Drs. Zulfiqar Bhutta, David Chitayat and George Trusler honoured with Order of Canada appointments

Governor-General Mary Simon has announced 88 new appointments to the Order of Canada and among the names are some well-known and respected figures at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) – Drs. Zulfiqar Bhutta, David Chitayat and George Trusler. The Order of Canada recognizes individuals with outstanding achievements, dedication to the community, and extraordinary contributions to the nation.

“On behalf of SickKids, I am thrilled to congratulate Drs. Bhutta and Chitayat on their appointments to the Order of Canada. We are incredibly proud of their achievements, which are making a significant impact globally and will continue to do so for generations, not only through their advocacy and expertise but through the many students who Drs. Bhutta and Chitayat have taught and inspired,” says Dr. Ronald Cohn, President and CEO of SickKids. “George Trusler is such an important part of our rich history. A true giant of cardiac surgery, whose legacy at SickKids and beyond continues to this day. What a fitting honour for a SickKids legend.”

Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta, Co-Director of the Centre for Global Child Health, has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest honours.

Bhutta’s pioneering work has helped significantly reduce mortality rates and improve the well-being of women and children, earning him a reputation as a global leader and world-renowned expert in the field. He has spent almost three decades tackling some of the most pressing challenges in maternal and child health, partnering with centres in Canada, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom to help reduce preventable deaths and improve nutrition and health care in low-resource settings. Through his work at the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health and the SickKids Research Institute, he has been instrumental in influencing policy and funding priorities worldwide, including the World Health Organization’s recommendations for managing persistent diarrhea and malnutrition.

“This recognition and honour by Canada are most special as it has been awarded for a body of work that aligns with so many of its values — egalitarianism, social justice and addressing the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized populations everywhere. This honour is a shared celebration of the values that drive our work at SickKids,” says Bhutta, who is also the Robert Harding Chair in Global Child Health and a Senior Scientist in the Child Health Evaluative Sciences program, and Founding Director of the Institute for Global Health and Development at Aga Khan University.

“I am so very humbled to receive this on behalf of a generation of students and scholars that I have had the huge privilege of working with and learning from. It is a reminder of the importance of collaboration, compassion and relentless pursuit of better health for all.”

In 2022, his research and development of evidence-based interventions to improve the “first thousand days” of life — pregnancy, childbirth, and the first two years of life — earned him a John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award from the Gairdner Foundation. He remains a leading voice in global health and has consistently been ranked among the top one per cent globally on the Highly Cited Researchers list by the Web of Science for over 10 years.

Dr. David Chitayat, Professor in Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, Department of Paediatrics, has been named a Member of the Order of Canada.

A world-renowned clinical geneticist, he has devoted his career to not only providing exemplary care to his patients, but also to research and education. He has focused his work on identifying genes associated with fetal abnormalities and different conditions affecting newborns and children.

In addition to his outstanding contributions to the Department of Paediatrics, he is the Medical Director for the M.Sc. Program in Genetic Counselling at the University of Toronto and Head of the Prenatal Diagnosis Program at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

Chitayat has received many awards in recognition of his significant contributions, including being named a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2020. He has published over 30 book chapters and more than 500 peer-reviewed papers in the field of medical genetics. His research interests include prenatal diagnosis, urogenital abnormalities, cardiac genetics and neurogenetics.

His expertise has been critical for patients, families, colleagues and trainees for decades at SickKids, the University of Toronto and globally.

Dr. George Trusler, paediatric surgeon and former Head of Cardiovascular Surgery at SickKids in the 1970s and 1980s, was among those appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

In his 36-years with SickKids, Trusler was a key player in the evolution of open heart surgery, working alongside Dr. Bill Mustard. He developed the procedure that bears his name for the repair of a leaking aortic valve, thereby avoiding valve replacement. In 1972, he formulated an algorithm to control excess blood flow to the lungs of infants suffering heart failure. He was part of the team that performed SickKids’ first heart transplant in 1990.

His innovations continue to save thousands of lives.