{{Infobox medical person |name = Donald Blake Rix |image = |caption = |birth_date = 1931 |birth_place = Orillia, Ontario<ref name="obit" /> |death_date = {{death date and age|2009|11|6|1931}} |death_place = Vancouver, British Columbia |profession = Pathologist |alma_mater = University of Western Ontario |specialism = |research_field = |known_for = Philanthropy |years_active = |education = |work_institutions = |prizes = Order of Canada<br>Order of British Columbia |relations = }}
'''Donald Blake Rix''', {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OBC}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-1303|title=Order of Canada citation|accessdate=2024-06-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/celebrating-british-columbia/honours-and-awards/order-of-bc/members/p-s | title=2004 Recipient: Dr. Donald Rix – Burnaby | publisher=Order of British Columbia | accessdate=2024-06-22}}</ref> (1931 – November 6, 2009) was a Canadian pathologist, philanthropist, community volunteer, and businessman. He was the founder and chair of MDS Metro Laboratory Services (now known as LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services), the largest private medical laboratory in Western Canada.<ref name="bctsvp">{{cite web | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212033156/http://www.bctsvp.com/about-dr-rix |archivedate=2008-02-12 | title=About Dr. Don Rix | publisher=BC SVP | accessdate=2010-09-22| url=http://www.bctsvp.com/about-dr-rix }}</ref>
He was a member of several organizations and foundations including the BC Innovation Council, BC Cancer Agency Foundation, BC Medical Services Foundation, and the BC Children's Hospital Foundation and was the chairman of the Board of Governors of UNBC.<ref name="bctsvp" />
Dr. Rix earned a specialty certificate in general pathology in 1968 from the University of Western Ontario. He was a fellow of the College of American Pathologists, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Royal Society of Medicine, and the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. He was awarded honorary doctorates by the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) and the University of Western Ontario, Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, and University of Victoria. He was the former chair of the Vancouver Board of Trade, a senior member of both the British Columbia and Canadian Medical Associations, and was awarded the BCMA Silver Medal of Service Award in 2004. On August 19, 2009, Dr. Rix was awarded the Canadian Medical Association's 2009 F.N.G. Starr Award.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dr. Donald Rix to receive the CMA's highest honour |url=http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2009/12/c4412.html |date=August 12, 2009 |agency=CNW Telbec |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610002124/http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2009/12/c4412.html |archivedate=2011-06-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Donald Rix died of cancer on November 6, 2009,<ref name="obit">{{cite web | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063630/http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/vancouversun/obituary.aspx?n=donald-b-rix&pid=135749735 | archivedate=2016-03-04 | url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/vancouversun/obituary.aspx?n=donald-b-rix&pid=135749735 | title=Obituary - Donald B. Rix | newspaper=Vancouver Sun / The Province - Classifieds | publisher=Legacy.com | date=November 10, 2009 | accessdate=2014-09-20}}</ref><ref>[http://www.lifesciencesbc.ca/News/BC_Industry_News/bcnews11060901.asp Philanthropist Don Rix leaves a legacy felt in business and charity] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004222838/http://www.lifesciencesbc.ca/News/BC_Industry_News/bcnews11060901.asp |date=October 4, 2011 }}, ''The Vancouver Sun'', November 6, 2009</ref> and in 2014, it was revealed that he was the first patient in the world to have received personalized onco-genomics on a research basis as part of his cancer treatment.<ref name="Jones_2010">{{cite journal | vauthors = Jones SJ, Laskin J, Li YY, Griffith OL, An J, Bilenky M, Butterfield YS, Cezard T, Chuah E, Corbett R, Fejes AP, Griffith M, Yee J, Martin M, Mayo M, Melnyk N, Morin RD, Pugh TJ, Severson T, Shah SP, Sutcliffe M, Tam A, Terry J, Thiessen N, Thomson T, Varhol R, Zeng T, Zhao Y, Moore RA, Huntsman DG, Birol I, Hirst M, Holt RA, Marra MA | display-authors = 6 | title = Evolution of an adenocarcinoma in response to selection by targeted kinase inhibitors | journal = Genome Biology | volume = 11 | issue = 8 | pages = R82 | date = 2010 | pmid = 20696054 | pmc = 2945784 | doi = 10.1186/gb-2010-11-8-r82 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://vancouversun.com/news/metro/mystery-patient-revealed|title=Mystery patient in Vancouver's medical milestone revealed|accessdate=2022-05-03|author=Pamela Fayerman|work=The Vancouver Sun|date=2014-10-31}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100223201619/http://www.therixcenter.com/about/about-dr-don-rix/ |date=February 23, 2010 |title=Story of Dr. Don Rix, CM, OBC - Rix Center for Corporate Citizenship and Engaged Leadership }} *[https://www.boardoftrade.com/about/rix-awards-for-engaged-community-and-corporate-citizenship Rix Awards for Engaged Community and Corporate Citizenship] - Greater Vancouver Board of Trade
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rix, Donald}} Category:1931 births Category:2009 deaths Category:Businesspeople from Simcoe County Category:Canadian pathologists Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Members of the Order of British Columbia Category:University of Western Ontario alumni Category:British Columbia Institute of Technology alumni Category:People from Orillia Category:Biotechnologists Category:20th-century Canadian philanthropists Category:20th-century Canadian businesspeople Category:Deaths from cancer in British Columbia Category:Scientists from Simcoe County