{{short description|American-Canadian pediatrician}} {{For|chemist|Miriam Rossi (chemist)}} {{Infobox person | name = Miriam Rossi | birth_name = Miriam Frances Senhouse | birth_date = January 31, 1937 | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, USA | death_date = July 11, 2018 (aged 81) | death_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | occupation = Pediatrician · Professor | alma_mater = Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MD), McGill University (Residency) | spouse = Renato Rossi | children = 1 }}
'''Miriam Rossi''' (born '''Miriam Frances Senhouse''') (31 January 1937 – 11 July 2018) was emeritus professor of pediatrics at the University of Toronto, and a pediatrician in the division of Adolescent Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://medicine.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-medicine-remembers-dr-miriam-rossi|title=U of T Medicine Remembers Dr. Miriam Rossi|date=2018-07-13|work=Faculty of Medicine|access-date=2018-08-11|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929042946/https://medicine.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-medicine-remembers-dr-miriam-rossi|archive-date=2018-09-29|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.utoronto.ca/news/driven-sense-equity-and-justice-miriam-rossi-pediatrician-and-u-t-professor-was-influential|title='Driven by a sense of equity and justice': Miriam Rossi, a pediatrician and U of T professor, was an influential diversity advocate|website=University of Toronto News|language=en|access-date=2018-09-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925212010/https://www.utoronto.ca/news/driven-sense-equity-and-justice-miriam-rossi-pediatrician-and-u-t-professor-was-influential|archive-date=2018-09-25|url-status=live}}</ref> She was Associate Dean of Student Affairs & Admissions at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine for 13 years.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> Rossi is best known for her contributions to diversity and health equity in undergraduate medical education.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite news|url=https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2017/3/19/u-of-t-program-aims-to-increase-black-medical-school-applicants|title=U of T program aims to increase Black medical school applicants|work=Ron Fanfair|access-date=2018-08-11|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929000607/https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2017/3/19/u-of-t-program-aims-to-increase-black-medical-school-applicants|archive-date=2018-09-29|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12" />
== Early life and education == Rossi was born in Boston, Massachusetts, US on 31 January 1937.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://magazine.utoronto.ca/feature/dr-miriam-rossi-dean-of-student-affairs-medicine/|title=Doctor on Call {{!}} By Stacey Gibson {{!}} Dr. Miriam Rossi, Former Associate Dean of Student Affairs, Medicine {{!}} Spring 2018 {{!}} University of Toronto Magazine|website=magazine.utoronto.ca|date=7 September 2001 |access-date=2018-08-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007145606/http://magazine.utoronto.ca/feature/dr-miriam-rossi-dean-of-student-affairs-medicine/|archive-date=2018-10-07|url-status=live}}</ref> Her mother was from Barbados, and was a designer in the Boston garment industry.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" /> Her father was the American-born son of immigrants from Barbados and Canada, and was a post-office supervisor.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" />
Rossi obtained a Bachelors of Science degree in dietetics, and a master's degree in nutrition and biochemistry at the University of Iowa.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" /> This was followed by a string of jobs, including being an instructor at a Boston hospital, and a teacher and a public health nutritionist in New York City's public health department in Harlem.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> She then completed medical school as a member of the first graduating class at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine (now the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai).<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" /> She later became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics.<ref name=":3" />
== Research and career == Rossi completed her medical residency at McGill University in Canada.<ref name=":4" /> In 1973, she followed her husband, Renato Rossi, to Milan, Italy, where she qualified for an Italian medical degree before practicing for a year.<ref name=":2" /> In 1981, her husband relocated to Toronto, Ontario.<ref name=":2" /> Rossi followed, and joined the Hospital for Sick Children as a pediatrician in the division of adolescent medicine, and a pediatrics professor at the University of Toronto.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" />
In 1988, she was appointed the Associate Dean of Student Affairs & Admissions at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" />
In 1992, Rossi co-founded the Association for the Advancement of Blacks in Health Sciences, alongside black medical students, Dr. Kristine Whitehead, Dominick Shelton, and Diana Alli D'souza (a retired University of Toronto administrator).<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2018/8/9/dr-rossi|title=Dr. Miriam Rossi touched many lives|work=Ron Fanfair|access-date=2018-08-11|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929000605/https://www.ronfanfair.com/home/2018/8/9/dr-rossi|archive-date=2018-09-29|url-status=live}}</ref> The Association engaged in outreach to high schools in the Greater Toronto Area and launched a Summer Mentorship Program in 1994.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /> Over 900 students have graduated from the program, where almost all have completed post-secondary degrees, and approximately half have also completed a medical degree or professional program in health sciences.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":11">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DM_HBAAAQBAJ&q=%22Miriam+Rossi%22+university+of+toronto&pg=PA27|title=Ruptures: Anti-colonial & Anti-racist Feminist Theorizing|last1=Wane|first1=Njoki|last2=Jagire|first2=Jennifer|last3=Murad|first3=Zahra|date=2014-02-07|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9789462094468|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l7PqAgAAQBAJ&q=%22Miriam+Rossi%22+university+of+toronto&pg=PA30|title=Back to the Drawing Board: African-Canadian Feminisms|last1=Wane|first1=Njoki Nathani|last2=Deliovsky|first2=Katerina|last3=Lawson|first3=Erica|date=2002|publisher=Canadian Scholars’ Press|isbn=9781894549172|language=en}}</ref>
