled at Bishop’s University and earned her degree in medicine in 1894.

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1900
1910
1920
1930
1931

Elizabeth Bagshaw became Director of the Planned Parenthood Society

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1932

Elizabeth Bagshaw founded Canada’s first birth control clinic

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1936

Dr. Maude Abbott published her ATLAS OF CONGENITAL CARDIAC DISEASE in which she outlined a new classification system for congenital heart diseases

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1940
1950
1950

Dr. M. Vera Peters published her landmark study that suggested early-stage Hodgkin’s was potentially curable with radiation therapy

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1951

World’s first non-commercial cobalt-60 therapy unit went into operation at the University of Saskatchewan

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1960
1970
1970

Dr. Bette Stephenson was elected President of the Ontario Medical Association, the first woman to hold the position in its 90-year history

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1971

Lucille Teasdale-Corti became a war surgeon in Uganda

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1973

Dr. Stephenson was elected President of the Canadian Medical Association, the first woman to hold the position in its 106-year history

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1975

Dr. Peters published the first controlled study to demonstrate that lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy had success outcomes equal to or better than more radical procedures

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1975

May Cohen led a federal government workshop on women’s health care, as part of the Canadian government’s response to International Women’s Year

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1980
1983

Roberta Bondar was chosen from more than 4,000 applicants for Canada’s astronaut program

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1988

As a skilled administrator, Dr. Jean Gray became Associate Dean of Post-Graduate Medical Education at Dalhousie University

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1988

Dr. Jacalyn Duffin became the Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine at Queen’s University

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1990
1992

On the space craft DISCOVERY, Dr. Bondar circled our planet at thirty thousand kilometres per hour, situated three hundred kilometres above Earth

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1995

Dr. Judith G. Hall’s medical expertise and capacity for leadership was well-respected internationally

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1995

The Ottawa Health Decision Center was founded by Annette O'Connor and her team

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2000
2001

Connie Eaves became the first researcher in Vancouver to commence investigations of human embryonic stem cells (ES) and human induced pluripotent Stem Cells (iPS)

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2001

When the Canadian Institutes of Health Research was formed, Dr. Jean Gray was asked to chair the Institute of Gender and Health Advisory Board

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2010
2012

Dr. Rockman-Greenberg was named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women for her work supporting vulnerable communities

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2020
2021

Featured Laureates

Henry Friesen, MD

Hormones , Leadership in Organizational Development , Female Reproduction , Hormones

Dr. Henry Friesen has had a profound influence on health research in Canada, both as a groundbreaking scientist and as a visionary founder of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.

Learn more about Henry Friesen, MD