2024 CRPA Award Winners

Each year, the Canadian Radiation Protection Association (CRPA) accepts nominations for the CRPA awards. Winners are announced at the annual CRPA conference. Here are this year’s winners.

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Adelene N. T.  Gaw Young Professional’s Service Award

The Adelene N. T.  Gaw Young Professional’s Service Award was established in 2024 in memory of a respected CRPA member who passed away in June 2023. Adelene was an ardent promoter of radiation safety education in Canada and internationally.

The award is presented to a CRPA member under the age of 35 who demonstrates exemplary service within the association. The inaugural winner was Matt Bernacci.

Matt joined CRPA in 2018 and was recruited to the Student and Young Professional Committee (SYPCOM) that same year. When he was asked to take on management of the Anthony J. MacKay student paper contest, he quickly agreed.

Since then, Matt has taken on many other roles within CRPA. He joined the Communications Committee to ensure that SYPCOM was represented in that forum, as well as the new Social Media team that was created late last year. He was also part of the local organizing committee for the 2024 CRPA annual conference and has contributed several articles to the CRPA Bulletin.

In his nomination letter, Dave Niven said, “I find it quite impressive that Matt has become involved in so many facets of our association in such a relatively short time. He has demonstrated leadership and project management through his work on SYPCOM, willingness to help others through participation in further committees, and a dedication to seeing our association grow and improve.”

Congratulations, Matt!

 

Raymond G. Ilson Leadership Award

This award honours CRPA Founders’ Award recipient and past president Raymond G. Ilson. It is presented to a CRPA member who has demonstrated or shows promise of leadership and has made a significant contribution to the radiation protection profession. This year’s recipient was Christopher Malcolmson.

Chris has contributed many volunteer hours to local, national, and international committees to assist younger radiation protection professionals. He does this work under the radar, without any thought to recognition.

Having achieved his Certified Health Physics (CHP) designation and his Registered Radiation Safety Professional (CRPA[R]) designation, Chris tirelessly advocates for professional accreditation. He is a long-standing member of the CRPA Registration Subcommittee and has been the examination coordinator for over 15 years. He has volunteered many hours preparing and running examination preparation courses.

Chris also served CRPA as a member of the board of directors for two years.

As the health physicist at McMaster University’s Nuclear Reactor, Chris mentors graduate and undergraduate students.

Despite a busy schedule, Chris has also served internationally with the International Radiation Protection Association’s (IRPA’s) Publications/Communications Committee as co-website manager (with our own Dave Niven) and one of the two social media managers.

In their nomination letter, Tanya Vlaskalin and Liz Krivonosov said, “Chris does a lot of work on behalf of many organizations and deserves to be acknowledged for his contributions with the Raymond G Ilson Leadership Award.”

Congratulations, Chris!

 

Meritorious Service Award

The Meritorious Service Award recognizes significant services provided to the Canadian Radiation Protection Association (CRPA) or to the radiation protection community in general. This year’s recipient was Grant Cubbon.

Since joining CRPA in 2009, Grant has served CRPA in a variety of positions.

He was a member of the board of directors for three terms (from 2016 to 2022) and managed both the communication and internal affairs portfolios. Grant joined the editorial staff for the CRPA Bulletin in 2018 as deputy editor and has held that position since then. He was also a member of the Local Organizing Committee for the successful 2017 CRPA conference in Saskatoon.

His nominators, Tanya Vlaskalin and Liz Krivonosov, said, “Grant’s dedication to CRPA and his interest in and dedication to his various positions and committees makes him an excellent candidate for this award.”

Congratulations, Grant!

 

Distinguished Achievement Award

The Distinguished Achievement Award is presented for outstanding contributions in the field of radiation protection. Recipients must have received recognition from peers, either nationally or internationally, for major accomplishments or significant contributions to the knowledge, practice, or advancement of the radiation protection profession. This year’s winner was Sandor Demeter.

Sandor has over 30 years of experience as a medical doctor, working in both public health and acute care, and as a researcher in radiation protection. He has worked in a broad range of areas, including nuclear medicine and academia, and has contributed to radiation protection both nationally and internationally through committee work.

Sandor has held a number of senior medical appointments and is currently a staff physician with the Nuclear Medicine section at Shared Health Manitoba (formerly Health Sciences Centre) in Winnipeg. In 2009, he served as the medical director of diagnostic imaging at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

In addition to Sandor’s clinical work, he has conducted research and holds appointments as an associate professor at the University of Manitoba, Department of Medicine Community Health Sciences and the Department of Radiology. His research involves the public health aspects of ionizing radiation and health technology assessment and health economics policy. He also holds an adjunct appointment with the Department of Physics at the University of Winnipeg.

Sandor’s contributions to radiation protection also include work on national and international committees:

• International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) from 2013 to 2022
• Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in 2017
• Health Technology Expert Review Panel at the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (now Canada’s Drug Agency) in 2019

Sandor was nominated by Tanya Vlaskalin and Liz Krivonosov. Congratulations, Sandor!

 

Anthony J. MacKay Student Paper Contest

Each year, CRPA’s Student and Young Professionals Committee organizes a student paper contest in conjunction with the annual conference. Three finalists present their work at the conference and the winner is presented with the Anthony J. MacKay trophy at the awards banquet. This year’s winner was Shayenthiran (Shayen) Sreetharan, who completed his PhD in Radiation Sciences at McMaster University in 2023. You can find the abstract for his paper, “Ionizing Radiation Exposure Effects Across Multiple Generations in Non-Human Biota,” in our June issue of the Bulletin.

 

Honorary Life Membership

CRPA established an honorary lifetime membership in 2008 and conferred the first such membership on Dr. Richard Osborne, CRPA’s founder and first president.

To become an honorary life member, those who are nominated must have been full members of CRPA for at least 10 consecutive years and be nominated by at least two full members for significant contributions to the field of radiation protection or to CRPA. Nominations must be approved by the member at an annual general meeting (AGM). Gary Hughes was nominated by Tanya Vlaskalin and Jeff Dovyak and was awarded an honorary life membership at the 2024 AGM.

Gary joined CRPA in 2002, served on the Elections Committee (now the Nominations Committee), and was a member of the Local Organizing Committees for the 2010 and 2024 Edmonton conferences.

In his radiation protection career, he was an radiation protection specialist for Alberta Labour, a member of the Alberta Radon Network, and the Alberta representative on the Federal Provincial Territorial Radiation Protection Committee. Gary retired as director of Radiation Health at Alberta Employment and Immigration.

His nominators said, “Gary’s long-time dedication to CRPA and radiation protection in Canada makes him an excellent candidate for an honorary life membership.”

Congratulations, Gary!

 

Past CRPA award winners

For profiles of past award winners, see the following CRPA Bulletin articles:

• 2023 CRPA Award Winners: Sunil Choubal and Jill Robertson
• Ed Waller Receives the 2022 CRPA Meritorious Service Award
• 2021 CRPA Award Winners: Carole Savoie and Jeff Fleming
• 2020 CRPA Award Winners: Jeff Sandeman, Daniel Lapkoff, and Bryan McIntosh
• 2019 CRPA Award Winners: Jing Chen, Tony Waker, Joe Cortese, and Ali Shoushtarian
• In Memory of Nicholas Sion, who was a founding member of CRPA and the recipient of the 2012 Meritorious Service Award.
• From the Archives: CRPA’s First Honorary Lifetime Member – Dr. Richard Osborne