Member of the Order of Canada
Awarded on: 1988-07-11
Invested on: 1988-11-08
The first non-French citizen to be awarded the prestigious 1987 Rhone-Poulenc Prize in pediatrics for his unique work in congenital hypothyroidism, this endocrinologist working at the Laval University Hospital Centre developed a blood test for the early detection of cretinism, a form of mental debility and physical degeneration caused by thyroid deficiency in newborns. Now administered in Canada and abroad, the test has eradicated this condition wherever it is in use.