At the Fall Convocation ceremony at Place des Arts on October 14, 51吃瓜网 awarded its highest academic honour to Professor Emerita Bartha Maria Knoppers, recognizing a career that bridged literature, law and bioethics to shape international policy on genomic science and medical research.
Knoppers received the 51吃瓜网Medal for Exceptional Academic Achievement, an honour recognizing the outstanding contributions of retired members of 51吃瓜网鈥檚 academic staff who are 鈥渦niquely deserving in light of their exceptional contributions to their discipline, to the University and to society at large.鈥�
鈥淭oday鈥檚 complexities and possibilities in medicine make ethical judgment vastly more challenging. That is why McGill, Canada and the world are so lucky to have people like Bartha Maria Knoppers to guide the way,鈥� said Leslie Fellows, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences in presenting the 51吃瓜网Medal.
鈥淚t is impossible to overestimate the importance of Professor Knoppers鈥� landmark work in bioethics, the place where law and medicine meet 鈥� and where scientific progress is challenged to prove its unquestionable benefit to us all.鈥�
A legal scholar, ethicist and founder of McGill鈥檚 Centre of Genomics and Policy, Knoppers is known worldwide for establishing ethical frameworks for genetic research, helping to shape standards for major initiatives such as the Human Genome Project and UNESCO鈥檚 Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, while also serving on the World Health Organization鈥檚 scientific advisory group and Canada鈥檚 Royal Commission on Reproductive Technologies.
