Over Dr. Nady el-Guebaly’s 50 years of excellence in addiction and mental health treatment, he has championed the need for evidence to guide addiction practice where his influential research has spanned all types of addiction addressing diverse areas from the adult children of people with alcohol addiction to psychiatric comorbidity in addiction to gambling disorder. Throughout he has taken on leadership roles and been a founding member of the major national and international addiction societies. Dr el-Guebaly’s internationally recognized and pioneering research, teaching, and advocacy has helped take addiction from a field where it was struggling to be recognized for legitimacy to where it is the robust and specialized field of today. Dr. el-Guebaly was awarded the Order of Canada in 2017. When presenting him the award, The Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, cited Dr. el-Guebaly “for his leadership on addictions research and treatment, particularly for his efforts to have addictions treated as a mental health issue.” Dr. el-Guebaly is a founding member and consulting psychiatrist at the Addiction Centre in Calgary and is internationally recognized within the field of addiction medicine. He has been instrumental in the creation of a variety of professional societies, academic journals and treatment programs that advance the quality of addiction services globally. His clinical expertise and ability to connect with patients, making them feel seen, heard and valued combined with the extensive contributions to our field all contribute to why the WCAF chose Dr. el-Guebaly as the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Dr. Ignaszewski is a Harvard and UCSF trained child, adolescent, adult and addiction psychiatrist who moved back to Vancouver following completion of her Fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry less than three years ago. Since then, she has embraced her roles as Education Lead for the Vancouver General Hospital’s Complex Pain and Addiction Service and as Director of Fellowships & Off-Service Postgrad Education for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at BC Children’s Hospital. Additionally, she has demonstrated outstanding leadership in her Clinical Lead position with the Substance Use Response and Facilitation (SURF) team at BC Children’s and Women’s Hospitals, where she has implemented a new inter-disciplinary consult service responding to the complex needs of children and youth and families presenting to the hospital. Her clinical expertise in concurrent disorders and OUD management, impressive interpersonal, teaching and mentoring skills, and passion for her work in responding to the overdose crisis all contribute to her being the applauded recipient of this year’s award.

Innovation is at the core of OUD care and Addiction Medicine and is captured in research and policy. An aim to inspire and support the growth of a more relevant, responsive and effective national development through innovation can create a world free of stigma.  As such, WCAF would like to celebrate and recognize a Canadian  individual(s) or organization that is doing impactful and innovative work. Dr. Samson and Dr. Marion-Bellemare work in the Emergency department in Timmins, Ontario and saw firsthand how prevalent the opioid crisis was in their community. Based on their experience with patients, they knew things had to change and that people could not continue to die in their city. They decided to take action! Both doctors have spent many hours engaging with the community, they: - Were instrumental in the establishment of a medical withdrawal management unit at Timmins and District Hospital as well as an addiction medicine consult team.  - Established a primary care clinic at, the homeless shelter, Living Space to help alleviate the pressure on the emergency department. - Started virtual clinics for substance use disorders in the northern Ontario James Bay coastal communities of Attawapiskat and Kashechewan.  - Provided education to physicians in the community, hospital, and region to improve their knowledge and feel more comfortable treating patients with buprenorphine/naloxone for opioid use disorder. - Presented to City of Timmins council on several occasions, to bring awareness about the crisis facing their community and asking for support for their efforts. - Were key players in the organization of the Safe Consumption site (Safe Health Site Timmins) in their community which opened in 2022. - Have been actively involved in educating other communities across our country regarding their innovative approach for treating patients with opiate use disorder and creating change at a hospital and community level. These two doctors are an inspiration.  Their passion, hard work and drive to create the change needed to support those experiencing opioid use disorder is truly inspirational and worthy of this year’s Effectuating Change award.