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The Till & McCulloch Award
Drs. James Till and Ernest McCulloch
In 2005, the Stem Cell Network inaugurated the Till & McCulloch Award in honour of Canadian scientists James Till and Ernest McCulloch, whose pioneering work established the field of stem cell research.
The Till & McCulloch Award recognizes the most impactful peer-reviewed article of the year by a stem cell or regenerative medicine researcher working in Canada. In exceptional cases, the selection committee may consider granting a Lifetime Achievement Award to honour a researcher who has made outstanding contributions to the Canadian stem cell and regenerative medicine field throughout their career.
The 2025 Till & McCulloch Award will be presented to a researcher in Canada in recognition of their publication of a highly impactful research article in the field of stem cells and/or regenerative medicine between June 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025.
Nominations for the 2025 Till & McCulloch Award
In anticipation of the 2025 Till & McCulloch Meetings, we invite you to participate in celebrating Canadian scientific excellence. The Till & McCulloch Award is presented at the annual Till & McCulloch Meetings. The recipient of the Award is presented with a commemorative framed edition of the winning publication and delivers the annual Till & McCulloch Lecture.
Dr. Maria Cristina Nostro
Senior Scientist, McEwen Stem Cell Institute at University Health Network
Associate Professor, University of Toronto
Harry Rosen Chair in Diabetes Regenerative Medicine Research
Dr. Nostro receives the 2025 Till & McCulloch Award for her groundbreaking research on how immune cells support human pancreas development.
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 is recognized for her paper published in Cell Stem Cell entitled, “Embryonic macrophages support endocrine commitment during human pancreatic differentiation.” 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.
Past Recipients of the Till & McCulloch Award
Derek van der Kooy, University of Toronto (2005)
John E. Dick, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (2006)
Connie Eaves, University of British Columbia (2007)
Janet Rossant, SickKids Research Institute (2008)
Guy Sauvageau, University of Montreal (2009)
Timothy Caulfield, University of Alberta (2010)
Aaron Schimmer, University Health Network (2012)
Peter Zandstra, University of Toronto (2013)
Michael Rudnicki, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (2014)
Timothy Kieffer, University of British Columbia (2015)
Molly Shoichet, University of Toronto (2016)
Harold Atkins, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (2017)
Fabio Rossi, University of British Columbia (2018)
Freda Miller, The Hospital for Sick Children (2019)
Bartha Knoppers, McGill University (2020)
Jeff Biernaskie, University of Calgary (2021)
Connie Eaves, University of British Columbia and Terry Fox Laboratory (2022)
Gordon Keller, McEwen Stem Cell Institute, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and University of Toronto (2023)
Slava Epelman, University of Toronto, Peter Munk Cardiac Center (2024)
The Drew Lyall Award of Excellence
Drew Lyall
Drew Lyall was the inaugural executive director of the Stem Cell Network and, over 12 years, helped build it into an internationally respected research and development powerhouse. He died in January 2016, in Ottawa, a few days shy of his 50th birthday after an eight-year battle with melanoma.
To honour Drew’s memory, and to recognize his legacy, in 2016 SCN inaugurated the Drew Lyall Award of Excellence. This award is presented annually at the Till & McCulloch Meetings to the lead author of the highest ranked abstract in the abstract competition, and is accompanied by the delivery of the Drew Lyall Award of Excellence talk.
Brandon Murareanu
Ph.D. Student, Stephanie Protze Lab,
McEwen Stem Cell Institute, University Health Network
Brandon Murareanu is the recipient of the 2025 Drew Lyall Award of Excellence for the highest-ranked abstract in the TMM2025 abstract competition. He is recognized for his work as lead author on “Breaking through ENGRAFTment barriers with cell therapy functional genomics.”
Born in Toronto and raised in the small town of Alliston Ontario, Brandon has been an active researcher close to home in one of Canada’s premier science hubs for the last 8 years. 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. supervised by Dr. Stephanie Protze at the McEwen Stem Cell Institute. Applying familiar concepts to an entirely new field, his Ph.D. aims to harness high-throughput functional genomics to shed new light on some of cell therapy’s most pressing problems, including barriers to engraftment.
Past Recipients of the Drew Lyall Award of Excellence
2016: Huijuan Yang, PhD student, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto
2017: Siraj Zahr, PhD student, University of Toronto
2018: Zakaria Orfi, Post-Doctoral Fellow, CHU Sainte-Justine Research Centre, Université de Montréal
2019: Neemat Mahmud, PhD student, University of Toronto
2020: Sabiha Hacibekiroglu, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health
2021: Darren Blackburn, PhD student, Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, McGill University
2022: Tyson Ruetz, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Stanford University, under the supervision of Dr. Anne Brunet.
2023: Murtaza Nagree, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, under the supervision of Dr. John Dick.
2024: Shenghui Liang, Post-Doctoral Fellow, in the Timothy Kieffer Lab, University of British Columbia