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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. Slava Epelman, Clinician-Scientist, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology at the University of Toronto, Peter Munk Cardiac Center, was named the 2024 Till & McCulloch Award recipient. He was recognized for his paper published in Nature Cardiovascular Research entitled, Primitive macrophages induce sarcomeric maturation and functional enhancement of developing human cardiac microtissues via efferocytic pathways.
Dr. Epelman accepted his award and presented the Till & McCulloch Award lecture on November 5 at the 2024 Till & McCulloch Meetings in Montreal.
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.
Dr. Shenghui Liang received the 2024 Drew Lyall Award of Excellence for the highest-ranked abstract in the TMM2024 abstract competition. He was recognized for his work as lead author on a stem cell-derived islet budding model for islet biology and disease study.
Dr. Liang is a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Timothy Kieffer Lab at the University of British Columbia. He accepted his award and presented the Drew Lyall Award of Excellence talk on November 5 at the 2024 Till & McCulloch Meetings in Montreal.
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