Antoine Hakim

Antoine M. HakimOC(born April 30, 1942) is a Canadian engineer and physician.

He first trained as achemical engineerand worked forSyncrudeinAlberta.Wishing to change careers, Hakim taught school for a short time inMontreal.He then earned aPhDinBiomedical EngineeringfromRensselaer Polytechnic InstituteinNew Yorkand went on to study medicine atAlbany Medical College.He completed his residency at theMontreal Neurological Instituteand later became a professor atMcGill University.In 1992, he became chair of the Neurology department and director of the Neuroscience Research Institute at theUniversity of Ottawa.From 1992 to 2000, he was head of the Neurology division atThe Ottawa Hospital.

When Hakim began his research,strokeswere widely regarded as unpreventable and available treatments were limited.By gaining a better understanding of the process of a stroke and the nature of the damage to the brain, he was able to identify possible treatments and, later, how to reduce the likelihood of strokes.

Hakim helped create theCanadian Stroke Networkand served as itsCEOand scientific director.From 2001 to 2008, he was the founding scientific director of theHeart and Stroke FoundationCentre for Stroke Recovery.

In 2007, he was named an Officer in theOrder of Canada.In 2013, he was inducted into theCanadian Medical Hall of Fame.In 2017, he was selected for the prestigiousCanada Gairdner Wightman Awardfor his outstanding research into strokes and their consequences and championing stroke prevention and treatment in Canada and beyond.

Hakim has written the bookSave your mind: seven rules to avoid dementiain 2017 (ISBN1988025214), which is also available in French "Préservez votre vitalité mentale: 7 règles pour prévenir la démence".