Arun Garg (born 1946) is an

Indo-Canadian Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The term ''East Indian'' is sometimes used to avoid confusion with Indigenous groups. Categorically, Indian Canadians comprise a subgroup of South Asian Canadians which is a furthe ...

physician in the province of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

who is recognized for contributing linkages between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, his country of origin.

Early life

Garg was born in the Indian city of

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

. His reputation for academic excellence started at an early age. When he was six years old, he entered school at a Grade 4 level. By age 16, he graduated from

Agra University Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, formerly Agra University, is an Autonomous University located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. The university, formerly named as Agra University, was later named after Bhimrao Ambedkar. Affiliated colleges The U ...

with a Master's in

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

. Being too young to enter medical school in India, Garg emigrated to the prairie province of

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

in Canada.

Career in Canada

After earning a PhD in

Biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

at the

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a j ...

in 1970, Garg graduated with a medical degree from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

in 1977. As a pathologist, he was a medical partner in Dr. C. J. Coady Associates from 1979-2011. He started as Medical Director of Lab Medicine and Pathology at

Royal Columbian Hospital Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) is among the oldest hospitals in British Columbia and one of the busiest in the Fraser Health, Fraser Health Authority. It is located in New Westminster overlooking the Fraser River and is the only hospital in the L ...

in 1997 and became the regional director after the hospital was merged into the

Fraser Health The Fraser Health Authority (FHA) is one of five regional public health authorities in British Columbia. It is governed by the provincial ''Health Authorities Act''. History Fraser Health was created in December 2001 as part of a province-wid ...

region. Garg's service at the British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA) included being a board member, board chair and president. As a member of the board for the

Canadian Medical Association The Canadian Medical Association (CMA; ) is a national, voluntary association of physicians and medical learners that advocates on national health matters. Its primary mandate is to drive positive change in health care by advocating on key hea ...

, he also chaired its Council on Health Policy and Economics and a task force which developed the position paper "Prescription for Sustainability" for presentation to the federal

Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada The Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, also known as the Romanow Report, is a committee study led by Roy Romanow on the future of health care in Canada. It was delivered in November 2002. Romanow recommended sweeping change ...

. After serving as a board member and chair from 1992-1999, Garg received an honorary doctorate from

BCIT The British Columbia Institute of Technology (also referred to as BCIT), is a public Institute of technology#Canada, polytechnic institute in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The technical institute has five campuses located in the Metro Vanco ...

in 2010. In 2011, he received the BCMA's inaugural Don Rix Leadership Award. The

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

newspaper listed him in 2008 as one of the 100 most influential Indo-Canadians in the province. Arun has received many other awards including Drishti award for leadership in Health services 2015, Lifetime achievement award of CAPIH. UBC department of Pathology awarded its highest honour offer lifetime service and awarded Dr Dave Hardwick service award in 2018. During the celebration of INDIA'S 75 YEARS , High Commission of India and Maneesh Media honored Arun in their 75 Jewels LIST in April 2022.

Canada–India relations

In 2006, the provincial government appointed Garg as chair of the India Marketing Advisory Group that submitted a report to the Premier of British Columbia on how to improve trade relations with India. Garg served as co-chair of the India Advisory Council for

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

(SFU). Garg was a founding member of the Canadian Physicians with Interest in South Asia (PISA) of BC (1986) and Canadian Association of Physicians of Indian Heritage (2007). With SFU health-sciences professor Arun Chockalingam, Garg also co-founded the Canada India Network Initiative (CINI) in 2010 to bring awareness to the issue of

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumati ...

in the

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

population. Two Canada-India Cardiovascular conferences were hosted by CINI in

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

by 2014. About 10 per cent of the province's population is of South Asian descent which has a higher prevalence and seriousness of heart disease. Garg has promoted Indian traditions as both contributing or mitigating health risks.

Yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

's breathing exercises may aid oxygenation while traditional diets may require moderation to obtain a healthy lifestyle. Canada India Network Society organized its 3rd CINI conference in June 2018. It was cohosted by Fraser Health and Simon Fraser University. Global Association of Physicians of Indian origin GAPIO used it as their mid year meeting and participated with strong support. The society continue to be active in building healthy society and organizing various network sessions, round tables and conferences. Each session dedicated to specific recommendations. Current focus is Integrative Care , fusion of best of east and best of west and incorporation total body, mind and intellect role in health. Full information is detailed on the web site of Canada India Network Society. www.thecins.org and www.gapio.org

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garg, Arun Living people 1946 births Canadian pathologists Indian emigrants to Canada Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Expatriate academics in Canada University of British Columbia alumni University of Regina alumni