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Sunday, September 24, 2017 Board of Directors, Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine (CASEM) c/o Dawn Haworth CASEM Executive Director Re: Medal of Service Award 2017 Dear Members of the CASEM Board I would like to nominate Dr. Jack Taunton for the CASEM Medal of Service Award 2017. Throughout his entire distinguished career, he has totally epitomized the nature of this inaugural CASEM award. He is a long-time member of our organization, and has participated on or been the Chair of numerous CASEM Committees. His skills and leadership cover all of the nomination criteria – service in the field of event planning and/or team coverage, service to Canadians to help raise the standards of sport and exercise medicine in Canada, and personal contribution to the advancement of the art and science of sport and exercise medicine. A number of his outstanding achievements and contributions to the field are summarized in the accompanying short biography. I will highlight other pertinent facts from his (very lengthy) C.V., as well as the summaries of his most recent successful grant applications (from the CCV), and the list of selected publications from the past 2 years. He has taught and mentored innumerable learners – from athletes and coaches, to athletic therapists, physical therapists, medical students, residents from many disciplines, Fellows in Sport and Exercise Medicine and colleagues in a variety of settings, and in numerous countries. Many of them have gone on to become prominent clinicians and/or researchers, and to make contributions in their own rights, including establishing and running Fellowship programs in Sport and Exercise Medicine at their respective institutions. In fact, if one were to draw a “tree” of the various career paths of his many mentees, it would be full and multi-branched. He has always been passionate about sport, exercise and health, and medicine as it relates to all of those. Immediately following completion of his internship at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, he established the Terra Nova Sports Medicine Clinic, along with another sport medicine legend, Dr. Doug Clement. In 1979, with the assistance of Dr. Peter Grantham in the Department of Family Medicine at UBC, the clinic moved to a location on campus. He was Co-Director until 1991, and then Director from 1991-2006, when he officially retired from the university. Glen Sather Sport Medicine Clinic Phone: (780) 407-5160 Edmonton Clinic Fax: (780) 407-5667 Level 2, 11400 University Avenue Office: (780) 407-5191 Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6G 1Z1 However, he continued to practice sport and exercise medicine, and helped to fund-raise and establish the Fortius Sport and Health in Burnaby, of which he was the Director, and then the Director of Sport Medicine. He practiced there for many years, but is now back at UBC as a Professor Emeritus (awarded in 2015), and once again is the Program Director for the Fellowship Program in Sport and Exercise Medicine (having previously trained more than 30 Fellows). He has been instrumental in establishing the value of exercise for the recreationally active person. For example, along with Dr. Clement, he established the Vancouver Sun Run. Initially they ran weekly articles in the Vancouver Sun newspaper on how to successfully train for this event. Some 25 years later, the Run continues to attract large numbers of participants, as does the Vancouver Marathon, which he was also part of. He organized the Gastown Grand Prix of Cycling many years ago, and now leads the UBC Grand Prix of Cycling, and is co-director of the very successful Port Coquitlam Grand Prix. He puts his efforts where his passions and beliefs lie. In academia, he has been Chief Advisor for almost 50 Master’s and PhD students. He has been a Member on a total of 55 MSc and PhD Committees. He has supervised several post-doctoral Fellows, including a Medical Research Council of Canada Post-Doctoral Fellow. This inspiration and supervision of graduate students (as well as undergraduates) has contributed to help raise knowledge of sport and exercise medicine in Canada as those individuals pursue their careers. With his keen and inquiring mind, he is also a prolific writer with over 150 listed refereed publications (many as first author), 37 non-refereed journal publications and 18 book chapters. You will see from the list of selected publications that his interests are broad, and not limited to just sports-related musculoskeletal problems. More recently he has received numerous large grants (in the $1K range) for research in a number of important areas in medicine. He is a co- founder of Sports Cardiology BC, and is