From the desk of Dr. Jenny Heathcote

Dr. Jenny Heathcote graduated from the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London, UK in 1968. After completing her internship and her residency in internal medicine, she was awarded a MRC research fellowship with the late Dame Professor Sheila Sherlock. Her thesis on the transmission of hepatitis B was awarded an MD in 1976.

Dr. Heathcote moved to Stanford, USA, for further research training and joined the Toronto Western Hospital, Canada, 27 years ago, where she has built up an internationally recognized liver research unit, with a major interest in viral hepatitis and autoimmune liver disease. She has been a Professor at the University of Toronto since 1995. She won the Department of Medicine Clinician Teacher award the same year and was given the May Cohen award by the Canadian Medical Association for her mentoring of trainees in 2003.

Dr. Heathcote is a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee medal for her service to hepatology and received the Canadian Liver Foundation Gold Medal at the Canadian Digestive Diseases Week in 2004. In that year, she also received the Canadian Liver Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. She has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for the last 18 years, and has published over 200 papers in the area of autoimmune liver disease and chronic viral hepatitis.