Margolese National Brain Disorders Prize

Deadline: 2024 competition now closed

The Margolese National Brain Disorders Prize was created by an estate gift made to the University of British Columbia by Leonard Herbert Margolese.

Dr. Michael Hill, 2024 Margolese National Brain Disorders Prize

Purpose of the Prize

The Margolese National Brain Disorders Prize will be awarded annually to a Canadian physician or scientist who makes outstanding contributions to the treatment, amelioration, or cure of brain disorders. The prize is awarded with the expectation that
the recipient will continue to make outstanding contributions in the future, since this is not a lifetime achievement award. Among the criteria that will be considered is:

  • Impact on policy and practice
  • Forging partnerships with scientists and others to foster brain disorders research and/or to implement discoveries
  • Cultivating future leaders in the field
  • Contributions to the treatment, amelioration, or cure of brain disorders
  • New: Approach to ensuring equity, diversity and inclusion is embedded
    in all aspects of research, leadership and mentorship

Monetary Award for Each Prize

One prize of $50,000 payable in Canadian dollars will be awarded annually.

Eligibility Requirements

To be considered for a prize, nominees must be Canadian citizens holding an academic appointment in good standing and be active and productive in their career. Nominees must be nominated by an expert in their field and self-nominations will not be accepted. The nominee must have made outstanding contributions to the treatment, amelioration, or cure of brain disorders. The Selection Review Committee reserves the right to rule on the eligibility of nominees. The University may decline to award a prize in any given year if the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine is of the opinion that awarding a prize is impractical or undesirable.

ELIGIBILITY NOTE FOR 2024 COMPETITION: A prize will be awarded to a person employed by the University of British Columbia once and only once out of every six years. The Margolese National Brain Disorders Prize was awarded to a person employed by the University of British Columbia in 2023 (therefore persons employed by the University of British Columbia are eligible for the prize in 2029). The University may decline to award a prize in any given year if the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine is of the opinion that awarding a prize is impractical or undesirable. 

Contact

Meredith Ladner
Research Administration Coordinator
Faculty of Medicine, Office of Research
meredith.ladner@ubc.ca

Nomination Package

Nominations require:

  1. A letter of nomination stating the nominee’s contributions to the treatment, amelioration or cure of brain disorders, the nominee’s cultivation of future leaders, and the nominee’s impact on their field of work and approach to ensuring equity, diversity and inclusion is embedded in all aspects of research, leadership and mentorship, including a list of the nominees’ five most significant publications and the reasons why the nominee should receive the award (three pages maximum); include a statement of impact in the Nomination Letter.  
  2. The nominee’s institutional CV, including a complete list of publications; 
  3. Two letters of support from experts in the nominee’s field of work. At least one letter must be from an expert outside Canada and at least one letter must be from outside the nominee’s home institute (Please Note: Letter from outside Canada can be the same as the one from outside home institute); and 
  4. Confirmation of the nominee’s Canadian citizenship. 

Please address all letters to:

Dr. W. Robert McMaster, Vice Dean, Research
317-2194 Health Sciences Mall
Vancouver BC, V6T 1Z3
Canada

The nominations of eligible candidates may be considered for up to three years. Please refer to the Margolese National Brain Disorders Prize Guidelines for more information and complete nomination instructions.

Submission

Please see the Online Submission Portal for all submissions. This includes all re-submission nominations.

Link to online submission portal will be updated when 2025 competition is launched.

Past Winners

YearRecipient
2024Dr. Michael Hill, The University of Calgary
2023Dr. Terrance Snutch, The University of British Columbia
2022Dr. Anthony Lang, University of Toronto
2021Dr. Sandra Black, University of Toronto
2020Dr. Molly Schoichet, University of Toronto & Dr. Peter St George-Hyslop, University of Toronto
2019Dr. Gustavo Turecki, McGill University
2018Dr. Kullervo Hynynen, University of Toronto
2017Dr. Ian Mackenzie, The University of British Columbia
2016Dr. Michael Meaney, McGill University
2015Dr. James Rutka, University of Toronto
2014Dr. Alan Evans, McGill University
2013Dr. Andres Lozano, University of Toronto
2012Dr. Guy Rouleau, University of Montreal
2011Dr. Michael Hayden, The University of British Columbia