Dr. Michel Chrétien elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London
Dr. Michel Chrétien, a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa and an endocrinologist at The Ottawa Hospital, was named on July 9 a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, one of the most prestigious honours scientists can achieve.
He also made his mark by becoming the first French-Canadian physician to join the Society, which elects just 44 Fellows from Britain and Commonwealth nations around the world each year.
Dr. Chrétien discovered prohormone theory to explain how hormones are made. In 1990, with his colleague Dr. Nabil Seidah at the Institut de recherches cliniques of Montréal, he co-discovered proprotein convertases (PCs), the “biological scissors” that are responsible for activating hormones.
Thanks to this work, we now know that PCs are part of such deadly and debilitating diseases as cancer, heart attack, stroke, viral infection, diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Other PCs are being used as targets to develop new treatments for viruses such as HIV-AIDS and influenza (including swine H1N1 and avian H5N1).
“It is a great surprise to join the most prestigious and oldest scientific institution in the world,” Chrétien said from England shortly after the ceremony. “I’m proud for my family. My parents profoundly believed in education for all their children and so my election is a shining testimony of their vision and conviction.”
That must have been some kind of vision and conviction. Chrétien’s brother, Jean, is the former prime minister, who was named to the Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth just days later.
As for being a francophone first, Dr. Chrétien said he is delighted.
“There is little doubt that to be the first French-Canadian is an interesting addition because I represent a community I am very proud to belong to.”
He said that just looking at the portraits of those who came before him is almost overwhelming. Giants such as Darwin, Newton and Einstein (as a foreign member) grace the walls and their spirit and thirst for knowledge lives on.
Dr. Chrétien is an Officer of the Order of Canada and Officier de l’Ordre national du Québec. In France, President Jacques Chirac made him Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur in 2005.