Peter Macklem

Peter T. Macklem (October 4, 1931 – February 11, 2011) was a Canadian doctor and administrator.

Macklem was born in Kingston, Ontario, and grew up there. He was educated at Queen's University and McGill University Medical School. He trained as a resident in internal medicine at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) and then became a research fellow in the cardio-respiratory service for the hospital. This formed the basis for his life-long interest in the mechanics of breathing. In 1963, he became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. In 1967, Maklem became director of the Respiratory division at the RVH. In 1972, he became a professor of Medicine at McGill and senior physician at the RVH. He was founding director of the Meakins-Christie Laboratories at McGill from 1972 to 1979. In 1979, he became chief physician at the RVH and, the following year, chair of the Department of Medicine at McGill. In 1987, he became chief physician at the Montreal Chest Institute.

Macklem pioneered the study of small airway physiology in the lungs and demonstrated the early lung damage caused by smoking. He was an early explorer of the concept of respiratory muscle fatigue and shone a light on its role in respiratory disease.

He married Joy Belcourt and had five children. A resident of the Thousand Islands area, he helped lead the campaign (still in progress) to have the Saint Lawrence River named a Canadian Heritage River. He was also president of the Thousand Islands Area Residents' Association.

He died suddenly at home in Brockville at the age of 79.

Awards and honors

In 1982, he was named a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and, in 1988, an Officer in the Order of Canada. In 1999, he was awarded the Trudeau Medal of the American Lung Association and the Gairdner Foundation Wightman Award. In 2003, he was awarded the Prix Michel-Sarrazin. Macklem was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2012.