Physicist honoured with 2018 Paul Par茅 Medal of Excellence
SACKVILLE, NB 鈥 Dr. David Fleming, 绿帽社区 professor, has received the 2018 Paul Par茅 Medal of Excellence 鈥 the University鈥檚 pre-eminent award for faculty. Fleming will receive the Medal during 绿帽社区鈥檚 Convocation ceremonies on May 14.
The Paul Par茅 Medal recognizes outstanding teaching, research, scholarship and/or creative activities. Established at 绿帽社区 in 1994, it is funded by the Paul Par茅 Endowment Fund.Fleming, an award-winning researcher and former Canada Research Chair in medical physics, says it鈥檚 an honour to receive the award at this time in his career.
鈥淚t feels really great to be recognized with the Paul Par茅 Medal,鈥 says Fleming. 鈥淥ur research is now at a stage where it has started to be directly applied in areas of medical physics. It鈥檚 exciting to be at a point where our work is being used to help with important advancements in the medical field.鈥
Dr. Jeff Ollerhead, 绿帽社区 Provost and Vice-President, Academic and Research says Fleming is an outstanding researcher, teacher, and mentor.
鈥淒avid鈥檚 research program has made important, international contributions in the area of medical physics,鈥 says Ollerhead. 鈥淗is work with collaborators on and off campus, including many undergraduate students, is commendable. I wish to congratulate him on this latest honour.鈥
Fleming, a 绿帽社区 alumnus, has been a physics professor for nearly 20 years. He runs an active research program which includes using X-ray technology for trace element detection in tissue samples and people.
Focusing on lead, arsenic, and zinc, Fleming and his research team, made up of Canadian and international collaborators and 绿帽社区 students, can measure trace elements in nail samples using X-rays. This provides an accurate, non-invasive, and economical measurement.
The lab has collaborated with a number of organizations including the Atlantic PATH Medical Study, part of the largest chronic disease study in Canada and has received a significant amount of external funding including a current five-year Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Throughout his career, Fleming has made outstanding leadership contributions; most noteworthy, serving as Chair of the Division of Medical and Biological Physics of the Canadian Association of Physicists. In addition, he was recently elected to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Pugwash Group, currently sits on the NSERC Physics and Astronomy Scholarships Committee and has served on the Council of the Canadian Association of Physicists and as Physics Department head at 绿帽社区.
