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memories, humble attitudes important breakthroughs of the last 150 years. "The practice of evidence- based medicine means integrat- ing individual clinical expertise and patients' wishes with the best available external clinical evi- dence from systematic research," Sackett says. He's authored numerous books and was the founding chair of the department of clinical epidemiology and biostatistics at McMaster University in Hamil- ton, Ont. He taught there until 1994, when he moved to England to teach at Oxford for five years. Sackett's part in discover- ing the role aspirin can play in preventing strokes was "extremely gratifying," he says. Some sus- pected a connection but until the late 1960s, "It had never been tested. It had simply been ob- served that people with rheuma- toid arthritis seemed to have a bit less vascular disease." Sackett and other research- ers conducted randomized trials across Canada and found that aspirin "did remarkably reduce the risk of stroke and death." Besides his work, he says his life philosophy has sustained him, a three-pronged attitude that includes: n Be loyal to people rather than institutions. n Serve the young. n You become who you pretend to be. The last one is especially im- portant to him, he says, crediting it to the late author Kurt Vonnegut, who is a personal favorite—in fact, after retiring from clinical practice in 1999, Sackett created a center for his continued research and teaching that he named after Vonnegut's most famous character, Kilgore Trout. Becoming whom he pretended to be helped in one sense, after Sackett founded his department at McMaster, with no experience in what the work would entail. "I was scared to death," he says matter-of-factly. "To be effective as a chair, I knew I should be incurably optimistic, always assuring everyone around me that things were going to be just marvelous. "I had to pretend to get my gratification, my feelings of be- ing worthy, from the people I had brought in and supported receiving awards and accolades. And as it hap- pened over the next 30 years, that is indeed what I've become." Sackett has received plenty of his own accolades: He's a member of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame and, in 2001, was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, the nation's equivalent of knighthood. In 2009, he won a Gairdner Award, a Cana- dian honor that some call the "Baby Nobel" because its winners often go on to earn the Nobel Prize. Maybe that will be next for Sackett. Surgeon Stuart D. Wilson, MD '60, has an endowed chair in surgical oncology in his name at the Medical College of Wisconsin. And the nomination, please... Don't miss your chance to nominate a deserving alumnus for our 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award. University of Illinois College of Medicine alumni make amaz- ing things happen in the world. Our alumni help build healthier communities, provide world-class health care and save countless lives. Their achievements demon- strate the dynamic excellence of a University of Illinois College of Med- icine education and the importance of service in the medical world. Established in the early 1960s, this award honors our medi- cal alumni for outstanding contributions and exceptional service to the medical profes- sion, the community, the College of Medicine and/or the university. All College of Medicine alumni, faculty, staff and students are welcome to nominate. (No posthumous nomina- tions, please.) Our 2011 award recipient will be recognized at the University of Illinois College of Medicine 2011 Reunion Dinner on Friday, August 12. For more information about past recipients and award criteria or to submit your nomination online, please visit us at www.medicine.uic.edu/reunion. For further information, please call us at (312) 996-6815. Deadline for nominations: July 8, 2011 I L L INOI S MEDICINE | 31 PHOTO: DIANE SMUTNEY