Alice Wilson Award

Janna Shapiro receives Alice Wilson Award from Royal Society of Canada

rahul.kalvapalle — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 18:07:54 +0000

Janna Shapiro receives Alice Wilson Award from Royal Society of Canada

Research & Innovation

rahul.kalvapalle Tue, 09/10/2024 - 14:07

Students

St. George

Alice Wilson Award

Dalla Lana School of Public Health

Royal Society of Canada

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Janna Shapiro (supplied image)

Janna Shapiro, a post-doctoral fellow in the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (CVPD) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, has received the Alice Wilson Award from the Royal Society of Canada.

The annual award recognizes three women who have demonstrated excellence while entering a career in scholarship or research at the postdoctoral level. It is named for Alice Wilson, a world-renowned paleontologist and geologist who studied at the University of Toronto and, in 1938, became the first woman elected to the Royal Society of Canada.

Shapiro's research explores ways to protect children with leukemia – a disease that requires treatments that suppress the immune system – from vaccine-preventable diseases like measles. She has also researched how vaccines can protect older adults and pregnant women.

“I was so surprised and honoured to win this award," Shapiro says. "Trailblazers like Alice Wilson have paved the way for researchers like myself to pursue and excel in the sciences. This award feels extra special as a chance to honour her legacy and the role of women in science in Canada."

Read about Janna Shapiro's research at CVPD

Read about the Royal Society of Canada award winners

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Elaine Cagulada awarded Alice Wilson medal by Royal Society of Canada

lanthierj — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 20:01:18 +0000

Elaine Cagulada awarded Alice Wilson medal by Royal Society of Canada

Academic Achievement

lanthierj Tue, 09/12/2023 - 16:01

Royal Society of Canada

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(Photo courtesy of Kylie Thompson Creative)

University of Toronto alumna Elaine Cagulada, who teaches and researches disability studies and its intersectionalities, is among the 2023 recipients of the Alice Wilson medal from the Royal Society of Canada.

Awarded nationally to three women of outstanding academic qualifications at the postdoctoral level, the Wilson award’s recipients are chosen from the current year’s female winners of postdoctoral fellowships from the three granting councils: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Cagulada, who earned her doctorate from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at �Թϱ�� earlier this year, is now a SSHRC postdoctoral fellow in the department of gender studies at Queen's University.

“Being awarded the Alice Wilson medal means receiving institutional recognition for my research in the fields of disability studies, Black studies and sociology,” says Cagulada, whose doctoral research explored the intersectionality of Deafness, disability, race and policing.

After reading about the medal and the barriers that Wilson faced as a woman in geology, paleontology, and academia, Cagulada says she deeply appreciates receiving the award named for the scholar.

“From what I can understand, being granted a Royal Society of Canada medal in Alice Wilson’s name suggests being recognized for pursuing wonder, curiosity and transformative change amid the entwined objectifying forces of ableism, racial capitalism, and colonial hetero-patriarchy – forces of which Wilson seemed aware,” she says.

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Faculty, alumna recognized with Royal Society of Canada awards

lanthierj — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 14:44:16 +0000

Faculty, alumna recognized with Royal Society of Canada awards

Research & Innovation

lanthierj Fri, 09/16/2022 - 10:44

Faculty

Alumni

St. George

Royal Society of Canada

Alice Wilson Award

Willet G. Miller Medal

McLaughlin Medal

Faculty of Arts & Science

Department of Physics

Temerty Faculty of Medicine

Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering

UHN

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Yimu Zhao, Kimberly Strong and John Dick

Two University of Toronto faculty members – atmospheric physicist Kimberly Strong and molecular geneticist John Dick – and Engineering alumna Yimu Zhao have been recognized by the Royal Society of Canada for their outstanding achievements in advancing knowledge.

Strong, who is the chair of the Faculty of Arts & Science’s department of physics and a leading authority in global atmospheric research, received the prestigious 2022 Willet G. Miller Medal for outstanding research in a branch of the Earth sciences.

“As an atmospheric physicist, Kim Strong has established a national and international reputation for research excellence,” said Melanie Woodin, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science. “Employing an array of experimental techniques to probe the composition of the atmosphere, she is unraveling the chemical and physical processes that are driving atmospheric change. It is my great pleasure to congratulate her on this important and well-deserved honour.”

A renowned stem cell biologist, Dick is a University Professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and a senior scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network. He received the McLaughlin Medal for important research of sustained excellence in medical science. Earlier this year, he received a Gairdner International Award for the discovery of leukemic stem cells and later work on the diagnosis and treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

Zhao, who earned her PhD studying with Professor Milica Radisic of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering and conducted post-doctoral studies with the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network and Columbia University, received the Alice Wilson Award.

Strong said she was delighted to be recognized but emphasized the “highly collaborative” nature of her research.

“When I think of all of my graduate students, postdocs and other group members over the years, this award is a reflection of their cumulative accomplishment.”

Read about the RSC award winners

Read the Faculty of Arts & Science story

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