Dr. Cristine Reitz was recently awarded the prestigious Governor General’s Academic Medal. Reitz is a former PhD student of Dr. Tami Martino, Department of Biomedical Sciences.
Dr. Cristine Reitz was recently awarded the prestigious Governor General’s Academic Medal.
The University of Guelph awards two Governor General’s Gold Medals each year for outstanding academic excellence by a graduate student.
During her PhD studies in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Reitz was awarded a prestigious Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Doctoral Award, as well as Ontario Graduate Scholarships, the Betty Goldhart Scholarship, OVC/Biomedical Sciences Scholarships and U of G Entrance Scholarships. Before reclassifying to a PhD, she was also a recipient of the MSc CIHR Fredrick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship. Overall, Cristine received a remarkable 24 fellowships and awards as a U of G student.
Her PhD investigated the role of the circadian mechanism in cardiovascular health and disease. Her research focused on 1) pharmacological targeting of the circadian mechanism to benefit cardiac repair; 2) circadian regulation of diet induced obesity and cardiovascular disease; 3) the resting heart. Collectively, this research helps translate circadian biology to clinical cardiology, leading to longer and healthier lives.
Cristine was also an instrumental participant in bringing the Centre for Cardiovascular Investigations (CCVI) to fruition, comprising hundreds of faculty and students in cardiovascular and health sciences research across U of G. As a student executive chair for four years, she was a key student liaison, ran the CCVI website and helped run the Distinguished Scientist Seminars and Cardiovascular Research Days. To date, she has published 14 manuscripts in leading science journals, and was first author on three.
Read her citation on the U of G Convocation page under Convocation and Graduation Medals.