Canada Gairdner International Award 2015: Winners

Recipients

1. Lewis C. Cantley

   Biology

   For his discovery of PI 3-Kinase, a critical component of the cell signaling machinery that plays a key role in normal functions of proliferations and growth and is de-regulated in diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

2. Lynne E. Maquat

   Biology

   For the discovery of the mechanism that destroys mutant messenger RNAs in human cells, nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, which is critically important in both normal and disease states.

3. Michael N. Hall

   Biology

   For his discovery of the nutrient activated protein kinase TOR and elucidation of its central control of cell growth, critical to development and aging and widely implicated in cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular and immune diseases.

4. Shimon Sakaguchi

   Biology

   For his discovery of regulatory T cells, characterization of their role in immunity and application to the treatment of autoimmune diseases and cancer.

5. Yoshinori Ohsumi

   Biology

   For pioneering the molecular elucidation of autophagy, an essential intracellular, degradation system and when disordered, is linked to many diseases including neurodegeneration, cancer, and infection.