Dr. Phil Gold Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Laureate

Dr. Phil Gold was born in Montreal and has remained faithful to his native city for most of his life.
A brilliant mind with a distinguished record of scientific achievement in immunology and cancer,
Dr. Gold is known to many as a caring physician, humanitarian, gifted teacher and inspirational
leader. He represents all that is good in Canadian medicine.
In 1965, Dr. Gold and his colleague Dr. Samuel Freedman published a seminal paper on their
groundbreaking discovery of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), the first clinically-useful human
tumour marker and one that is found in 70% of cancer patients. It was a concept-shifting
discovery and helped shape the modern era of cancer immunology and tumour markers. This
marker remains the most frequently used blood test in oncology around the world today, in
addition to being the standard against which other human tumour markers are measured.
Through this work, Dr. Gold is credited for developing the field of Human Tumour Marker
Biology. His subsequent demonstration that CEA was found in embryonic and fetal tissue
initiated the field of Oncodevelopmental Biology.
The impact of the CEA discovery, along with other work in the division of clinical immunology
and allergy at the Montreal General Hospital, led to the establishment of the McGill Cancer
Centre (MCC) in 1974. Thirty-five years later, Dr. Golds original dream of creating a first-rate
cancer centre by centralizing the efforts of McGill University and its affiliated hospitals has been
realized. The MCC is one of the top cancer research institutes in the country.
Perhaps Dr. Golds most outstanding quality is related to what he loves best teaching. Dr.
Gold cares deeply about his students and residents. This combined with his passion for
medicine and science, means that no student ever forgets a session with him. He has been
instrumental in establishing national programs aimed at inspiring the next generation of clinican-
scientists, and has raised extraordinary sums of money for the medical community.
Dr. Gold has been the recipient of numerous international awards and been elected to many
prestigious scientific organizations. National, provincial and local recognition includes being
made a Companion of the Order of Canada (1986), an Officer of the LOrdre nationale du
Québec (1990), and a member of the Academy of Great Montrealers (1986). He received the
Gairdner Foundation International Award (with Dr. Freedman, 1978) and the F.N.G. Starr Award
from the Canadian Medical Association (1986).

Category:

Education

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[IntangibleFate]

What an honour it was to attend Dr. Gold's Immunology portion of the Physiology class... By far one the most interesting professor at McGill University