Lianna Wat, a PhD student in the cell and developmental biology (CELL) program, has received all three awards from the Canadian Student Health Research Forum. She is the recipient of the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Gold Award of Excellence, a Gairdner Award, and the Lindau Award.
Top doctoral students are nominated by their programs to attend the forum and to compete in the CIHR National Poster Presentation competition this year, where all three available awards are presented.
“I was honoured to be nominated by the CELL graduate program to represent UBC,” Lianna says. “I am always aiming to be the best that I can be. Having my hard work and growth as a scientist acknowledged, demonstrates that my efforts have paid off and that I am moving in the right direction on my career path.”
She is one out of 177 graduated students who competed in the CIHR National Poster Presentation. The top six trainees from the CIHR National Poster Presentation competition are then selected for a second round of judging conducted by Gairdner Laureates to determine Gairdner Award recipients and the Lindau Award recipient.
As a recipient of all three awards, Lianna will represent Canada at the next Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting dedicated to Physiology and Medicine, alongside a select group of Vanier Scholars and Banting Fellows.
A version of this article originally appeared on UBC’s Grad Studies website.