About the Author

Avrum I. Gotlieb, MDCM FRCPC

University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine

Professor Avrum I. Gotlieb obtained his BSc in Psychology and Physiology, with first class honours, (1967) and his MDCM (1971) from McGill University. He continued his training in medicine and anatomic pathology at the teaching hospitals of McGill University and obtained his Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Anatomic Pathology (1975) and Certification from the American Board of Pathology (1976). He pursued research training in the Department of Biology, University of California San Diego with Professor SJ Singer supported by a Medical Research Council Fellowship.

Professor Gotlieb is the founding Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto and previously held administrative appointments in two educational areas in the Department of Pathology, as Coordinator of Graduate Studies and Course Director, Pathobiology of Disease, undergraduate medicine. Professor Gotlieb, in 2000, initiated an innovative and unique undergraduate arts and science Specialist Program in Pathobiology. As Chair, his graduate department grew to 160 trainees, most in the non-medical PhD track. Graduates of the program go on to postdoctoral positions, professional schools, the industrial job market and other positions. Professor Gotlieb has also been championing the role of clinician-scientists in academic laboratory medicine.

Professor Gotlieb's research interests include atherosclerosis and valvular heart disease. He has published on blood vessel repair, especially on the role of the cytoskeleton in endothelial repair. His group has published pioneering work on how heart valve cells repair valves after they have been injured. He has published over 100 peer reviewed papers, and 35 reviews and book chapters. He edited three books, including the comprehensive textbook Cardiovascular Pathology, edited with colleagues MD Silver, University of Toronto, and F Schoen, Harvard Medical School. He has received peer reviewed funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Dr. Gotlieb has organized international scientific meetings, chaired program committees and scientific research committees and has been an external reviewer of several academic departments.

Professor Gotlieb is currently the co-Editor of Cardiovascular Pathology, a journal dedicated to basic, clinical, and applied cardiovascular science published by Elsevier. He serves on the Editorial Boards of The American Journal of Pathology (AJP) and Laboratory Investigation.

Professor Gotlieb has had extensive administrative experience as Chair, Planning and Budget Committee, Academic Board, University of Toronto. Professor Gotlieb is a former President of the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP), Canadian Society of Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (CSATVB) and the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology (SCVP). He is currently Vice-President, Science Policy, and a member of the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology (FASEB) Board. He is an elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.