A remarkable achievement by two professors highlights the far-reaching impact of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine on the health of Canadians.
Dr. Melissa Brouwers and Dr. Rashmi Kothary have received a top national recognition, elected as 2025 Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS). The two were inducted at a ceremony on October 16 in Ottawa.
The high-status recognition brings together Canada’s top scientists and scholars from across the country’s universities, health care and research institutes to work on Canada’s most pressing, complex health challenges and recommend actionable solutions. The Fellows’ collaborative analysis and expertise inform decision-making on policy, practice and investment within public and private sectors.
“This recognition honors [the 2025 Fellows’] dedication and excellence in their respective fields,” said Dr. Sylvie Nadeau, chair of the Fellowship Committee, in CAHS’ media release. “We look forward to their expertise enriching the work of our Academy.”
“[Guidelines] are a means by which patients, citizens, clinicians, system leaders and funders can learn about evidence and apply it to decisions they make about health and wellness.”
Dr. Melissa Brouwers
— New Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
Dr. Melissa Brouwers: Evidence-based guidelines for optimal care
Dr. Melissa Brouwers leads an innovative research program aimed at developing and promoting the adoption of research evidence to improve health outcomes for citizens, populations and patients and to promote good policy decisions.
A full professor and Director of the School of Epidemiology and Public Health (SEPH) at the Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Brouwers is one of the world’s foremost trailblazers in guideline research. She is the leader of the internationally recognized AGREE (Appraisal of Guidelines for REsearch and Evaluation) Research Program whose mission is to develop highly rigorous methods aimed at assessing and promoting quality and trustworthiness of guidelines and to promote their development. For twenty years, she led Ontario Health’s cancer guideline program, the Program in Evidence-Based Care, and she currently co-leads the Knowledge Synthesis and Application Unit, housed at SEPH.
With a special passion for international research collaborations, Dr. Brouwers advances the discipline of implementation science and knowledge translation practice. She is committed to teaching and supporting the next generation of health leaders and researchers.
“Guidelines are a scientific, methodological and social enterprise,” Dr. Brouwers says. “They build capacity and promote discourse. They are a means by which interested parties— patients, citizens, clinicians, system leaders, funders—can learn about evidence, understand its strengths and limitations, and apply it to decisions they make about health and wellness.
“I am humbled and honoured by this very meaningful prize,” she continues. “It is a wonderful recognition that I am eager to share with the students, colleagues, and collaborators with whom I have had the pleasure to work over the last 30 years.”
“The next decade holds tremendous promise for combinatorial treatments for the benefit of patients.”
Dr. Rashmi Kothary
— New Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
Dr. Rashmi Kothary: Illuminating neuromuscular disease
Dr. Rashmi Kothary, a full professor in the Department of Medicine and senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, is leading expert in the study of the pathology of neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) through pre-clinical models. Collectively, NMDs affect over 1 million people in Canada and the U.S., many causing disability and even premature death through progressive muscle wasting.
Dr. Kothary’s research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that maintain and alter muscle and nervous system integrity, and in parallel, assessing ways to alleviate the pathology of NMDs. With an emphasis on pre-clinical disease models, his work investigates the extrinsic and intrinsic factors important for oligodendrocyte mediated myelination and remyelination of the central nervous system in the context of Multiple Sclerosis, and understanding the pathogenesis of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and identifying novel therapeutics for this devastating children’s disease.
Researchers worldwide have been informed through his almost 200 peer-reviewed papers; his expertise is also shared through his service on the advisory boards of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA) and of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) and Cure SMA, as well as as a reviewer for CIHR, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Shriners Hospitals for Children.
“These are exciting times as we see many therapies starting to reach the clinic,” says Dr. Kothary. “The next decade holds tremendous promise for combinatorial treatments for the benefit of patients.”
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