Jacalyn Duffin

Jacalyn Duffin

Professor Emerita and Hannah Chair of the History of Medicine

Philosophy, History

Arts and Science

People Directory Affiliation Category
Education
  • M. D., University of Toronto
  • C.S.P.Q., Hématologie
  • F.R.C.P.(C), Hematology
  • F.R.C.P.(C), Internal medicine
  • PhD (History & Philosophy of Science), Sorbonne
Specializations / Research Interests

Medical Epistemology, Concepts of Disease, History of Medicine

Personal Website

About

Jacalyn Duffin, MD, PhD, is a hematologist and historian who held the Hannah Chair of the History of Medicine at Queen’s University from 1988 to 2017. A former President of both the American Association for the History of Medicine and the Canadian Society for the History of Medicine, she is the author of nine books and many articles, holds several awards for teaching and research, and is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. In May 2019, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the AAHM (from historians) and was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (from physicians). A supporter of medical humanities, she has been a contributing editor of the online Literature, Arts and Medicine database since 1995.

Professor Duffin's research focuses on disease, technology, religion, and health policy. She runs an activist website for the current drug shortage problem and a collaborative translation project for the 17th-century Latin author Paolo Zacchia. Her latest book Stanley’s Dream (2019) is on the history of the Medical Expedition to Easter Island, led by Canada in 1964-65.

For more information about Professor Duffin and her research, visit her personal webpage.