Certificates of Merit

Nominations Submissions Submit your nomination

Certificates of Merit allow the CPS to recognize members who have made exceptional contributions to the health of children and youth at a regional level. They are presented at provincial or regional paediatric society meetings or at other regional events where the recipient will be in attendance.

Current recipient(s): Dr. Arati Mokashi, Nova Scotia

Dr. Arati Mokashi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Dalhousie University and Division Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism at IWK Health in Halifax. She completed her medical training at the University of Alberta, followed by a residency in Pediatrics at the University of Saskatchewan and a fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at McGill University. She has lived in Nova Scotia since 2003 with her husband and two boys.

Alongside her busy general endocrine and diabetes practice, Dr. Mokashi serves as the Medical Director for the Trans Health Endocrinology Clinic for Children and Youth, which she established in 2012 as the first of its kind in Nova Scotia. Her time at the clinic has been rich with positive experiences and has provided her with the opportunity to work alongside many inspiring children and youth, as well as their families and local LGBTQ+ experts and advocates. Her research focuses on gender-affirming care for gender-diverse youth, and she has been actively involved in training medical students, residents, primary care colleagues, and mental health clinicians in gender-affirming medical therapies for youth.

In recognition of her service to transgender youth, Dr. Mokashi was awarded a special title by the local Youth Project in 2017.

Current recipient(s): Dr. Ryan Smith, Ontario

Dr. Ryan W. Smith is a consulting general pediatrician and the Chief of the Department of Pediatrics and Neonatal Medicine at OSMH in Orillia. He completed his medical training in Cork, Ireland, and residency training in Pediatrics at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He has a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences. Dr. Smith is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto, and Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct) in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University, and he regularly participates in the training of residents and medical students from both universities.

Dr. Smith participates in all areas of pediatric care at the hospital, including outpatient clinics, and serves as the medical director for the regional pediatrics asthma clinic and suspected child abuse clinic. Dr. Smith is also a consultant for provincial committees on asthma and an assistant editor for the journal Pediatrics and Child Health.

Current recipient(s): Dr. Louise Auger

Dr Louise T Auger is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH). She received a BSc Honours Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, a MSc in Virology from McMaster University and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from The University of Texas. She did her undergraduate medical training at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and a Fellowship in Critical Care Pediatrics before moving to Kuwait to join her husband and returning to Canada in 1991.

At the Montreal Children’s Hospital, Dr Auger observed that there was an urgent need to better care for the very vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees who reached our shores. In 1996, following the arrival of many victims of the genocide in Rwanda, she established the Multicultural Clinic. The Clinic formed a partnership with the then MCH Multiculturalism Program and Transcultural Psychiatry and was awarded the 1997 Immigration and Citizenship Award for its contributions to the care of newly arrived children in Quebec.

Dr Auger and her colleagues continue to teach trainees at all levels in the Multicultural Clinic, to sensitize them to the medical and psychosocial needs of asylum seeker and refugee families.

Nominations

Nominees should be CPS members who have made exceptional contributions at the regional level. Both the nominator and candidate must reside in the same region.

The Membership Subcommittee, in collaboration with the board member(s) for the region, will judge candidates based on their commitment to advocating for children and youth in their community through any of the following:

Encouraging local or regional legislation that promotes child/youth health;
Making their community more active, safe, and child- and youth-friendly;
Working to make communities more accessible for kids with special needs;
Working to make child/youth health programs more accessible for hard-to-reach communities;
Being a role model for paediatricians-in-training as well as those in academic or community practice.

Nominations will be held for two consecutive years but must be formally resubmitted following the two year period to be reconsidered. Current voting members of the CPS Board of Directors and Membership Subcommittee members are not eligible. There will be a maximum of one award per region per year.

The regions are:

British Columbia and Yukon
Alberta and Northwest Territories
Saskatchewan
Manitoba and Nunavut
Ontario
Quebec
New Brunswick and PEI
Nova Scotia
Newfoundland and Labrador

Submissions

Submissions must include:

A letter from the nominator outlining how the nominee meets the above criteria.
A current curriculum vitae for the candidate.

Submit your nominations using the Submit Nomination button.

Atlantic Provinces
2022 John Leblanc, MD
2020 Suryakant Shah, MD
2019 Jill Barter, MD
2018 Tracey Bridger, MD
2017 Minoli Amit, MD
2015 Padmavathy Guntamukkala, MD
2011 Mammen Cheriyan, MD
2010 Jonathan Kronick, MD
2009 Scott Halperin, MD
2008 Rick Cooper, MD
2007 Albert Davis, MD
2005 Chaker Hobeika, MD
Manitoba
2019 Elissa Abrams, MD
2012 Regina Rempel, MD
2011 Aaron Chiu, MD
2009 Heather Dean, MD
2008 Diane Moddemann, MD
Ontario
2021 Melanie Colpitts, MD
2017 Peter Wong, MD
2016 Sarah Barker, MD
2015 Rosemary Moodie, MD
2014 W. James King, MD
2013 Michelle Gordon, MD
2011 Alan Hudak, MD
2010 Elizabeth Ford-Jones, MD
2009 Shobha Wahi, MD
2008 William Gary Smith, MD
Quebec
2022 Danielle Taddeo, MD
2021 François Boucher, MD
2020 Sylvie Béliveau, MD
2019 Julie St-Pierre, MD
2017 Anne-Claude Bernard-Bonnin, MD
2016 Nancy Haley, MD
2014 Diane Munz, MD
2013 Claire Allard-Dansereau
2012 Jean Dorval, MD
2011 Jean Labbé, MD
2010 Emmett Francoeur, MD
2009 Pierre Déry, MD
2008 Gilles Julien, MD
2007 Jean Jacques Turcotte, MD
2005 Alice Chan-Yip, MD
Alberta
2020 Charlotte Foulston, MD
2019 Janice Heard, MD
2019 Carey Molberg, MD
2015 Heidemarie Schroter, MD
2011 Thiru Govender, MD
2010 Albert Akierman, MD
2008 Cecilia Baxter, MD
2007 Mark Montgomery, MD
New Brunswick
2017 Ramaiyer Krishnaswamy, MD
2015 Susan Sanderson, MD
2013 Anne and Roderick Canning, MD
2012 Jeanne Duncan, MD
2011 Stephen Siauw, MD
2009 David Yule, MD
2008 Mahmoud Loubani, MD
2007 Barbara Bulleid, MD
British Columbia
2021 Sylvia Chang, MD
2011 Alphonso Solimano, MD
2010 Tom Warshawski, MD
2009 Christine Loock, MD
2008 Basil Boulton, MD
2005 Henry Ukpeh, MD
Saskatchewan
2021 Chiranjib Talukdar, MD
2017 Ben Tan, MD
2015 Garth Bruce, MD
2011 Alan Rosenberg, MD
2010 Tilak Malhotra, MD
2008 William Bingham, MD

Last updated: May 16, 2023

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