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null Remembering Mr. H. Arnold Steinberg, advocate for research, health care and education

Message from Mr. Raymond Royer and Dr. Vassilios Papadopoulos

Dear colleagues and friends of the RI-MUHC,

Mr. H. Arnold SteinbergIt is with great sadness that we learned of Mr. Arnold Steinberg's death on December 11. Yet, as the emerging tributes attest, we are left with much about his life to celebrate and a mission that will inspire many to continue.

Arnold Steinberg was a businessman who understood the raison d'ĂȘtre of our Research Institute. Among many vital roles, he was a member of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) Board from 2001 to 2009 and from 2012 to 2015. To this forum he brought the acumen of an industry leader and a philanthropist's drive. He also brought the voice of the founding chairman of the MUHC Board; a chancellor emeritus of McGill (five years); a past chairman of the Board of Governors of the McGill University-Montreal Children's Hospital Research Institute (19 years); and a member of the McGill University Board of Governors (10 years). Moreover, he brought the personal vision behind such projects as the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning, a unique centre in Canada that integrates medical treatment and training, community engagement and research.

Before such terms as translational research or patient-centred medicine became near and dear to research, Arnold Steinberg found ways to put them into practice. With Dr. Charles Scriver of the Montreal Children's Hospital, he was accelerating the translation of basic discoveries to public uses in the 1970s. Their joint work in this era ensured the addition of vitamin D to milk in Quebec, reducing the occurrence of nutritional rickets in children from over 1,000 per year to almost none. The two also collaborated on the development of the National Food Distribution Centre for the Management of Patients with Hereditary Metabolic Disease. This body of work has had extraordinary impact on the health of young Canadians. In 2012 Arnold Steinberg, with Dr. Scriver, received the Medal of Honour from the Health Research Foundation for an outstanding contribution to health sciences and public health innovation.

In this season of giving and appreciation, we are thankful for the time and talent that such members of our Research Institute bring to our common work. For the sheer inspiration of considering a life well spent, we hope that you will take a few minutes to visit the tributes below.

Sincerely,

Raymond Royer
Chairman of the Board of Directors, RI-MUHC

and

Vassilios Papadopoulos, D.Pharm., PhD
Executive Director and Chief Scientific Officer, RI-MUHC