In this edition of Honour Roll:
Dr. Andrew Boozary receives Governor General's Innovation Award
Congratulations to Dr. Andrew Boozary on receiving the Governor General's Innovation Award, one of Canada's highest honours recognizing transformative innovation across all sectors of society. The award celebrates solutions that improve quality of life and inspire the next generation of Canadian innovators.
Dr. Boozary, Executive Director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine at UHN, was recognized for his leadership in developing Dunn House, Canada's first hospital-led social medicine housing initiative.
Located in Toronto's Parkdale community, Dunn House reimagines health care by addressing housing as a core determinant of health. Under Dr. Boozary's leadership, UHN has partnered with the City of Toronto, the non-profit organizations United Way Greater Toronto and Fred Victor, and all levels of government to transform a former hospital parking lot into 50 supportive housing units for people experiencing homelessness who are also frequent hospital users.
Researchers recognized by the American Association for Cancer Research
Congratulations to two UHN researchers, Drs. Cheryl Arrowsmith and Hansen He, on receiving 2026 Scientific Achievement Awards from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Dr. Arrowsmith, a senior scientist at
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, has received the Outstanding Achievement in Chemistry in Cancer Research Award.
The award honours novel chemistry research that has advanced our understanding of cancer and helped improve its diagnosis, prevention or treatment. Dr. Arrowsmith, also the chief scientist of the Structural Genomics Consortium (Toronto) and a professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, is being recognized for her work helping scientists understand how genes are controlled in cancer.
Her research revealed how certain proteins interact with DNA to regulate gene expression. She also developed specialized chemical tools — small molecules that interact with these proteins — that scientists around the world now use to study cancer and identify potential new drug targets.
Through her leadership of the Structural Genomics Consortium, she has championed open sharing of scientific data and tools, speeding up the discovery of new approaches to treating cancer.
Dr. He, a senior scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, has received the Outstanding Achievement in Basic Cancer Research.
This award honours early-career investigators for meritorious achievements in basic cancer research. Also a professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, Dr. He's work has shown how changes in the way DNA is packaged and accessed inside cells can switch cancer-related genes on and off.
His research has shown how changes in gene regulation can allow cancer cells to grow, adapt and become resistant to treatment.
By combining advanced genetic research with clinical insight, his work has provided valuable resources and pointed the way toward new, more precise RNA-based cancer therapies.
And congratulations to Dr. Pamela Ohashi who was inducted as a fellow into the AACR Academy at this year's annual meeting, which honours scientists, clinicians and physician-scientists whose visionary work has reshaped the landscape of cancer research.
She was recognized for key discoveries into how immune cells are activated in cancer and how the environment around tumours can weaken those defenses. Her work has directly helped guide the development of new immunotherapies now being tested in patients.
This year's meeting also marked the conclusion of Dr. Lillian Siu's term as AACR President. Dr. Siu made history as the first Canadian to hold this role.
Brain Canada grants to advance neurodegenerative disease research
Congratulations to Krembil Brain Institute (KBI) scientist Dr. Mark Reed and KBI clinician investigator Dr. Carmel Tartaglia for receiving
Neurodegeneration x Immunology Accelerator Grants from Brain Canada and the Krembil Foundation.
This $3 million investment aims to support bold, early-stage research into the role of the immune system in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.
Dr. Reed's project, "Pharmacological Inhibition of TRPM2 in Neuroinflammation & Infection Models," focuses on long-lasting inflammation in the brain, known to play a major role in Alzheimer's and other brain diseases.
Dr. Tartaglia's project, "Decoding Regional Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's Disease Through Seeding–Proteome–Spatial Integration," looks at how inflammation affects different parts of the brain in people with Alzheimer's disease.
Her team will study how the brain's immune response varies from region to region, and how it interacts with harmful proteins, such as amyloid and tau, which are known to build up in Alzheimer's disease.
Grant to investigate sex differences in chronic pain
Congratulations to Dr. Nader Ghasemlou, a senior scientist at KBI, for receiving a Brain Canada Momentum Grant.
This $100,000 grant will support Dr. Ghasemlou's project, "Dissecting the impact of biological sex and hormones on circadian microglial rhythms in chronic pain," which investigates why chronic pain fluctuates throughout the day and affects males and females differently — critical factors often overlooked in pain treatments.
Focusing on microglia, immune cells of the central nervous system, the project builds on findings showing sex-specific daily rhythms in pain and microglial activity following nerve injury.
The findings could inform more precise, time-based pain therapies and advance research into other neuroimmune conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis.
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