Dr. Connie Eaves, a professor in the UBC faculty of medicine’s department of medical genetics, has received the 2021 award for Outstanding Achievements in Cancer Research from the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance (CCRA).
The CCRA Awards, initiated in 2011, acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of individuals who have had a remarkable impact on cancer research and the cancer research community, as well as those who have shown exceptional leadership in patient involvement in cancer research.
Dr. Connie Eaves
Dr. Eaves is being recognized for her pioneering, cutting-edge, and paradigm-shifting scientific contributions to the study of hematopoietic, mammary and cancer stem cells and for her dedication to outstanding mentorship of trainees, early-career investigators, and promotion of women in science.
Over the last five decades Dr. Eaves, also a professor at the UBC School of Biomedical Engineering and a Distinguished Scientist at Terry Fox Laboratory at BC Cancer, has led a research program that has pioneered the development of rigorous methods to detect, quantify, purify and characterize the cells at which normal blood cells and leukemia cells originate. Several of these methods are now gold standards used worldwide. Dr. Eaves is also a lifelong and continuing contributor to the development of science policy and evaluation of research both in Canada and abroad.
Dr. Eaves reflected on her career in an acceptance video at the start of the 2021 Canadian Cancer Research Conference. She reiterated how awards like the CCRA accolades recognize the collaborative impact of researchers and trainees across disciplines and she is fortunate to be part of an exceptional group.
“A single person can lead, but it takes a community to make a significant advance,” she said. “Canada is an exceptional environment to carry out science and we have many more challenges ahead. Hopefully such awards as this will remind us all of the diversity of input we need to continue the legacy we as Canadians already have around the world.”
A version of this article originally appeared on the CCRA website.