John Dirks is a Senior Fellow of Massey College and Professor Emeritus of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Dirks was Director of Nephrology, McGill (1965-76), Head, Department of Medicine, UBC (1976-87), Dean of Medicine, University of Toronto (1987- 91) and Dean-Rector, Aga Khan University, Pakistan (1994-96). Since 1993 he has been President of the Gairdner Foundation and has chaired the International Society of Nephrology Commission for the Global Advancement of Nephrology (COMGAN) since 1994. In 2005 he was awarded the Roscoe Robinson Award for excellence in teaching by the ISN and the International Medal by the National Kidney Foundation, USA. He has published 145 peerreviewed papers and is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Canada (1982).