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Young Scientist Award
2011 RECIPIENT: Minna Woo
AWARD: The Canadian Diabetes Association established the Young Scientist Award in 1987 for the purpose of encouraging, by appropriate recognition, outstanding research conducted in Canada by young scientists in the field of diabetes. This award continues today with the support of the CH Best Research Fund of Canadian Diabetes Association. The award consists of a plaque and a cash award of five thousand dollars ($5,000). The significance of the award and the distinguished recipient is recognized by a special lecture.
Dr. Woo is currently a Clinician Scientist dedicating her time in diabetes research and patient care for individuals living with diabetes. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Medical Biophysics at University of Toronto, and staff endocrinologist at St. Michael’s Hospital since 2001.
Dr. Woo obtained her MD in 1991, followed by specialty clinical training in Internal Medicine and subspecialty fellowship in Endocrinology and Metabolism all at the University of Toronto. During this time she accumulated clinical knowledge in diabetes and diabetes care. After becoming a specialist in diabetes care, she pursued further training in molecular research, in hopes of conducting basic science research to better understand clinical diseases, under Dr. Tak Mak’s supervision. There, she completed her PhD in the Department of Immunology at University of Toronto in 2000. Her thesis topic was on molecular mechanisms of apoptosis, or programmed cell death using genetic mouse models. She discovered that caspases, which are largely known for their role in the execution of apoptosis, are also important in other cellular processes including cell cycle and even paradoxical cell survival. After obtaining her PhD, she launched her independent research in diabetes by examining mechanisms of apoptosis and survival in pancreatic beta cells. She continued to make novel observations that caspases have a complex role, not only in determining cell survival or apoptosis but also involved in the regulation of insulin secretion. Her research team has expanded their research focus on other molecules, including tumour suppressors and oncogenes that determine important cell fate, in hopes of finding novel strategies for beta cell expansion while preserving their function.
In addition to pancreatic beta cells, Dr. Woo’s research team examines the fundamental genes that determine life and death in other tissues relevant in diabetes pathogenesis, particularly the genes that affect insulin sensitivity. Her teams’ overall research goal is to understand the tissue-specific effects of the ubiquitous life-death determining signaling pathways that have distinct tissue and context-specific roles that ultimately contribute to diabetes pathogenesis. This will lead to discoveries of novel therapeutic targets for diabetes. Dr. Woo’s research is funded by operating grants from the CDA and CIHR.
Dr. Woo is actively involved in the diabetes research community both locally and nation-wide. Within University of Toronto, she participates in training young scientists and clinician scientists. Within CDA, she serves as Vice Chair Scientific Elect in the Clinical and Scientific Section of their Executive Council, Vice Chair of the Personnel Awards Committee, and in the National Research Council. She is also a panel member for the Diabetes, Obesity and Lipid panel of the CIHR grants review committee. Finally, she dedicates her time for diabetes care for patients living with diabetes.
Previous recipients:
2010 Dr. Timothy Kieffer
2009 Dr. Vincent Poitout
2008 Dr. Jeffrey A. Johnson
2007 Dr. Peter Light
2006 Dr. C. Bruce Verchere
2005 Dr. André Marette
2004 Dr. Gregory Korbutt
2003 Dr. Michael Wheeler
2002 Dr. Robert Hegele
2001 Dr. Gary Lewis
2000 Dr. Pere Santamaria
1999 Dr. Hertzel Gerstein
1998 Dr. Patricia Brubaker
1997 Dr. Jean-Pierre Després
1996 Dr. Daniel Drucker
1995 Dr. Diane Finegood
1993 Dr. George Fantus
1991 Dr. Gerald Van de Werve
1990 Dr. Amira Klip
1988 Dr. Bernard Zinman
1987 Dr. Jerry Radziuk