OVC Alum Dr. Wayne Martin Honoured with CAVEPM Lifetime Leadership Award

Prominent veterinary epidemiologist Dr. Wayne Martin, a 1967 Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC), has been awarded the 2023 Lifetime Leadership Award by the Canadian Association of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (CAVEPM). Martin received the award at the 2023 CAVEPM Annual General Meeting in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of Veterinary Epidemiology through his research, teaching, mentorship, and leadership activities in Canada and around the world.   

Martin graduated with a DVM from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1967 and an MSc in 1969. He then completed his MPVM and PhD at the University of California Davis under the supervision of Dr. Calvin Schwabe, famous for his contributions to the development of One Medicine/One Health concepts.  

Martin returned to OVC in 1974 as Canada’s first PhD in Veterinary Epidemiology and in 1987 became the first Chair of the Department of Population Medicine. As a mentor, he supervised and taught generations of veterinary epidemiologists who have prominent careers in academia and government around the world. Through his textbooks including Veterinary Epidemiology Principles and Methods (1987) by Martin, Meek and Willeberg, Veterinary Epidemiologic Research (2009) by Dohoo, Martin and Stryhn, and Methods in Epidemiologic Research (2012) by Dohoo, Martin and Stryhn, he has continued to influence generations of epidemiologists.  

Martin’s research has applied epidemiological principles to deal with a wide range of diseases in production, companion, and wildlife species, and he has frequently made use of One Health approaches. His significant contributions to understanding the epidemiology of tuberculosis in dairy cattle and badgers in Ireland was acknowledged through an Honorary Doctorate of Science Degree from the University College Dublin in 2015.  

His lifetime achievements have been recognized by various organizations including the Association of Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (AVEPM) and the International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics (ISVEE), and he was appointed as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Martin was named a University Professor Emeritus by the University of Guelph following his retirement. 

The presentation of the CAVEPM Lifetime Leadership Award was made by Dr. Ian Dohoo on May 31, 2023 at the University of Guelph. Dohoo (Emeritus Faculty, University of Prince Edward Island) was Martin’s second PhD student. In his presentation, Dohoo provided some personal reflections on what Martin meant to him as a teacher, mentor, colleague and good friend, and shared some fun photos that reflected a side of Martin many had not had a chance to know and appreciate.  

News of Dr. Martin’s award was originally shared on the CAVEPM website.