Sponsored by the CSC Biological/Medicinal Chemistry Division and Organic Chemistry Division
The Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Lectureship Award is presented to a scientist who has made a distinguished contribution to the field of biological or medicinal chemistry within the past five years of the initial nomination deadline date while working in Canada.
View the Terms of Reference and list of Past Winners
The 2026 winner of the Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Lectureship Award is:
Voula Kanelis, MCIC
University of Toronto Mississauga
Dr. Voula Kanelis earned her PhD studying protein biochemistry and NMR spectroscopy at the University of Toronto with Professors Daniela Rotin, Julie Forman-Kay, and Lewis Kay. She joined the Chemical and Physical Sciences Department at the University of Toronto Mississauga in 2007, where she is now an Associate Professor with graduate appointments in the Departments of Chemistry and Cell & Systems Biology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Kanelis studies the molecular mechanisms underlying regulation of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters. Her group has elucidated structures of ABC transporters, determined how disease-causing mutations compromise ABC protein structure and interactions, and demonstrated the regulatory role of phosphorylation for intrinsically disordered regions of ABC transporters and other proteins. Her contributions have been recognized with a CIHR New Investigator Award, a Wenner Gren Foundation Visiting Speaker Grant from Stockholm University, and a King Charles III Coronation Medal from the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada.