2022 Gairdner Science Week Laureate Lectures

The highly anticipated annual Laureate Lectures took place on October 27 as part of Gairdner Science Week. The MaRS Discovery District Auditorium was filled as the seven 2022 Canada Gairdner Award laureates and six Early Career Investigator (ECI) Award recipients took to the stage to present their award-winning research.

Offered in a hybrid format, the 2022 laureates took to the stage delivering fascinating presentations on their diverse areas of expertise. We learned about developing mRNA therapies from Drs. Katalin Karikó, Drew Weissman and Pieter Cullis, whose pioneering work led to the foundational technologies for the highly effective COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. What makes a stem cell a stem cell? We now know thanks to Dr. John Dick. Dr. Deborah Cook explored patient-centred critical care research and Dr. Zulfiqar Bhutta shared his research addressing child health and development in the first thousand days of life.

The event was chaired by Professor Leah Cowen, Vice-President of Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives at the University of Toronto and Dr. Sonny Kohli, Head of Medical & Regulatory Affairs at Roche Canada.