Ronald Worton

Ronald G. WortonOCFRSC(born April 2, 1942) is aCanadiandoctor.

Born inWinnipeg,Manitoba,he earned aBScandMScfrom theUniversity of Manitobaand aPhDin medicalbiophysicsfrom theUniversity of Toronto.Worton pursued post-doctoral studies atYale University.In 1971, he became director of the diagnosticcytogeneticslaboratory atThe Hospital for Sick ChildreninToronto.Worton became geneticist in chief at the hospital and professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Toronto in 1985. In 1996, he became director of research at theOttawa General Hospitaland chief executive officer of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, as well as professor of medicine, University of Ottawa.

Worton and his team identified thedystrophingene whose mutation is associated withDuchenneandBecker muscular dystrophies.Under his leadership, the genetics department at The Hospital for Sick Children also identified genes associated withcystic fibrosis,Fanconi anemia,Wilson's disease,Wilms' tumorandTay–Sachs disease.

Worton served four years on the board of theHuman Genome Organization,twelve years as associate director for the Canadian Genetic Diseases network, six years as head of the Canadian Genome Analysis and Technology Program and four years as founding scientific director of the CanadianStem Cell Network.

He was awarded aGairdner Foundation International Awardin 1989,was named an officer of theOrder of Canadain 2012and is a fellow of theRoyal Society of Canada.He has also received theE. Mead Johnson Awardfor pediatrics research.In 2014, Worton was inducted into theCanadian Medical Hall of Fame.

Worton has retired from medical research and lives inOakville, Ontario,spending his winters inMesa, Arizona.