Dr. Darcy Marciniuk receives Lung Association of Saskatchewan Lifetime Achievement Award May 31st, 2016
The Lung Association of Saskatchewan is very pleased to announce that it has conferred its highest award on Dr. Darcy Marciniuk of Saskatoon. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognises 25 years of outstanding service by Dr. Marciniuk to improving respiratory health in Saskatchewan.
Darcy Marciniuk was born, raised and educated in Saskatchewan. After receiving an MD from the University of Saskatchewan, he attended the University of Western Ontario for specialty training in Internal Medicine and he completed his sub-specialty Respirology training at the University of Manitoba. He returned to Saskatchewan in 1990 and joined the Respiratory Division where his career in teaching, research and patient care flourished.
He was Head of the Division of Respirology, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine and Ferguson Professor at the University of Saskatchewan from 2006 to 2012. He was very successful in recruiting new members to the Division. He led the development of both respiratory services and chronic disease management in general in the Saskatoon Health Region which is now spreading to the province as a whole. He began the LiveWell program which started with respiratory health and was used as a model to expand the chronic disease management program to other health areas. He was a leader in the development of the Lung Health Institute and is currently spearheading the establishment of a respiratory research centre at the University of Saskatchewan.
Dr. Marciniuk has done extensive research in the area of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) for which he is nationally and internationally recognised with over 100 peer-reviewed publications. He served a term as President of the Canadian Thoracic Society and chaired their national COPD committee. He is an author or co-author of eight major national and international guidelines on the management of COPD. He is currently leading the development of the provincial pathway for the diagnosis, treatment and management of COPD in Saskatchewan.
Dr. Marciniuk served as a founding Steering Committee member of Canada’s National Lung Health Framework and Chair of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Respirology Examination Board
In 2013, Dr. Marciniuk became the first and only non-American to be elected President of the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) in their 80-year history. Dr. Marciniuk is currently a leader in the CHEST initiative to develop a national respirology training program in China which is being implemented in collaboration with the Chinese government. He was instrumental in establishing the CHEST World Congress which first met in Madrid in 2014, and he Co-Chaired the World Congress held in Shanghai in April 2016. Dr. Marciniuk was also the founding Chair of the CHEST Pulmonary Physiology, Function and Rehabilitation Network.
Dr. Marciniuk served for five years as a member of the Lung Association of Saskatchewan Board of Directors and chaired the Medical Advisory Committee. He initiated the annual Respirology Division/Lung Association provincial Respirology State of the Art Conference which has been very successful in keeping health care professionals throughout Saskatchewan up to date with leading edge respiratory care.
The Lung Association of Saskatchewan is especially proud that it was a Lung Association Professorship that was used to recruit Dr. Marciniuk to Saskatchewan in 1990. When the Lung Association COPD Professorship was established in 2002, it was a key factor both in supporting Dr. Marciniuk’s research and retaining him in Saskatchewan.
Dr. Marciniuk is currently Associate Vice President of Research (Acting) at the University of Saskatchewan in addition to continuing to serve as Professor of Medicine in the Division of Respirology, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine.
