Dr. Charles Hollenberg was an influential Canadian researcher, educator, and physician in the field of medicine and diabetes research. He embodied scientific and leadership acumen, making outstanding contributions to medicine through teaching, administration and research.

Dr. Hollenberg was born and raised in Winnipeg, where he completed his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Manitoba. He completed an internship and residency at the Winnipeg General Hospital, Montreal General Hospital and New England Center Hospital in Boston. After his training, he started his research career at McGill University in their Department of Medicine, specializing in fat metabolism - the degradation of fats into fatty acids and glycerol for energy use by the body. During his time in Montreal, he actively pushed to promote and grow medical research at the Montreal General Hospital. He eventually moved on to the University of Toronto as a Full Professor and later became the Chairman for the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Vice Provost of the Faculty of Medicine. He was passionate about improving the quality of patient care, in addition to mentoring and training the next generation of researchers and clinicians.

In 1981, Dr. Hollenberg helped create and became the Director of the Banting & Best Diabetes Centre, an interdisciplinary diabetes research facility in downtown Toronto. Under his exceptional leadership, the institute gained valuable funding towards supporting ground-breaking diabetes research at the University of Toronto. For his achievements, Dr. Hollenberg was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991. That year, he also founded Cancer Care Ontario (now part of Ontario Health), an agency of the Ontario government that provides necessary knowledge and tools for cancer prevention, as well as exceptional patient care. Dr. Hollenberg believed that Cancer Care Ontario can support research and innovation in developing cancer treatments and allow the field to continue to grow locally in Toronto.

Dr. Hollenberg was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2003, recognized for his outstanding leadership skills in medical education, patient care, and his influence on academic institutions in teaching. Dr. Hollenberg was exceptionally influential towards the young practitioners and researchers whom he mentored, and strived to make a difference in their training. He understood that it was necessary for governments and the academic health sciences sector to work together to remove barriers in recruitment of highly qualified young faculty. Over the course of his career in medicine, Dr. Hollenberg strengthened the resources and facilities available to scientists, physicians, researchers and educators, steering them towards a more impactful future in research and medicine. Dr. Hollenberg passed away in 2003 at the age of 72 to prostate cancer.

— Written by Laura Fernandez