[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Barr, Ron.jpg” caption=”Ronald Barr, a professor of pediatrics, pathology and medicine, has been named the 2009 recipient of the O. Harold Warwick Prize.”]An internationally renowned pediatric oncologist in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine has been recognized by the Canadian Cancer Society for excellence in cancer research.

Ronald Barr, a professor of pediatrics, pathology and medicine, has been named the 2009 recipient of the O. Harold Warwick Prize. The award honours a Canadian investigator who has undertaken research that has led to significant advances in cancer control.

Barr is an editor of the first definitive document on the incidence, survival and mortality of 15 to 29 year olds with malignant disease. He also co-edited the first textbook on cancer in adolescents and young adults. He has written and contributed to seven other books and has published more than 250 scientific articles.

His research interests include: international health, particularly cancer in childhood; late effects of cancer treatment, especially on nutritional status; and measurement of health-status and health-related quality of life.

Barr received his medical degree from the University of Glasgow. He then joined the faculty of medicine at the University of Nairobi to help establish the first medical school in Kenya. He joined the faculty of the University of Aberdeen before moving to the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, as a visiting scientist. He has been on faculty at McMaster University since 1977.

The O. Harold Warwick Prize is named after Dr. Warwick, a pioneering researcher in cancer control and treatment, who became the first executive director of both the former National Cancer Institute of Canada and the Canadian Cancer Society. This award comes with a $2,000 prize for the recipient and a $20,000 research grant.

Previous McMaster winners of the O. Harold Warwick Prize include George Browman, a professor in the Department Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Mark Levine, professor and chair of the Department of Oncology.