A professor of epidemiology in the Faculty of Medicine is being honoured with a national award for his contributions to immigrant well-being in Canada.
Dr. Peizhong (Peter) Wang will receive the 2025 Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award, presented by Western Union.
The people’s choice awards program recognizes inspirational immigrants who have made a positive impact on their communities since arriving in the country.
A new path
Dr. Wang moved to Manitoba as a visiting scholar nearly 40 years ago, after obtaining his master of science degree and doctor of medicine degree from Tianjin Medical University in China.
He later took a post-doctoral fellow position at the University of Saskatchewan after spotting a notice in a journal magazine.
“Initially, I wanted to practice clinical medicine,” he said. “I wanted to be a psychiatrist, because it’s not easy for Chinese immigrants to get a physician. I passed the exam, but, back then, as a foreign-trained international medical doctor, it was very difficult to find a residency. I tried several times but was not successful.”
Undeterred, Dr. Wang decided to forge a new path. His wife accepted a position in Toronto, so he followed her to that city and started looking for work.
“I went to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and checked an information board there and saw there was a position open,” he said. “I applied and I ended up working for Dr. Elizabeth Badley, one of the leading experts in arthritis disability in the world.”
Within the year, Dr. Badley invited Dr. Wang to do a PhD with her.
“She set an example for me on how to be a good supervisor,” he said. “It’s hard to believe how fortunate I was at the time. Even before graduation, I had already received several offers for work.”
Immigrant well-being
One of those offers came from Memorial University.
He joined as an associate professor, where his official academic career began.
“Memorial was the place where my official academic career started,” he said. “I don’t think anyone could have received better support than I had.”
Dr. Wang has since conducted extensive research in colorectal cancer, epidemiology, arthritis and disability, immigrant health and quality of life and aging. He continues to hold a professor position at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and is a senior scientist at the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute.
“Memorial was the place where my official academic career started. I don’t think anyone could have received better support than I had.”-
Five years ago, he founded the Center for New Immigrant Well-Being (CNIW) in Toronto. It promotes immigrant well-being through research, knowledge dissemination, community service, professional and volunteer training and culturally sensitive mental health support.
“Through the CNIW, I’ve supervised many undergraduate and high school students who want to develop their future careers,” said Dr. Wang. “Our annual health research summer camp is an important part of our knowledge dissemination. I teach them about public health and how research should be conducted. Then they get to work on small projects.”
Many faculty members from Memorial University’s Faculty of Medicine have been involved in this summer camp.
“Without their support, and without my academic affiliations with Memorial, the centre would not be successful.”
Culturally tailored resources
Dr. Wang also founded the Chinese Immigrant Cancer Support Network to offer peer support and culturally tailored resources to cancer patients across Canada.
Most recently, his research has focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Chinese community, with a grant he received through Memorial.
When Dr. Wang joined Memorial University, he had the privilege of working with two internationally renowned scientists, Dr. John McLaughlin, University of Toronto, and Dr. Patrick Parfrey, Memorial University, who co-led an inter-provincial colorectal cancer project.
Joining this world-class research team, Dr. Wang led the epidemiological component of the study, an experience that laid a strong foundation for his research career in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“This collaboration not only deepened my expertise in population-based cancer research, but also allowed me to systematically study factors influencing the health and well-being of the province’s residents — an area that remains one of my major research focuses today.”
