A few of these individuals require special description. Dr. Harrop worked for Dr. Mathewson as a medical student. He continued with the Study after graduation and was instrumental in setting up the coding system and in assembling data - first manually, and later with computer. Drs. Taylor, Brereton, and Corne joined Dr. Mathewson to help analyze data and publish specific papers.

Dr. Rabkin, a cardiologist, joined the Study in 1974 as a Fellow of the National Health and Welfare of Canada. At that time, several years of data had been collected, and computer services were available. Drs. Mathewson and Rabkin published 22 papers from 1976 to 1982.

Drs. Nelson, Hsu, Abu-Zeid and Tate joined the Study for their analytical and biostatistical talents.

Dr. Tate has been with the Study since 1975, and has updated the methods of analysis, installed improved software, and has generally been the "heart" of the Study, especially since 1983.

Dr. Manfreda brings epidemiological expertise, and Dr. Cuddy adds cardiological knowledge to the analysis of the data.

Dr. MacFarlane, later Dr. Handford, and currently Dr. Michaels have been employed part time by the Study to code clinical and electrocardiographic information.

Starting in 1951, medical students have been fortunate to have summer employment working on the Study, and their involvement by and large was in the form of data processing, and tracing lost individuals. One example of the opportunity provided to medical students occurred in the summer of 1952.

Dr. Mathewson had found a certain variation in apparently healthy young men, namely a slight prolongation of the PR interval (the measure of the time taken for the electrical impulse to travel from the atrium to the ventricle). He was uncertain how common this was, and how significant it was. A true researcher, he then asked himself whether this abnormality was common in even younger males, and availed himself of the Air Cadet camp set up in Abbotsford, BC where a couple of thousand teenage boys spent a month or two in the summer.

Therefore four medical students, namely R. Bennett, T. Cuddy, W. Doughty, and M. Salewich were pleased to go to Abbottsford with two EKG machines and four sets of electrodes and wires. An assembly line process allowed the taking of several hundred electrocardiograms on air cadets over just a few days. The electrocardiograms were taken with a photographic process and since no dark room and developing facilities were available, all these records were stored in cans.

It was a point of pride that not one record was lost or spoiled, when they were later developed in Winnipeg. It turned out that a prolonged PR interval was extremely frequent in young males and that information was the subject of one of the early papers published by Dr. Mathewson. Unfortunately the names of all the medical students who worked on the Manitoba Follow-up Study in the 1950's and early 1960 are not known.

As well, since 1985, medical residents have been involved with the Study. They have profited from the wealth of data assembled by Dr. Mathewson and have been able to become first authors on significant papers derived from the Manitoba Follow-up Study.