As associate dean, Rossi introduced a multi-step strategy to prevent sexual harassment at the University of Toronto<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|last=Koba|first=H|date=1995-02-01|title=U of T Medical School uses multistep strategy to prevent sexual harassment|journal=CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal|volume=152|issue=3|pages=414–415|issn=0820-3946|pmc=1337546|pmid=7828109}}</ref> in response to first and fourth-year medical students reporting, through volunteer questionnaires, any verbal, emotional, physical or sexual abuse experienced during their medical education.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Moscarello|first1=R|last2=Margittai|first2=K J|last3=Rossi|first3=M|date=1994-02-01|title=Differences in abuse reported by female and male Canadian medical students|journal=CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal|volume=150|issue=3|pages=357–363|issn=0820-3946|pmc=1486154|pmid=7832819}}</ref>
From 1990 to 1993, Rossi served on the Presidential Advisory Committee on Race Relations and Anti-racial Initiatives of the University of Toronto.<ref name=":5" /> From 1991 to 1998, she served on the Ontario Premier's Council for Health Strategy,<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> from 2004 to 2010, she served on the Trillium Gift of Life Network (Ontario's provincial agency dedicated to organ transplant and donations).<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />
Rossi co-founded the Black Health Alliance and was an advocate in 2010 for the opening of the TAIBU Community Health Care Centre, which provides specialized care for the black community.<ref name=":3" />
She was a founding member of the Black Physicians' Association of Ontario (BPAO).<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=https://bpao.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Annual-Report-2017-BPAO.pdf|title=Black Physicians' Association of Ontario Annual Report 2017|date=2017}}{{dead link|date=December 2018|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In 2017, BPAO collaborated with the University of Toronto to establish the Miriam Rossi Award for Health Equity in Undergraduate Medical Education.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite news|url=https://medicine.utoronto.ca/awards-miriam-rossi-and-norman-rosenblum|title=Awards - Miriam Rossi and Norman Rosenblum|date=2018-04-24|work=Faculty of Medicine|access-date=2018-08-11|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180701095141/https://medicine.utoronto.ca/awards-miriam-rossi-and-norman-rosenblum|archive-date=2018-07-01|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Mentorship == Rossi has been recognized repeatedly for her commitment to mentorship and student advocacy through awards, and by her peers.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":11" /><ref name=":12" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=http://harryjeromeawards.com/1997-alumni/|title=1997 Alumni - Harry Jerome Awards|work=Harry Jerome Awards|access-date=2018-08-11|language=en-US}}</ref>
Upon being recognized as one of 100 accomplished Black Canadian Women, Rossi stated:<blockquote>"I believe the greatest accomplishments during my career in the Health Sciences was (a) to be instrumental in bringing about a change in the admission procedures that allowed a larger number of minority students to enter the field of Health Sciences at the University of Toronto; (b) not second, but equally important, was the founding of the Mentoring Program at the Faculty of Medicine for underachieving minority high school students that allowed more students to gain the confidence to apply and be accepted to programs in Health Sciences at various universities."<ref name="100abcwomen.ca">{{Cite web|url=https://www.100abcwomen.ca/miriam-rossi/|title=Dr. Miriam Rossi {{!}} 100ABCWomen|website=www.100abcwomen.ca|language=en-CA|access-date=2018-08-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929000216/https://www.100abcwomen.ca/miriam-rossi/|archive-date=2018-09-29|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>
== Awards ==
* Ontario Psychological Foundation Community Service Award (1991).<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=http://newediukfuneralhome.com/book-of-memories/3561425/rossi-dr-miriam/obituary.php|title=Dr. Miriam Rossi - Wednesday, July 11th, 2018|website=newediukfuneralhome.com|language=en|access-date=2018-08-11}}</ref> * Harry Jerome Award for Professional Excellence (1997).<ref name=":1" /> * The Vision Award for Excellence in Ongoing Community Education (1999).<ref name=":6" /> * The African Canadian Achievement Award in Health Science (2002).<ref name=":6" /> * The Keeper of the Flame Award (2005).<ref name=":6" /> * Inaugural recipient of the SOSAction Guiding Star Award (2013).<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://sharenewsarchive.com/dr-miriam-rossi-honoured-by-youth-mentorship-network/|title=Dr. Miriam Rossi honoured by youth mentorship network {{!}} Share News|website=sharenewsarchive.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-08-11}}</ref> * Recognized as one of the 100 accomplished Black Canadian Women (2016).<ref name="100abcwomen.ca"/><ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://pridenews.ca/2016/06/22/100-accomplished-black-canadian-women-book-launched-judge-proclaims-black-women-matter/|title=100 Accomplished Black Canadian Women Book Launched; Judge Proclaims That "Black Women Matter" - Pride News|date=2016-06-22|work=Pride News|access-date=2018-08-11|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919165951/http://pridenews.ca/2016/06/22/100-accomplished-black-canadian-women-book-launched-judge-proclaims-black-women-matter/|archive-date=2018-09-19|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Personal life == Rossi was married to Renato Rossi, an engineering executive.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6" /> She died at the age of 81 on 11 July 2018.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":6" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Miriam}} Category:1937 births Category:2018 deaths Category:American emigrants to Canada Category:Academics from Boston Category:Medical doctors from Boston Category:Medical doctors from Ontario Category:Academic staff of the University of Toronto Category:Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians Category:Canadian people of Barbadian descent Category:University of Iowa alumni Category:Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai alumni Category:McGill University Faculty of Medicine alumni Category:Canadian pediatricians Category:Women pediatricians Category:Black Canadian scientists