Ronald G. Worton (born April 2, 1942) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
doctor.
[
Born in ]Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
, he earned a BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
and MSc
MSC may refer to:
Computers
* Message Sequence Chart
* Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
* MIDI Show Control
* MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor)
* USB mass storage device class (USB MSC ...
from the University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.[PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
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* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...](_blank)
in medical biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that applies approaches and methods traditionally used in physics to study biological phenomena. Biophysics covers all scales of biological organization, from molecular to organismic and populations. ...
from the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
. Worton pursued post-doctoral studies at Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
. In 1971, he became director of the diagnostic cytogenetics
Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...
laboratory at The Hospital for Sick Children
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
in Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
. Worton became geneticist in chief at the hospital and professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Toronto in 1985. In 1996, he became director of research at the Ottawa General Hospital
The Ottawa Hospital's General Campus is one of three main campuses of The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. With 569 beds, the General Campus includes The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre and the Cancer Centre.
The Ottawa General Ho ...
and chief executive officer of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, as well as professor of medicine, University of Ottawa.
Worton and his team identified the dystrophin
Dystrophin is a rod-shaped cytoplasmic protein, and a vital part of a protein complex that connects the cytoskeleton of a muscle fiber to the surrounding extracellular matrix through the cell membrane. This complex is variously known as the costa ...
gene whose mutation is associated with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies. Under his leadership, the genetics department at The Hospital for Sick Children also identified genes associated with cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...
, Fanconi anemia
Fanconi anaemia (FA) is a rare genetic disease resulting in impaired response to DNA damage. Although it is a very rare disorder, study of this and other bone marrow failure syndromes has improved scientific understanding of the mechanisms of nor ...
, Wilson's disease
Wilson's disease is a genetic disorder in which excess copper builds up in the body. Symptoms are typically related to the brain and liver. Liver-related symptoms include vomiting, weakness, fluid build up in the abdomen, swelling of the legs, ...
, Wilms' tumor
Wilms' tumor or Wilms tumor, also known as nephroblastoma, is a cancer of the kidneys that typically occurs in children, rarely in adults.; and occurs most commonly as a renal tumor in child patients. It is named after Max Wilms, the German surg ...
[ and ]Tay–Sachs disease
Tay–Sachs disease is a genetic disorder that results in the destruction of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The most common form is infantile Tay–Sachs disease, which becomes apparent around three to six months of age, with the baby ...
.[
Worton served four years on the board of the ]Human Genome Organization
The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) is a non-profit organization founded in 1988. HUGO represents an international coordinating scientific body in response to initiatives such as the Human Genome Project. HUGO has four active committees, includin ...
, twelve years as associate director for the Canadian Genetic Diseases network, six years as head of the Canadian Genome Analysis and Technology Program and four years as founding scientific director of the Canadian Stem Cell Network.
He was awarded a Gairdner Foundation International Award
The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a p ...
in 1989, was named an officer of the Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
in 2012 and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
.[ He has also received the ]E. Mead Johnson Award
The E. Mead Johnson Award, given by the Society for Pediatric Research, was established in 1939 to honor clinical and laboratory research achievements in pediatrics. The awards are funded by Mead Johnson, Mead Johnson Nutritionals, a subsidiary of ...
for pediatrics research.[ In 2014, Worton was inducted into the ]Canadian Medical Hall of Fame __NOTOC__
The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame is a Canadian charitable organization, founded in 1994, that honours Canadians who have contributed to the understanding of disease and improving the health of people. It has an exhibit hall in London, O ...
.
Worton has retired from medical research and lives in Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...
, spending his winters in Mesa, Arizona
Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, in the U.S. state of Arizona. It is the most populous city in the East Valley (Phoenix metropolitan area), East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is bordered by ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worton, Ronald
1942 births
Living people
Canadian geneticists
Officers of the Order of Canada
Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada
People from Winnipeg
University of Manitoba alumni
University of Toronto alumni
Yale University alumni
Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences