Dr. Maria Cristina Nostro to receive the 2025 Till & McCulloch Award for her research on how immune cells support human pancreas development

October 16, 2025 (OTTAWA, ON) – Dr. Maria Cristina Nostro has been named the 2025 Till & McCulloch Award recipient, recognized for her paper published in Cell Stem Cell entitled, “Embryonic macrophages support endocrine commitment during human pancreatic differentiation.”

The Till & McCulloch Award is presented annually to recognize the most impactful peer-reviewed article of the year by a stem cell or regenerative medicine researcher working in Canada. Dr. Nostro, who is a Senior Scientist, McEwen Stem Cell Institute at University Health Network; Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, and Harry Rosen Chair in Diabetes Regenerative Medicine Research was nominated by her peers and selected by the Till & McCulloch Meetings Scientific Program Committee to be the 2025 recipient.

Following the notification of her award, Dr. Nostro stated, “I want to thank the 2025 Till & McCulloch committee for this award. This is such an honor, and I am extremely proud to join a distinguished group of Canadian scientists who paved the way for the remarkable discoveries and clinical translations we are witnessing today. I am also thankful to my present and past teams and my mentors who trusted me and shared their love for science with me.”

In this study, Dr. Nostro and colleagues explored how certain immune cells, called embryonic macrophages, influence the development of the human pancreas. Because it isn’t possible to study these processes directly in the developing human body, the team recreated pancreatic development in the lab using stem cells. They showed that these immune cells help guide the formation and survival of insulin-producing cells and improve their ability to grow after transplantation. This research reveals how immune cells support pancreas development and opens the door to new stem cell–based treatments that could one day provide more effective cell therapies for people with diabetes.

Also being awarded at the Till & McCulloch Meetings this year is the Drew Lyall Award of Excellence for the highest-ranked abstract in the TMM2025 abstract competition. This year the Drew Lyall Award is being presented to Brandon Murareanu for his work as lead author on “Breaking through ENGRAFTment barriers with cell therapy functional genomics.”

Brandon is a Ph.D. Student in the Stephanie Protze Lab at the McEwen Stem Cell Institute, University Health Network. He completed his BSc in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at the University of Toronto in 2021. As an undergraduate supervised by Dr. Aaron Reinke, Brandon studied host-pathogen interactions and pathogen evolution, developing an appreciation for the discovery power of high-throughput screens. Motivated by this experience, Brandon decided to pursue his Ph.D., through which he aims to harness high-throughput functional genomics to shed new light on some of cell therapy’s most pressing problems, including barriers to engraftment.

Dr. Nostro and Brandon Murareanu will accept their awards and will respectively present the Till & McCulloch Award lecture and the Drew Lyall Award of Excellence talk on November 4 at the 2025 Till & McCulloch Meetings in Ottawa.

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About the Till & McCulloch Award
The Till & McCulloch Award was created in honour of Canadian scientists and stem cell pioneers Drs. James Till and Ernest McCulloch, whose pioneering work established the field of stem cell research. The Till & McCulloch Award is presented annually to one researcher in Canada in recognition of their exceptional contributions to global stem cell research in that year. For a list of past awardees, visit www.tillandmcculloch.ca.

About the Drew Lyall Award of Excellence
The Drew Lyall Award of Excellence was created to honour the memory of the Stem Cell Network’s inaugural Executive Director, Drew Lyall, who died in January 2016 a few days shy of his 50^th birthday after an eight-year battle with melanoma. To learn more about Drew and to view a list of past awardees, visit www.tillandmcculloch.ca.

About the Till & McCulloch Meetings
The Till & McCulloch Meetings are Canada’s premier stem cell research and regenerative medicine conference, attracting attendees from across the country and internationally since 2012. Hosted by the Stem Cell Network, the conference brings together world-class scientists, post-graduate students, industry experts and legal and policy scholars who will share the latest research advances and techniques in the field. To register or learn more about the conference visit www.tillandmcculloch.ca.

About the Stem Cell Network
The Stem Cell Network (SCN) is a Canadian not-for-profit that supports stem cell and regenerative medicine research; training the next generation of highly qualified personnel; enabling knowledge mobilization of research; and enhancing the commercialization readiness of stem cell and RM innovations. From the lab to the clinic, SCN’s goal is to power life-saving therapies and technologies through regenerative medicine research for the benefit of all. Created in 2001, with support from the Government of Canada, the Network has funded over 280 research projects and 30 clinical trials, cumulatively driven by experts from 350 research groups across Canada. Since its inception, over 28 biotech companies have been catalyzed or enhanced and more than 7,900 highly qualified personnel have been trained. In 2023, the Government of Canada announced additional funding for SCN through the Strategic Science Fund that will support SCN activities and research through to the end of the decade.