The Eric Liljencrantz award was established in memory of CDR Eric Liljencrantz, MC, USN, whose brilliant career in aviation medicine was cut short by his death in an airplane accident in 1942. It is given annually to honor excellence as an educator in aerospace medicine, or basic research into the problems of acceleration, altitude, or weightlessness. It is sponsored by Aerospace Medical PLC.

Joan Saary, M.D., Ph.D., is the winner of the 2025 Eric Liljencrantz Award for her remarkable achievements as an educator. These are most prominently demonstrated through her pivotal role in establishing the Aerospace Medicine Fellowship at the University of Toronto. She successfully launched the program under the Occupational Medicine Division of the University of Toronto School of Medicine. After nearly decade of steadfast commitment, the inaugural Fellow in aerospace medicine commenced the program in January 2024, underscoring Dr. Saary’s visionary leadership. She has also been an instrumental lecturer in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Flight Surgeon courses for the past 25 years and has taught every operational Flight Surgeons on the aspects of Occupational Health related to Aerospace Medicine, ensuring the highest quality of graduated RCAF Flight Surgeons. She is a founding member of the Canadian Society of Aerospace Medicine (CSAM) and the creator of the Canadian Students and Residents Sub-Group (CStaRS). She mentors all the members of CStaRS and several other students in various stages of residency training. She is also on the Board for the Space Medicine Association.

Dr. Saary is an Occupational Medicine specialist certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) with niche expertise in aerospace and diving medicine from various institutions, including the Canadian Forces School of Operational Medicine, where she has Flight Surgeon and Advanced Dive Medicine training. She also holds an M.Sc. in clinical psychology from the University of Calgary and a Ph.D. in medical science from the University of Toronto, leading to a Clinician-Investigator qualification and for which she received national recognition from the Royal Society of Canada. 

Dr. Saary is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Division of Occupational Medicine at the University of Toronto, where she developed an accreditable Aerospace Medicine Fellowship, a first of its kind in Canada. This is the culmination of participation in over a decade of groundbreaking work with Canadian aerospace leaders and the RCPSC (where she is now the Chair of Aerospace Medicine) to garner recognition for Aerospace Medicine as a separate discipline, then to develop national standards of training documents, develop academic institutional partnerships to enable curriculum delivery, and to mount a training program.

Dr. Saary has a lengthy relationship with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) which began with the completion of the Johnson Space Center clerkship in 2000, 25 years ago. She has been a longstanding member of the Medical Standards and Health Evaluation Working group for ISS, for which she has been Chair since 2013. She has contributed to numerous programs, including the pre-launch infection control program, among others. She was a member of CSA’s medical selection Boards for the last 2 CSA astronaut recruitments in 2009 and 2017. She is actively engaged in initial aircrew selection for the Canadian Armed Forces, participating in the Aerospace and Undersea Medical Board, and teaching in the school of operational medicine on numerous courses. Her research with the Canadian White Matter Hyperintensity study has contributed to improved understanding of the impacts of stressors of flight on brain health in aviators. She was an invited speaker for the Peace With Women Fellowship and was named one of Canada’s “Top 25 Women in Defence” in 2021 and was recently nominated for the 2025 Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards.

Dr. Saary is a fellow of both ACOEM and AsMA, and has represented Canada internationally in both occupational and aerospace medicine roles. She is a member of the Canadian Medical Association, the Federation of Medical Women in Canada, the International Academy of Aviation and Space Medicine, the International Occupational Medicine Society Collaborative, and the Occupational and Environmental Association of Canada, among others. Her awards and honors include the Colonel Carl Walker Award from Defence Research and Development Canada, three nomination for the Frank J. Malina Astronautics Medal from the International Astronautical Congress, a Public Service Award for Excellence in Profession from the Canadian Astronaut Recruitment Team of the CSA, the Dominique-Jean Larrey Award as a team member of a NATO Human Factors and Medicine Panel, and nomination for Great Women of the 21st Century from the American Biographical Institute.