Antoine Hakim

Antoine M. Hakim OC (born April 30, 1942) is a Canadian engineer and physician.^[1]

He first trained as a chemical engineer and worked for Syncrude in Alberta.^[2] Wishing to change careers, Hakim taught school for a short time in Montreal.^[3] He then earned a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and went on to study medicine at Albany Medical College.^[4] He completed his residency at the Montreal Neurological Institute and later became a professor at McGill University. In 1992, he became chair of the Neurology department and director of the Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of Ottawa.^[1] From 1992 to 2000, he was head of the Neurology division at The Ottawa Hospital.^[5]

When Hakim began his research, strokes were widely regarded as unpreventable and available treatments were limited.^[2] 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.^[1]

Hakim helped create the Canadian Stroke Network^[1] and served as its CEO and scientific director.^[4] From 2001 to 2008, he was the founding scientific director of the Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery.^[5]

In 2007, he was named an Officer in the Order of Canada. In 2013, he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.^[1] In 2017, he was selected for the prestigious Canada Gairdner Wightman Award for his outstanding research into strokes and their consequences and championing stroke prevention and treatment in Canada and beyond.^[6]

Hakim has written the book Save your mind: seven rules to avoid dementia in 2017 (ISBN 1988025214), which is also available in French "Préservez votre vitalité mentale: 7 règles pour prévenir la démence".