2 minute read
2022 Distinguished Alumni Award Winner
Prenatal diagnosis broke me and writing healed me,” says Dr. Margaret (Malgorzata) Nowaczyk Vic 8T5. She’s speaking of her 2021 book, Chasing Zebras: A Memoir of Genetics, Mental Health and Writing, which explores the challenges and significance of her work in medicine. “A big part of my practice is prenatal genetics, where making a diagnosis may open up the question of whether to continue a pregnancy. That weighs heavily on me,” she says.
As a clinical geneticist at McMaster Children’s Hospital, Dr. Nowaczyk must deal regularly with gut-wrenching discussions involving the families of unborn or newly born children—ones who will either not survive, or survive with serious mental and physical limitations. Writing became her therapy, a way to work through these struggles. “When I discovered creative writing and narrative medicine 12 years ago, I was able to pour out these emotions and difficulties on a piece of paper and then share it with people,” says Dr. Nowaczyk. “It became so important to my mental well-being, and something I wanted to highlight in my book.”
As a teenager in 1981, Dr. Nowaczyk came to Canada from Poland with her family. Speaking little English, they were high on hopes but short on contacts and financial resources. Despite this traumatic transition, Dr. Nowaczyk rapidly mastered the language and started at Victoria College in 1982, majoring in biochemistry. “It was a privilege to attend,” she says. “Vic has great opportunities, resources, professors and libraries— I took full advantage of everything.” (As a writer, she is especially proud to have attended the same college as Margaret Atwood!)
She went on to study medicine at U of T, where she met her husband, followed by a fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Nowaczyk has 123 peer-reviewed publications to her name, some in top journals like Science and Nature Genetics. She has mentored numerous trainees, and is now a full professor of medicine at McMaster University. She still sees patients daily, caring for children with genetic disorders and providing prenatal diagnosis and genetic counselling for adults.
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Nominations Open for Alumni Awards!
Do you know a remarkable Vic alum? Nominate them for a Victoria College Alumni Award! Make your submission by Dec. 31, 2023. Learn more about how to nominate Vic alumni for:
Any questions? Please contact Helena Herscovici, alumni affairs officer, at h.herscovici@utoronto.ca.
