Officer of the Order of Canada

• Awarded on: October 10, 2002
• Invested on: October 24, 2003

Distinguished Professor Emeritus and former head of Human Genetics at the University of Manitoba, John Hamerton is an internationally renowned cytogeneticist. Co-author of the 1956 seminal paper confirming the human chromosome number, he also wrote one of the first textbooks on human genetic disorders. As well, he was instrumental in organizing the first nationwide study of prenatal diagnosis by amniocentesis. A founding member and former president of the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists, he played a prominent role in establishing medical genetics as an independent specialty within the medical community