By Devon Evans, Gleaner WriterOCHO RIOS, St. Ann:
PROFESSOR OF Medicine and President of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, Dr. James Raphael Gavin III, is the 2004 recipient of the Sir Alister McIntyre Award for excellence in the field of diabetes.
The award was presented to Dr. Gavin last Thursday during the 10th anniversary celebration of the International Conference on Diabetes, which was held at the Renaissance Jamaica Grande Resort in Ocho Rios.
The conference was hosted by the University of the West Indies Diabetes Outreach Project in association with the Environmental Health Foundation, the Pan American Health Organisa-tion/World Health Organisation and the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute, under the theme 'New Trends in Diabetes'.
In a citation read by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at UWI Prof. Owen Morgan, Dr. Gavin was described as a man of enormous energy and talent who has brought his very valued experience to international medicine and one who could be referred to as "a Solomon to diabetes mellitus care."
Professor Morgan said Dr. Gavin, by his research and teaching, has unobtrusively, but capably, made a significant difference to the world of diabetes.
CLINICAL SKILLS
He said Dr. Gavin has travelled widely in response to the great demand for his teaching and clinical skills.
"He is tireless in his undertaking to disseminate knowledge and is a firm believer in that remarkable principle of noblese oblige!" said Prof. Morgan.
"At the heart of his professional activities lies a belief and a commitment to the scientific method. James has a penchant for expressing his ideas clearly and this is evident in his scientific publications which amount to more than one hundred."
Prof. Morgan also described the awardee as a great scholar, and distinguished teacher and administrator. Dr. Gavin, an American, is a graduate of Duke University in the United States and has become the sixth recipient of the Sir Alister McIntyre Award.
He is also the recipient of many other honours and awards and has held visiting professorships at all the major medical schools in the United States and in Japan.
The award was presented to Dr. Gavin by UWI Pro Vice Chancellor, Professor Rex Nettleford.
