Juhn Atsushi Wada (March 28, 1924 – April 22, 2023) was a Japanese–Canadian neurologist known for research into epilepsy and human brain asymmetry, including his description of the Wada test for cerebral hemispheric dominance of language function. The Wada Test remains the gold standard for establishing cerebral dominance and is conducted worldwide prior to epilepsy surgery.
Wada was a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the UBC Faculty of Medicine. He has edited 11 books and published over 300 papers on human brain asymmetry, the neurobiology of epilepsy, and kindling.
Biography Juhn Wada studied medicine at Hokkaido University, qualifying as a Doctor of Medicine in 1946 and qualifying as a Doctor of Medical Science in 1951. He was an assistant professor of neurology and psychiatry at Hokkaido University after which he worked at the University of Minnesota and the Montreal Neurological Institute before settling at the University of British Columbia in 1956, becoming Professor of Neurology.
Wada established the first Seizure Investigation Unit in 1979 and the Epilepsy Surgical Program at UBC Hospital which serves patients across Western Canada. He was an attending neurologist at Vancouver General Hospital and UBC Hospital. He served as Director of the EEG Department at UBC Hospital from 1969 to 1994 and Director of the Seizure Investigation Unit from 1980 to 1994. He was career investigator and associate of the Medical Research Council of Canada from 1963 to 1994.
Wada died in Vancouver on April 22, 2023, at the age of 99.
Presidencies 1975-2001: Founding President, Vancouver Society for Epilepsy Research 1977–79: Founding President, Canadian League Against Epilepsy (CLAE)Blume, W., Carmant, L., & Poulter, M. O. (2009). A tribute to Dr. Juhn Wada. The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Le Journal Canadien Des Sciences Neurologiques, 36(Suppl2), S1–S1.2017 Scientific Meeting Program: Celebrating 40 Years. (2017) Canadian League Against Epilepsy, Vancouver. 1977–79: President, Western Institute of Epilepsy (USA) 1985–86: President, American Clinical Neurophysiology Society (née American EEG Society) 1988–89: President, American Epilepsy Society
Awards and honours 1976: Distinguished Service Award from the Epilepsy Foundation of America 1976: Lennox Award, Western Institute of EpilepsyUniversity of British Columbia. (1976). University of British Columbia: The President’s Report 1975-76 (p. 28).University of British Columbia. (1976). UBC Reports (No. Vol 22, No 14) (p. 5). Vancouver. 1978: Gold Medallion from the International League against Epilepsy 1978: Juhn and Mary Wada Prize established by the Japan Epilepsy Society 1981: Ambassador for Epilepsy Award by the International League Against Epilepsy and the International Bureau for Epilepsy 1992: Officer of the Order of Canada 1985: Order of Sacred Treasure of Japan, Gold and Silver Star 1998: Wilder Penfield Gold Medal Award by the Canadian League Against EpilepsyWada, J. A. (2007). A Brief History of the Canadian League Against Epilepsy (CLAE). at the CLAE website. 1998: William G. Lennox Award of the American Epilepsy Society 2001: Herbert H. Jasper Award of the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society 2002: Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal 2003: Doctor of Science Honoris Causa from the University of British Columbia 2012: Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal 2013: Lifetime Achievement Award of the International League Against Epilepsy and the International Bureau for Epilepsy 2019: Vancouver Coastal Health Medical Staff Hall of Honour
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