Mary L’Abbé and Bernard Zinman inducted into Canadian Medical Hall of Fame

Two University of Toronto researchers have been inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame for 2026.

Mary L’Abbé is professor emeritus in the department of nutritional sciences and at the Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition, in U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Bernard Zinman is emeritus scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital, and professor emeritus in the department of medicine at Temerty Medicine.

The Canadian Medical Hall of Fame acknowledges either a single, outstanding contribution or a lifetime of meritorious achievement in medicine. Inductees are pioneers and role models in the health field in Canada and around the world.

L’Abbé is renowned for her contributions to optimize nutrition policy and food supply chains in Canada and internationally. While at U of T, she created the Food Label Information & Price (FLIP) database, which tracks packaged food and beverages, offering an understanding of the food supply. She has been involved in numerous expert committees for international organizations such as the World Health Organization.

Zinman is recognized for helping transform the management of diabetes. He was the lead investigator in the landmark DCCT/EDIC trial, which established the role of intensive diabetes control in reducing the long-term complications of type 1 diabetes. He also led the EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial, which showed that sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT) inhibitor drugs could decrease cardiovascular complications and risk of mortality for those with type 2 diabetes.

Read more about the awardees and the induction ceremony, scheduled for June 18, 2025.