James Orbinski

Dr. Orbinski believes in citizenship, humanitarianism and engagement in the world we live in. He has worked throughout his professional career to help the world’s most vulnerable and has served as an advocate for the universal right of the world’s most poor to have access to health care. This is evident in his tireless effort as the President of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) from 1998 to 2001. In 1999, he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to MSF for its medical humanitarian work and advocacy since 1971.

Dr. Orbinski received his MD degree from McMaster University in 1990; completing a Master’s degree in International Relations at the University of Toronto in 1998 before becoming international president of MSF.

He is now a Research Scientist and clinician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and an Associate Professor of both Medicine and Political Science at the University of Toronto, where he is launching a new Ph.D. program on Global Health. He is also board chair for War Child Canada, a founding board member of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and is a co-founder of Dignitas International – a Canadian hybrid academic non-government organization (NGO) launched in 2004 to provide research and community-based treatment, care and support for people living with HIV in the developing world.

Dr. Orbinski has also worked as an international health consultant for the Canadian Public Health Association in Zambia and for Street Kids International in Brazil.