McMaster University Nancy Fern Olivieri (born 1954) is a prominent Toronto haematologist and researcher with an interest in the treatment of haemoglobinopathies.
[3] Starting in 1989, Olivieri was part of a group evaluating the use of a drug, deferiprone, in treating persons with the blood disorder thalassaemia.
In 1998, the New England Journal of Medicine published a paper by Olivieri and seven other authors, with further study results suggesting that deferiprone led to progressive hepatic fibrosis.
[4][5] Olivieri's scientific findings, which sparked the controversy, have been challenged on the basis of data from clinical trials conducted by Apotex.
"[13] Olivieri is the 2023 recipient of the John Maddox Prize in recognition of her “determination to act with integrity…in the face of extreme pressure from the company producing it, ultimately at great personal cost” in the Deferiprone controversy.