2009 Press Releases
Canada’s highest scholarly honour for UCC graduates
11.12.2009
Two UCC graduates have been inducted into the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the country’s highest scholarly honour.
11.12.2009
Two UCC graduates have been inducted into the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the country’s highest scholarly honour.
Both men are University Research Professors at Memorial University (MU) in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Dr Seán Brosnan, former head of the Department of Biochemistry at MU and Dr Patrick Parfrey, Faculty of Medicine at MU were inducted at a ceremony in Ottawa.
The RSC elects members from all branches of learning who have achieved national and international recognition by publishing learned works or original research in the arts, humanities and sciences. Founded in 1882, the country’s oldest scholarly organization currently has about 1,800 fellows.
Dr Parfrey is a UCC medical graduate while Dr Brosnan did his BSc and MSc in UCC and his DPhil at Oxford. Dr Brosnan joined the Department of Biochemistry at MU in 1972. Dr Parfrey joined the Faculty of Medicine in 1984.
Both have a long list of research accomplishments, publications and honours. Dr Brosnan has collaborated with his wife, Dr Margaret Brosnan, on research on the functional organization of the liver. Dr Parfrey’s wife, Dr Benvon Cramer, who is also a UCC graduate, is chair of the Discipline of Radiology in the Faculty of Medicine at MU.
As a researcher, Dr Brosnan’s work covers a broad canvas. He studies the conversion of amino acids to glucose in diabetes (which raises blood glucose levels), the role of amino acids in the function of folic acid and Vitamin B12, the use of amino acids by the body to synthesize creatine (the same substance that is used by athletes to increase their strength) and the utility of amino acids in the preservation of organs for transplantation.
As a medical doctor, Dr Parfrey is an expert in kidney disease and serves as a staff nephrologist with Eastern Health in Newfoundland. He is also a clinical epidemiologist who heads up research teams in three major areas: clinical epidemiology in nephrology, the clinical and genetic epidemiology of inherited diseases, and health care delivery research.
Picture shows: Dr Pat Parfrey and Dr Seán Brosnan who have been elected as fellows of the Royal Society of Canada.
1262MMcS
The RSC elects members from all branches of learning who have achieved national and international recognition by publishing learned works or original research in the arts, humanities and sciences. Founded in 1882, the country’s oldest scholarly organization currently has about 1,800 fellows.
Dr Parfrey is a UCC medical graduate while Dr Brosnan did his BSc and MSc in UCC and his DPhil at Oxford. Dr Brosnan joined the Department of Biochemistry at MU in 1972. Dr Parfrey joined the Faculty of Medicine in 1984.
Both have a long list of research accomplishments, publications and honours. Dr Brosnan has collaborated with his wife, Dr Margaret Brosnan, on research on the functional organization of the liver. Dr Parfrey’s wife, Dr Benvon Cramer, who is also a UCC graduate, is chair of the Discipline of Radiology in the Faculty of Medicine at MU.
As a researcher, Dr Brosnan’s work covers a broad canvas. He studies the conversion of amino acids to glucose in diabetes (which raises blood glucose levels), the role of amino acids in the function of folic acid and Vitamin B12, the use of amino acids by the body to synthesize creatine (the same substance that is used by athletes to increase their strength) and the utility of amino acids in the preservation of organs for transplantation.
As a medical doctor, Dr Parfrey is an expert in kidney disease and serves as a staff nephrologist with Eastern Health in Newfoundland. He is also a clinical epidemiologist who heads up research teams in three major areas: clinical epidemiology in nephrology, the clinical and genetic epidemiology of inherited diseases, and health care delivery research.
Picture shows: Dr Pat Parfrey and Dr Seán Brosnan who have been elected as fellows of the Royal Society of Canada.
1262MMcS