The director of the Ontario Medical Association is remembering a doctor whose body was found by the side of a road in Vaughan, Ont., on Thursday afternoon.

Police say the woman was reported missing Wednesday night. The deceased doctor had been identified by police and in multiple media reports, but due to a court-ordered publication ban, she can no longer be named.

Dr. Virginia Walley, president of the OMA, said in a written statement Saturday that the doctor was active in “many efforts to improve the health-care system.”

Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan told a news conference Friday night that the woman died of strangulation and blunt force trauma.

A 40-year-old Toronto neurosurgeon, Mohammed Shamji, was arrested Friday night at a coffee shop in Mississauga, Ont., just west of Toronto, and charged with first-degree murder.

He made a brief court appearance Saturday morning and was remanded in custody until Dec. 20.