CACB Awards

Curtis Oleschuk, PhD, FCACB, FABFT

CACB is pleased to announce that Dr. Curtis Oleschuk will be receiving the 2023 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. Curtis Oleschuk is currently Service Chief of the Clinical Biochemistry at Kingston Health Sciences Centre and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at Queen’s University.

Dr. Oleschuk received his PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Queen’s University in 2004, finished Post-Doc Fellowship in Clinical Chemistry at McMaster University in 2006. He is certified in Clinical Chemistry by the Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry and is a Fellow of the American Board of Forensic Toxicology.

Dr. Oleschuk has been practicing as a Clinical Biochemist for 17 years and as a Forensic Toxicologist for over 7 years. His skill set is diverse and has included laboratory workflow expertise in addition to method development in specialized testing using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. He has worked passionately to find ways the laboratory can help in managing the opioid crisis in working within Manitoba in advocating for early warning programs in addition to co-chairing ToxLRN as pan-Canadian initiative aimed to leverage both clinical and forensic toxicology data and collaborations with important stakeholders both provincially and federally.

He is also passionate about the critical role that Clinical Biochemists in delivery of laboratory medicine and has worked alongside Clinical Biochemist colleagues in raising awareness of the role of Clinical Biochemists to the public in addition to working with industry stakeholders in the development of LabCANDx, an initiative aimed to raise the profile of all aspects of laboratory medicine. Beyond this advocacy, Dr. Oleschuk has worked within the walls of Clinical Biochemistry as chair of CACB Certification Committee with the aim of increasing the integrity of the exam process. Finally, Dr. Oleschuk has recently built and is now teaching an undergraduate course, Biochemical Pathology within the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Queen’s University with the goal of early teaching future medical colleagues on the important aspects of laboratory medicine.

In addition to the involvement with many CSCC and CACB committees, Dr. Oleschuk has also been volunteering with Canadian Standards Association, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, and International Federation of Clinical Chemistry. He has published ~20 peer-reviewed papers and 30 abstracts.

Congratulations, Curtis.

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.