McMaster and St. Joseph’s name first chair in critical care

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BY Health Sciences Advancement Office

June 27, 2000

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/DCookF.jpg” caption=”Deborah Cook”]McMaster University and St. Joseph's Hospital have announced the appointment of Deborah Cook as the first McMaster University/St. Joseph's Hospital Regional Academic Chair in Critical Care Medicine.

In her new position, Cook will establish an academic program in critical care, with a focus on research on clinical interventions and ethical issues relating to intensive care treatment decisions.

“Dr. Cook has established an international reputation for excellence with her contributions to critical care research and education,” said Russell Joffe, dean and vice-president of health sciences at McMaster. “We're pleased to be able to recognize her invaluable work with this appointment.”

“With this chair and the funding it will provide, we are helping a brilliant clinical researcher at the height of her career, to help others, to save lives, and allow her to focus her energies on her research in critical care,” said Allan Greve, president and chief executive officer at St. Joseph's Hospital.

Cook is a professor of medicine and clinical epidemiology &biostatistics, as well as director of the McMaster General Internal Medicine Fellowship. She is also director of the GIM-ICU Clinical Effectiveness and Outcomes Research Unit at St. Joseph's Hospital. She serves as chair of the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group, a collaborative network of critical care practitioners studying how to optimize the care of ICU patients. She was the first Canadian to become a consulting editor for the Journal of the American Medical Association .Cook is a graduate of McMaster.

Cook recently received an Investigator Career Award from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. She has also been honoured by the Royal College of Physicians of Ontario with the Council Award for her outstanding achievements as a medical expert, health advocate, communicator, collaborator, scientist, learner, manager, and humanist.