Career Honours (Selected)
View the full record of honours and awards (1969–2012)
- 1969 — Best Individual Exhibit, National Students' Science Congress, Kenya
- 1971 — Alexander–Galloway Prize in Anatomy, and First Place (Distinction) in Biochemistry, Makerere University
- 1972 — May & Baker Prize in Pharmacology; First Place (Distinction) in Pharmacology, Makerere University
- 1972 — Vancouver Foundation Award for Excellence: Physical Diagnosis, UBC
- 1972 — Bursary Award, UBC
- 1974 — Tommy Diespecker Memorial Scholarship Award, Clinical Medicine
- 1975 — CIBA–Geigy Graduating Class Prize in Psychiatry, UBC
- 1980 — Ken Evelyn Award, Outstanding Resident, UBC
- 1980 — Aga Khan Foundation (Geneva) International Scholarship Award for Clinical Research in Nuclear Cardiology, UCLA
- 1983 — Physician's Recognition Award, American Medical Association (3-year cycle award for CME activities)
- 1983 — Who's Who, California, USA
- 1983 — Aga Khan Silver Jubilee “Service Medal,” awarded by His Highness the Aga Khan
- 1985 — Clinical Traineeship Award, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada
- 1986 — Physician's Recognition Award, American Medical Association (3-year cycle award for CME activities)
- 1990 — Who's Who, Sudbury, Ontario
- 1990 — Canadian Aga Khan High Achievers Award, Professional Category
- 1992 — Outstanding Service Award, Heart & Stroke Foundation of Ontario
- 1992 — Physician's Recognition Award, American Medical Association (3-year cycle award for CME activities)
- 1992 — Named Award “Dr. Abdulla Award,” Heart & Stroke Foundation, Sudbury, ON
- 1993 — National Commemorative Medal, “Service to Canada,” Governor General of Canada, 125th Anniversary of Confederation
- 1995 — Best Poster Presentation Award, Second Annual National Symposium, Aga Khan University
- 1995 — Detweiler Clinical Traineeship Award, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada
- 1996 — Physician's Recognition Award, American Medical Association (3-year cycle award for CME activities)
- 1996 — Outstanding Speaker Award, AKU CME Seminars 1995
- 1998 — “Heart of Cardiology” Award, The Aga Khan University
- 1999 — Physician's Recognition Award, American Medical Association (3-year cycle award for CME activities)
- 2000 — Recognized “Founder,” Cardiac Care Network of Ontario
- 2003 — Physician's Recognition Award, American Medical Association (3-year cycle award for CME activities)
- 2006 — Physician's Recognition Award, American Medical Association (3-year cycle award for CME activities)
- 2012 — Nehru Humanitarian Service Award, UBC / Goel Family Foundation
- 2012 — Fellow Emeritus, American College of Cardiology
Governor General's Commemorative Medal for “Service to Canada”
On March 3, 1993, Judith A. LaRocque, Secretary to the Governor General and Herald Chancellor, wrote from Rideau Hall on behalf of His Excellency the Right Honourable Ramon John Hnatyshyn to inform Dr. Abdulla that he had been awarded the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation — a decoration given, in the Governor General's words, to those who “have made a significant contribution to Canada, to their community, or to their fellow Canadians.” That July, Thomas M. Davies, Chair of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury and the political champion behind the Sudbury Heart Health Program, wrote separately to add his own congratulations, calling the honour “a tribute to the outstanding work you have been doing in our community,” with effects “felt beyond the boundaries of our community and… to the advantage of all of Canada.”
Nehru Humanitarian Service Award
In 2012, Dr. Abdulla received the Nehru Humanitarian Service Award from the University of British Columbia and the Goel Family Foundation, in recognition of his humanitarian service — the same year he turned his full attention to Medical Navigation & Patient Advocacy, the practice he continues today from Vancouver.
Cardiac Care Network of Ontario — Founder
Early in his career, in 1990, Dr. Abdulla was appointed to the provincial Cardiovascular Advisory Committee, which advised the Ontario government on how cardiovascular services should be coordinated across the province’s centres. He was the only member from a community hospital, and the committee was chaired by Dr. Willie Keon of the Ottawa Heart Institute. Its main recommendation was a provincial Cardiac Care Network to oversee and evaluate tertiary cardiac care at the nine centres, and Dr. Abdulla became a founding member, representing the Northeastern Ontario Cardiovascular Centre. He held that role until 1994. On the Network's tenth anniversary in 2000, Chair Barry J. Monaghan and Vice-Chair Dr. C. D. Morgan presented him with a certificate recognizing him as a Founder, thanking him for the “vision and pioneering contributions” that “helped CCN grow into a model for the planning and delivery of specialized health-care programmes, benefiting the province and people of Ontario.” Read the full story in the Sudbury record.
The Aga Khan Silver Jubilee Service Medal has its own full story — Dr. Abdulla's service as the Aga Khan's personal first-responder physician during the 1983 Silver Jubilee visit to Los Angeles — told on the Aga Khan & Community page.