James Arthur Gairdner was not a scientist – rather, he was a World War I veteran who had served in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, a track-and-field athlete, landscape painter, and chairman of profitable businesses. Although not formally trained in the sciences, Gairdner recognized the value of biomedical research, and sought to celebrate and encourage continual breakthroughs in science, medicine, and global health. His personal battle with severe arthritis further fueled his motivation to support scientific research. Consequently in 1957, Gairdner contributed $500,000 (CAD) to establish a foundation in his family name and two years later, he began what is now regarded as Canada’s most prestigious award in biomedical science.
In 1959, the inaugural Canada Gairdner International Award was granted to six physicians. They included cardiologists, Alfred Blalock and Wilfred Bigelow, who pioneered innovative techniques in cardiac surgery. Of note, Wilfred Bigelow was a Canadian surgeon who introduced the technique of lowering the patient’s body temperature to enable open-heart surgeries and played a pivotal role in inventing the first electronic pacemaker. British pharmacologists, Eleanor Zaimis and William Paton, were also recognized for developing treatments for high blood pressure. Finally, Charles Ragan and Harry Rose received the award for creating a diagnostic test for rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disorder which had been poorly understood prior to their work.
During the years following 1959, the Gairdner Foundation awarded numerous investigators around the world for breaking new ground in cellular and molecular biology, chemistry, surgery, neuroscience, and more. Given its 65-year-long history and thus extensive list of awardees, this article will discuss several immunologists who received the Canada Gairdner International Award – hereafter termed Gairdner Award – and highlight the most recent winners of 2024.
In 1966, the Gairdner Foundation awarded the French-Australian immunologist, Jacques Miller, for discovering the role of the thymus – an organ dedicated to producing immune cells. Specifically, Miller had shown that surgically removing the thymus from neonatal mice stunts the development of a proper immune system. After receiving the award, Miller continued to establish key foundations for immunological research. For instance, he demonstrated that the thymus produces a specific type of immune cell (named “T cell”) that enters the bloodstream to fight infections and interacts with a different, bone marrow-derived immune cell (later named “B cell”) to support antibody production.
Subsequently in 1969, Canadian scientists, James Till and Ernest McCullough, received the prestigious award for developing a technique that was instrumental to the discovery of stem cells. Remarkably, stem cells can generate diverse cell types in the body while sustaining their own population by making copies of itself. Till and McCullough’s seminal work showed that stem cells in the bone marrow can establish a complete cellular repertoire of the blood by giving rise to red and white blood cells as well as platelets.
During the 1970s and 80s, multiple immunologists received the Gairdner Award. In 1973, Kimishige and Teruko Ishizaka were recognized for their discovery of a specific antibody type, called IgE, that triggers allergic reactions. In 1986, Peter Doherty and Rolf Zinkernagel won the award for identifying the immunological mechanism required for recognizing and killing virus-infected cells. Specifically, they had found that immune cells must simultaneously detect both viral and certain “self” (host-derived) molecules to trigger a specified immune response that does not attack against healthy, uninfected cells. Also, along with Mark Davis, Canadian scientist Tak Mak was awarded in 1989 for his joint discovery of genes encoding the T cell receptor. This receptor is a defining feature of T cells that allows them to discern “self” molecules – which are indicative of healthy cells – from foreign counterparts derived from cancerous or infected cells.
Out of 418 recipients of the Gairdner Award thus far, 98 have progressed to become Nobel laureates. For example in 1996, Doherty and Zinkernagel won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their previously described contributions. Additionally, Jules Hoffman received the Gairdner Award for his collaborative discovery of Toll-like Receptors, molecules that allow the immune system to detect invasive microorganisms and initiate an immediate response. Coincidentally, Jules Hoffman won the Nobel Prize that same year in 2011. Similarly, James Allison – recipient of the 2014 Gairdner Award – earned the Nobel Prize in 2018 for his work on cancer immunotherapy. Finally, Katalin Karíko and Drew Weissman won the Gairdner Award and Nobel Prize in 2022 and 2023, respectively, for their research on mRNA vaccines that was critical for resolving the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Flash forward to 2024, the Gairdner Foundation continues to uphold its superior standards in commending outstanding researchers. This year, the Gairdner Award was granted to Shankar Balasubramanian, David Klenerman, and Pascal Mayer for their contributions to creating large-scale, affordable genomic sequencing technologies. Their work has made it possible to analyze the entire genetic makeup of organisms at precedented scale and speed. Zelig Eshhar and Michel Sadelein also received the award for their work on developing Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, a revolutionary approach that involves engineering the patient’s own T cells to identify and destroy cancer cells.
It is worth noting that aside from the Canada Gairdner International Award, there are two other accolades offered by the foundation. The John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award recognizes researchers in public health who engage in policy intervention and address health inequities. Additionally, the Canada Gairdner Momentum Award is presented to mid-career investigators who work in Canada and whose scholarly contributions show potential for continued impact on human health. Altogether, five Canada Gairdner International Awards, one John Dirks Global Health Award, and two Momentum Awards are presented each year. Along with esteem, the laureates earn $100,000 (CAD) and acclaim from the global, scientific community in form of a gala. By commemorating scientific achievements this way, the Gairdner Foundation not only pays tribute to the history of researchers past but also propels the current generation to continue and expand the growing scientific legacy.
Jennifer Ahn
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