CACB Awards

CACB is pleased to announce that Dr. Jawahar (Jay) Kalra will be receiving the 2025 CACB Award for Outstanding Service to the Profession of Clinical Biochemistry. This award recognizes an individual who has made unique and significant contributions to laboratory medicine.

Dr. Kalra is currently a professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. He has served as Department Head of Pathology and Department Head of Laboratory Medicine in the Saskatoon Health District. Dr. Kalra has been working as an active clinical/medical biochemist for over 35 years. He received his PhD in Biochemistry and MD from Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada. After finishing his internship at St. John’s, he completed his residency training in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCPC), Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (FCACB), National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (FACB), a Founding Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS), and a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, UK.

Dr. Kalra has served as national president of numerous medical associations and scientific societies, including the Canadian Association of Medical Biochemists, the Intersociety Council of Laboratory Medicine of Canada, the Canadian Chairs of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and the Canadian Association of Pathologists. He has served as a council member of the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation, on the board of directors of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and as a member of the Council on Health Policy and Economics, the Canadian Medical Association, and the Legislative Committee of Saskatchewan Medical Association. In all these organizations, Dr. Kalra was instrumental in bringing to the forefront discussions and solutions related to quality care and patient safety.

Dr. Kalra is a pioneer in the Canadian medical profession, demonstrating a continual commitment to innovative clinical research. He has been acclaimed for his research in oxygen-free radicals and antioxidants in various clinical diseases, including heart failure and atherosclerosis. In addition, he has been a pioneer in cardiac pharmacology and digoxin and has established several laboratory clinical guidelines/utilization strategies in healthcare. He was the first in Canada to introduce the assessment of sensitive thyrotropin (s-TSH) as a first-line test for thyroid function testing. He has conducted “path-breaking” research in Quality Care and Patient Safety, including strategies to reduce medical error and effectively disclose adverse events. He continues to contribute to the profession of biochemistry through his involvement as a committee/working group member for the protein electrophoresis reporting recommendations and Choosing Wisely Canada for appropriate laboratory testing utilization.

Dr. Kalra’s passionate advocacy and research in patient safety culminated in the publication of a widely acclaimed book, “Medical Errors and Patient Safety: Strategies to Reduce and Disclose Medical Errors and Improve Patient Safety.” He has championed establishing a non-punitive “no-fault model” to address clinical/medical errors and developing educational programs to create standardized clinical guidelines reflecting evidence-based medicine. In addition to his award-winning work in knowledge translation, Dr. Kalra has an internationally recognized publication and research funding record. He has given over 125 invited talks to scientific and healthcare audiences provincially, nationally, and globally.

Dr. Kalra is widely regarded for his excellence as a teacher of undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students. He initiated a Master’s (MSc), Doctoral program (PhD), and Clinical Biochemistry Fellowship Training program in his department and was instrumental in creating a curriculum on “Improving Patient Safety Medications and Infection Control” for residents in the College of Medicine and Saskatoon Health Region. He was instrumental in helping create clinical chemistry and Quality Assurance programs in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Dr. Kalra maintains a lifelong association with his students and residents—many of whom are now in key global positions in the public and scientific sectors.

Dr. Kalra has been the recipient of several awards and honours including: RBC 2013 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award; CTV 2015 Saskatoon Citizen of the Year Award; CSCC Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Chemistry (2016); 2012 CAME/ACÉM Certificate of Merit Award for Outstanding Contributions to Medical Education, Canadian Association for Medical Education (CAME); Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation Achievement Award in Clinical research (2005); CSCC Excellence of Research Award (1994), among many other honours.

In summary, Dr. Kalra is an exemplary academic with a lifelong commitment to the profession of biochemistry, healthcare clinical research, and impactful involvement in the field of medicine in Canada and around the globe.

1. The Award shall be presented annually, but if in the opinion of the Board of Directors of the Academy no suitable candidate is available in any year, the Award shall not be made.
2. The Award shall be accompanied by a framed certificate and an honorarium in the amount of $1,500.00 donated by Siemens Canada Limited.
3. The recipient of the Award is not usually expected to give an address or give a paper, but the Award and the reading of the citation shall usually be made at the Annual Conference of the CACB. A representative of the Company shall be invited to participate in the presentation.
4. No formal nomination procedure is specified but members of the Academy may propose suitable candidates to the Board of Directors through the Head Office of the Academy. Proposals may be solicited annually in the Newsletter of CSCC.