investigating such things as “Prevention of sudden death in young and masters athletes, plus education programme). He currently has several large studies going – looking at running and loading and osteoarthritis, for example. Dr. Taunton has been a leader within CASEM, and in 2014 received a Lifetime Achievement Award. He was President from 1984-86, and a key player on many Committees, including the Marketing Committee, Credentials and Diploma Examination, Education Committee, Fellowship Committee, Team Physician Committee, Major Games Selection Committee, etc. In preparation for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, in partnership with Dr. Julia Alleyne, helped to pioneer the Advanced Sport Medicine Course – to educate future team physicians in a novel, challenging and experiential format. His expertise has been recognized and sought after by many organizations – the Sport Medicine Council of BC (which he helped found and served as Chairman from 1982- 1988 and 1993-1995), the Sport Medicine Council of Canada, FIMS (as a Co-Chairman of the North American lecture series) and the American College of Sports Medicine (as a member of the Board of Trustees). He is a member of many Editorial Boards for journals as diverse as the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Physician and Sports Medicine, International Journal of Sport Therapy etc. He is an accomplished speaker, with over 400 invited international and national/local presentations. Glen Sather Sport Medicine Clinic Phone: (780) 407-5160 Edmonton Clinic Fax: (780) 407-5667 Level 2, 11400 University Avenue Office: (780) 407-5191 Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6G 1Z1 His track record (so to speak) as a team physician and leader/teacher/mentor of team physicians is legendary. In addition to the roles listed in his short biography - Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for VANOC Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and CMO for Canada at the Sydney Olympics, two Pan American and two World Student Games, he has participated in and/or directed medical coverage for more than 125 events worldwide. I have been to a number of these myself under his tutelage – and once again – when I was successful in my application to be Chief Doctor at the Sochi 2014 Olympics – he was one of the first to wish me well in that job! He was the CMO for the IOC –affiliated 1st Regional Masters Games in Vancouver (Americas’ Masters Games August 2016) and now also functions as the Chief Medical Officer for the ITLS Training Centre – GEMS-ERT: Global Emergency Medical Services – Emergency Response Team – Terranova International safety Canada Incorporated. He is also the Clinical Advisor to the Concussion Protocol Harmonization Project for Parachute Canada. One of his most unique teaching endeavors has been co-founding the Uganda Sport & Exercise Medicine Centre, together with Dr. Norgrove Penny from ReBalance MD in Victoria, and the Allan McGavin Sport Medicine Centre at UBC. This was formed to establish a sport and exercise centre with emphasis on patient care, education and research. To date a group of clinicians have been down together on two separate occasions (Jack went on the most recent trip), to educate the Uganda physicians and therapists. Fund-raising and other plans are continuing for this centre. Jack’s attributes are perhaps best reflected in his most recent awards – in 2015 he was named Most Inspiring Kinesiology Graduate Student in 50 years from Simon Fraser University (his alma mater for his MSc in 1971, prior to entering UBC Medical School). He received the Wallace Wilson Leadership Award from the UBC Medical Alumni Association in May 2016, awarded for demonstration of high ethical standards and outstanding leadership to the profession. He has also been chosen as a recipient of the 2017 Doctors of BC Silver Medal of Service for long and distinguished service to the Doctors of BC and outstanding contributions to medicine in BC. In summary, I can think of nobody more deserving of the inaugural CASEM Medal of Service Award than Dr. Jack Taunton. I sincerely hope that your Committee agrees with this nomination. Sincerely, Dr. Constance Lebrun, MDCM, MPE, CCFP, Dip Sport Med, FACSM Professor and Enhanced Skills Program Director, Department of Family Medicine Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta Fellowship Director, Sport and Exercise Medicine Fellowship Consultant Sport Medicine Physician Glen Sather Sports Medicine Clinic Glen Sather Sport Medicine Clinic Phone: (780) 407-5160 Edmonton Clinic Fax: (780) 407-5667 Level 2, 11400 University Avenue Office: (780) 407-5191 Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6G 1Z1 .

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