2 Indian origin professors among three others to receive Killam Prize

Two University of B.C. researchers are among five in Canada to be awarded a 100-thousand dollar Killam Prize for their work.

Sarah Otto, an evolutionary biologist, has pioneered several mathematical models to understand how and why sexual reproduction happens in nature, while Pieter Cullis helped develop the targeted delivery of recently approved drugs for cancer and gene therapies as well as vaccines including the COVID-19 vaccine.

Other winners include Charles Morin, a Laval University psychology professor, Praveen Jain, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Queen's, and Guelph University's Ajay Heble for his studies on building social change through music.

The National Research Council of Canada awards the annual prizes in the categories of health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, engineering and humanities.