Members of the Faculty of Medicine are recognized in the 2013 LifeSciences British Columbia Awards. LifeSciences B.C. is a not-for-profit industry association that supports and represents the greater life sciences community of British Columbia through leadership, advocacy and promotion of world-class science and industry.
Joseph Connors
Joseph Connors, Clinical Professor in the Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine and Clinical Director of the BC Cancer Agency Centre for Lymphoid Cancer, will receive the Dr. Don Rix Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Dr. Connors is highly regarded for his research into the biology and treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemias and multiple myeloma. He serves as a member of the executive committee of the Hematology Site Group for the National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group, as a Councilor for the American Society of Hematology and on the scientific advisory board of the Lymphoma Foundation Canada.
Brett Finlay
Brett Finlay, Peter Wall Distinguished Professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories and the Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Microbiology & Immunology, Faculty of Science, will receive the Genome British Columbia Award for Scientific Excellence.
Dr. Finlay’s research interests are focused on host-pathogen interactions, at the molecular level. By combining cell biology with microbiology, he has been at the forefront of the emerging field of cellular microbiology, making several fundamental discoveries in this field and publishing over 400 papers. Dr. Finlay’s laboratory researches several pathogenic bacteria, with salmonella and pathogenic E. coli interactions with host cells being the primary focus.
Richard Harrigan
Richard Harrigan, Associate Professor in the Division of AIDS, Department of Medicine and Director of the Laboratory Program, British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, will receive the Innovation and Achievement Award.
Dr. Harrigan’s work primarily focuses on HIV drug efficacy, drug resistance and the human and viral parameters that influence HIV disease progression. He developed a “next generation” sequencing method to identify HIV-positive individuals who respond to maraviroc, the first approved “CCR5 antagonist” drug, as well as “ReCall” software for automated analysis of HIV drug resistance. The test and software have been adopted as the standard test across Canada and in over 30 countries.
Michael Hayden
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., a UBC spin-off company founded on discoveries made by Michael Hayden, University Killam Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics, will receive the Life Sciences Company of the Year award.
Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company that uses its human genetics platform to develop novel pharmaceuticals for rare diseases. One of the company’s first technologies, which it licensed for the gene therapy treatment of a rare lipid disorder known as Lipoprotein Lipase Deficiency, was recently approved in Europe.
The 2013 LifeSciences British Columbia Awards will be presented at the Faces of Innovation gala on April 4, a celebration of 15 years of the LifeSciences British Columbia Awards recognizing leaders in the community who have transformed the life sciences sector.