Raywat Deonandan, PhD’01

Recipient of the 2022 Professional Achievement Award

A leader in health education and science, Raywat Deonandan has held some very surprising and interesting positions for an epidemiologist. From bioterrorism, to arthritis, to mental health, to artificial reproduction Raywat has stretched what a ‘disease detective’ can do and quickly discovered that epidemiology can be anything.

Called upon during the pandemic for his data and experience-driven predictions of COVID-19, Raywat became a go-to contact for media outlets crying for commentary.

A lover of travel and literature, Raywat (who penned his own award-winning fiction books in 1999 and 2003) had vast and varied interests, but teaching was not one of them. However, in 2008 he was given the opportunity - and in no time, fell in love with the profession.

An Associate Professor and Assistant Director of the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa, he finds himself redefining the role of public educator and a defender of science.During his tenue he has found deep reward in teaching youth. His passion for students runs so deep he even founded a textbook company that supplies books to low-income communities.

The natural-born writer fuses together science and story and makes learning compelling for his students through narrative and connection.

Raywat has published over 100 newspaper articles and in 2009 helped to create the first French-English bilingual health sciences journal managed entirely by students.

For his teaching he has been bestowed the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Association’s Professorial Teaching Award and the University of Ottawa's Open Scholarship Award. An advocate for ‘interpersonal teaching’ Raywat finds many of his students stay in touch years later, a homage to his success and impact as a professor.