[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/TVilleneuveAward09.jpg” caption=”Tammy Villeneuve, administrative assistant for the Farncombe Family Institute, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Richard Hunt Award for Outstanding Service by the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation. Photo courtesy of FHS.”]Tammy Villeneuve of the Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute has been named the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Richard Hunt Award for Outstanding Service by the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation.

The award is given annually to an individual who has demonstrated extraordinary passion, creativity and dedication to support the advancement of gastroenterology and enhancement of the lives of Canadians affected by digestive disorders. It is named in honour of Dr. Richard Hunt, a McMaster professor of medicine who was the founding director of the Intestinal Disease Research Unit which is now the Farncombe Family Institute.

Villeneuve, an administrative assistant for the Farncombe Family Institute, played a key role in organizing a team of scientists, students and staff from McMaster University in a national fundraiser for the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation. Under her leadership, the McMaster team has raised more than $30,000 in support of gastrointestinal research.

“It gives me enormous pleasure to thank Tammy for her incredible efforts on our behalf,” Dr. Hunt said. “I think this bodes really well for our fundraising for GI research here in Hamilton in the future.”