Sponsored by the CSC Biological and Medicinal Chemistry Division of the CSC and Simon Fraser University
The Melanie O’Neill New Investigator Award is presented to a scientist residing in Canada who has made a distinguished contribution to biological chemistry or biophysical methods.
The 2026 awards are now open for submission.
Nominate yourself or a colleague deserving of recognition.
Press release: Award winners will be recognized at the x2026 Conference.
View the Terms of Reference and list of Past Winners
The 2025 winner of the Melanie O’Neill New Investigator Award in Biological Chemistry is:
Adam Shuhendler, MCIC
University of Ottawa
Dr. Adam Shuhendler is improving imaging-based diagnosis with advancements in molecular imaging and chemical biology. His lab develops novel molecular and nanoparticle-based imaging agents to visualize early signs of disease using clinical imaging technologies such as MRI, PET, and optical coherence tomography.
Shuhendler received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Toronto, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University’s Molecular Imaging Program. He established his lab at the University of Ottawa in 2015, where he is now Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) and Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences.
Shuhendler has received numerous accolades, including the John Charles Polanyi Prize for Chemistry from the Government of Ontario (2015), the Young Investigator Award from the Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Council of the Society for Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (2015), and a Dorothy Killam Fellowship (2023).
Notable achievements include an aldehyde-responsive MRI contrast agent for mapping brain injury in concussion, creating gold nanoassemblies to identify very early signs of heart disease, and providing imaging dyes for unmet needs of patients with kidney, brain, and heart disease. His work has been published in prestigious journals such as Nature Communications, Nature Nanotechnology, and the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.