Heidi Wicks

The School of Pharmacy wishes to express our deepest sympathies to the family of Dr. Mohsen Daneshtalab, who passed away on Friday, May 16 from complications from liver disease.

Since 2000, Dr. Daneshtalab was an incredibly dedicated faculty member in the School of Pharmacy, and served as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research from 2008 until his passing.

A true scholar, he was passionate about medicinal chemistry and cared deeply about all his students’ success. He personally contributed annually to the School of Pharmacy in many ways, both at an undergraduate and graduate student level, by providing funding for the School of Pharmacy Graduate Poster Award. His health challenges never deterred him from ensuring he met his many teaching, research, and committee responsibilities.  His colleagues were amazed at how he was always there regardless of how he was feeling.

Dr. Linda Hensman, former dean of the School of Pharmacy, describes him as “a committed and creative researcher and leader, who did whatever was necessary to advance the School of Pharmacy.”

“He had a great sense of humour and it made working with him a real pleasure. The faculty will miss him greatly and I think we are all still in disbelief that he has left us.”

Dr. Daneshtalab enjoyed an illustrious international career, having completed his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (Medicinal Chemistry) at Tohoku University in Japan, and his PharmD at the University of Tehran in Iran. 

He has been the recipient of the prestigious BMS Award of Excellence in Pharmaceutical Teaching (2004), and the plenary, keynote, or invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences. In addition to chairmanships and memberships in several local, national, and international societies, he was the Chairman of the International Congress for Heterocyclic Chemistry (ICHC)-22 and the Vice-President of the ICHC. He worked tirelessly to bid for, organize, and implement the highly successful 2009 ICHC conference, hosted by Memorial University (only the second time this international event was held in North America). He was determined to showcase all that Memorial has to offer.

A memorial service will take place at Barrett’s Funeral Home on Hamilton Avenue in St. John’s on Friday, May 23 with visitation with the family taking place from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. Eulogies and speeches to honour his life and contributions will take place from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m., with further family visiting time until 9:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations to be made in his memory to the Dr. Mohsen Daneshtalab Fund, via the Memorial University Alumni Affairs and Development website (www.munalum.ca).