Researcher Patricia Martens turned dry data into stories.

Patricia Martens’s passion for understanding and spreading knowledge about health research manifested itself in different ways throughout her life. She believed strongly in the power of such data to point to ways of improving health and reducing inequality. A gifted and enthusiastic teacher, skilled academic and widely admired administrator, she served as the director of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) from 2004 to 2014. When she was diagnosed with mesothelioma, an aggressive form of cancer usually caused by exposure to asbestos, she recognized the opportunity to speak up and support the campaign to have Canada join other developed countries in banning asbestos. She sent a letter urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper to acknowledge that all forms of asbestos are hazardous to human health, though she only received a polite form letter in reply, her husband, Gary Martens, recalls. Ever the curious researcher, she told local media soon after her diagnosis, “I want to try to understand this cancer-care journey, so this gives me an opportunity to put on my scientific hat and say, ‘How could we do this a little better?’” Focusing on her work kept her from dwelling on what she called the “yucky things” about her disease. Patricia Martens died at the age of 62 on Jan. 10. “It is surely a tragic irony that someone who was such a proponent for public health would die from this illness,” said David Henry, a Toronto academic, research scientist and friend of Dr. Martens. Dr. Martens’s first career was as a high school chemistry and mathematics teacher in Winnipeg. In 1978, however, she moved with her husband, Gary Martens, to work a farm in rural Manitoba. She returned to university when both her children were in school. Consequently, she entered the research world late – she was 47 in 1999 when she was awarded her PhD in health sciences at the University of Manitoba. Though her academic career was relatively short, by the time of her death, Dr. Martens had presented at more than Researcher Patricia Martens Turned Dry Data into Stories*