Louis Hugo Francescutti, MD, PhD, MPH, FRCPC, FACPM, CCFP, FACP (Hon), ICD.D, began his two-year term as president on October 18, 2010. He is a professor at the University of Alberta, an emergency room and preventive medicine physician, and a crusader for injury prevention. He has experienced health care settings countrywide, working as an emergency medical technician in the Canadian Arctic, a blood bank technologist at the Montreal General Hospital, and a researcher, clinician and educator in Edmonton, Alberta. He holds degrees from Concordia University, the University of Alberta and the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
Top Alberta physician
A renowned educator and physician, Dr. Francescutti has won numerous teaching and service awards during his career. In 2005, he was named one of Alberta’s 100 most influential physicians of the past century by the Alberta Medical Association and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta.
Committed activist
Dr. Francescutti is also the founder of the Coalition for Cellphone-Free Driving, former director of the Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research and founder of HEROES, a multimedia head and spinal cord injury prevention project for teenagers. He has lectured internationally and helped develop several award-winning injury control programs.
As President, Dr. Francescutti works to improve membership engagement and help the Royal College play a major role in reducing injuries — the leading cause of death and disability for Canadians under age 45.
Andrew Padmos
Andrew Padmos, BA, MD, FRCPC, FACP joined the Royal College as the new CEO on September 1, 2006. He comes to the Royal College from Halifax, N.S., where from 1998 he was commissioner of Cancer Care Nova Scotia, head of the Cancer Care Program at the QEII Health Sciences Centre, associate dean for cancer programs in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University and VP Research, Academic Affairs and Quality for Capital District Health Authority. Prior to working for Cancer Care Nova Scotia, Dr. Padmos was the Director and CEO of the Kingston Regional Cancer Centre in Kingston, Ont., and professor and head of oncology at Queen's University, Kingston General and Hotel Dieu hospitals.
International reputation
Educated in political sciences and economics at the University of Toronto and in medicine at McMaster University, Dr. Padmos completed specialty training in internal medicine and hematology and was certified by the Royal College in 1976. A hematologist by profession, Dr. Padmos practised medicine in Calgary, Alta. for two years before a 15-year term at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During this time, he introduced a bone marrow transplant program, developed a large clinical program in hematology/oncology and served in many administrative capacities.
Experienced leader
Not only does Dr. Padmos have extensive experience in clinical practice in Canada and the Middle East, he also brings a background in leadership that began during his residency. He has served as the president of both the Professional Association of Internes and Residents of Ontario (PAIRO) and the Canadian Association of Internes and Residents (CAIR).