October 27, 2020
Dr. Bonnie Henry is best known as the Provincial Health Officer for British Columbia, but long before the current pandemic Dr. Henry was improving the lives of Canadians. Her passion for science started early and she distinctly recalls when. “Practicing medicine with care and compassion has been a passion and a part of me from an early age. As a young girl, having seen my sister in hospital after having her appendix out, I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in medicine”.
As she grew up Dr. Henry pursued this passion for science at university where she worked her way diligently through a Bachelor of Science, attended medical school and then completed a Master of Public Health. During her undergraduate degree at Mount Allison University Dr. Henry was fascinated by the chemistry subjects she studied, perhaps inspired by her science idol Marie Curie. Following her undergraduate degree Dr. Henry went on to Dalhousie Medical School, but if she hadn’t been accepted? “My fall back was to go into marine biology if I didn’t get into medical school. Good thing I did get in because I get really seasick and in retrospect marine biology would not have been a good career choice!”
During the pandemic Dr. Henry has been working around the clock sharing key public health messaging to help keep British Columbians safe. These messages include the importance of handwashing, maintaining physical distancing and keeping our social circles small. Her calm demeanor has been incredibly valuable for the province, although we expect Dr. Henry is due for some time off to relax after all of her invaluable service. We hope that Dr. Henry can take some time out to enjoy the lovely Fall weather in Vancouver with a scoop of her favorite espresso gelato between her press conferences and many events.
You can join Dr. Bonnie Henry on October 28th as she speaks at the Genome BC 11th annual Don Rix Distinguished Keynote Address “Battle Lines: Fighting COVID-19 at the Intersection of Policy, Treatment and Prevention” with co-speakers Drs. Mel Krajden and Carl Hansen.
Learn more about this event and register here: events.genomebc.ca/drdk2020
