In memoriam Éric Dewailly (1957-2014)

Dr. Éric Dewailly’s early professional career included a position in community health at CHUL’s Community Health Department in Quebec City, as a consulting physician (1987-1989), and then as the coordinator of the Quebec City area environmental health team until 1998. From 1998 onward, he headed the CHUQ Public Health Research Unit (CHUL). He was also a full professor in environmental health at the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (Faculty of Medicine) at Université Laval from 1997 onward. Dr. Dewailly’s research had several main themes: the impact of oceanic pollution on human health, such as contamination of the marine food chain and exposure of fishing communities to heavy metals and organochlorines; the effect of these contaminants on the reproductive, immune, and neurological systems; marine toxins; and other subjects. He made over 500 scientific presentations, published over 200 scientific peer-reviewed articles, and received over $80 million in grants. From 2000 to 2006, he sat on the scientific board of the CIHR Institute of Aboriginal Peoples’ Health. He was also the director of the CIHR-funded Nasivvik Centre for Inuit Health. He had responsibilities in various scientific networks, including ArcticNet, Québec Océan, CIHR Network for autism, AquaNet, Global Health Research Initiative, FRSQ Environmental Health Research Network, and FRSQ Québec Population Health Research Network. Dr. Dewailly participated in the Coastal GOOS Panel of UNESCO and various expert panels of the World Health Organization. He represented Canada on the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program/Human Health Expert Group, was co-chair of the environmental group of the International Union for Circumpolar Health, and headed the medical section of the International Center for Ocean and Human Health at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (now BIOS). He was appointed 2008 adjunct professor at the Institut Louis Malardé in Papeete (French Polynesia). From 2002 onward he served as the director of the Atlantis Mobile Laboratory program funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation. He earned a degree in medicine from the University of Lille (France, 1982), and then completed specialized studies in public health (CES, Amiens, 1983). After doing his residency in community health (Université Laval, 1983-1985), he earned a Master’s degree in epidemiology (Université Laval, 1987) and a Ph.D. in toxicology (Lille, 1990). (adapted from the Council of Canadian Academies)