UBC Medicine professor Dr. Marco Marra has been appointed a University Killam Professor, the highest honour UBC can confer on a faculty member.
The University Killam Professorship recognizes exceptional teachers and researchers who are leaders in their fields, and who have received international recognition for their talents and achievements.
Dr. Marra, a professor in UBC’s department of medical genetics and Michael Smith Laboratories, has demonstrated the pivotal role that genomics can play in human health and disease research, through contributions to the Human Genome Project, leading the sequencing of the SARS coronavirus genome and the first proof-of-concept study demonstrating the effective use of whole genome analyses in personalized cancer medicine.
His research has uncovered new cancer mutations, candidate biomarkers and therapeutic targets, and has been instrumental in demonstrating the functional interplay between the cancer genome and epigenome.
“I am honoured to be recognized by my institution, forever grateful for the opportunity to be an academic at UBC and humbled by the accomplishments of other awardees, past and present,” said Dr. Marra, who is also a distinguished scientist at BC Cancer’s Genome Sciences Centre and Terry Fox Leader in Cancer Genome Science with the Terry Fox Research Institute.
Dr. Marra has received ongoing national and international recognition for his research, including as an Officer of the Order of Canada, a member of the Order of British Columbia, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a laureate of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
This year, Dr. Marra is one of three new University Killam Professors at UBC.