NOSM University leader wins national award for contributions to Francophone health 

A pillar of Francophone health education advocacy in the North, Danielle Barbeau-Rodrigue was recently honoured with the national Une étoile montante (Rising Star) award from the Sociéte Santé en français. 

The award recognizes a person whose actions exhibit promising leadership in their field and demonstrate exceptional commitment to the development of Francophone health. Barbeau-Rodrigue accepted the award at the Sociéte Santé en français’s AGM on Thursday, October 2, 2025. 

Director of the Francophone Affairs Unit at NOSM University since 2005, Barbeau-Rodrigue has changed the face of Francophone health education in Northern Ontario. This award recognizes her visionary leadership, her unwavering engagement, and her steadfast advocacy. Profoundly rooted in the needs of Northern communities, her work has directly impacted NOSM University’s success in graduating more than 200 Francophone physicians. 

“I am profoundly honoured to receive this recognition,” Barbeau-Rodrigue says. “This award reminds me that every action, every initiative can contribute to improve access to equitable, quality French-language health training, services, and care. This work cannot be accomplished in isolation. I am proud to share this award and so very grateful to work with such amazing colleagues within the Francophone Affairs Unit and Equity and Inclusion Portfolio at NOSM University. Receiving this award, for me, is an invitation to innovate and collaborate to continue this important work with a focus on helping ensure that French-language health services are available everywhere.” 

Barbeau-Rodrigue has been a constant and relentless advocate for access to quality health education in French, despite the challenges of a minority-language environment—both in Northern Ontario and at NOSM University, an institution that provides instruction in the English language. Her numerous contributions include collaborating on research on Francophone health and Francophone health education, introducing an Active Offer training module to increase equitable access to health care, and helping create the Francophone Curricular Initiative enabling medical students to complete some of their mandatory MD curriculum in French. 

For more than 20 years, Barbeau-Rodrigue has been integral to supporting NOSM University learners, with her impact seen in the many graduates now practising as physicians and health professionals across Northern Ontario. 

“In the vast and often isolated area of Northern Ontario, Danielle Barbeau-Rodrigue’s name is inseparable from Francophone health education—from Kenora to Hearst, and all the way to Midland,” says Laïla Faivre, Manager, Equity and Inclusion at NOSM University. It was Faivre who nominated Barbeau-Rodrigue for the award. “She has made a rare, authentic, and profoundly transformative contribution to health care in Northern Ontario.” 

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NOSM University is Canada’s first independent medical university and one of the greatest education and physician workforce strategy success stories of Northern Ontario. More than just a medical university, it was purpose-built to address the health needs of the region. While advocating for equitable access to care, the university contributes to the economic development of Northern Ontario. NOSM University relies on the commitment and expertise of the people of Northern Ontario to educate health-care professionals to practise in Indigenous, Francophone, rural, remote, and underserved communities. With a focus on diversity, inclusion, and advocacy, NOSM University is an award-winning, socially accountable organization renowned for its innovative model of distributed, community-engaged education and research.  

For further information, please contact: news@nosm.ca