Celebrating 112 appointments from across disciplines and around the world
CIFAR is proud to announce new program appointments across its four research theme areas: Life & Health, Individuals & Society, Information & Matter and Earth & Space.
Among the 112 new fellows and advisors are:
- Medical doctors who develop new ways to treat deadly fungal infections;
- Computer scientists who design robots that can understand what they see;
- Microbiologists who uncover new species of bacteria deep beneath the earth’s surface;
- Lawyers and legal scholars interested in the nature of citizenship;
- Four CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars, early-career researchers who represent the next generation of research leaders, who become CIFAR fellows.
The new fellows are among the 400+ extraordinary interdisciplinary researchers from around the world who convene at regular CIFAR program meetings to address science and humanity’s most important questions.
“With time and the freedom that CIFAR offers, we believe their research will transform knowledge and improve lives.”
Fellows and program advisors share and critique preliminary findings and data, often prior to publication, and gain insights from peers across disciplines. The environment of intellectual freedom afforded by CIFAR fosters deep collaboration and trust between program members.
“I am proud to welcome these research leaders into the CIFAR community,” says John Hepburn, Vice-President of Research & Partnerships, CIFAR. “Program members are carefully selected so that meetings are vibrant and intellectually stimulating. With time and the freedom that CIFAR offers, we believe their research will transform knowledge and improve lives.”
About CIFAR
CIFAR is a Canadian-based global charitable organization that convenes extraordinary minds to address science’s and humanity’s most important questions.
Quick Facts about New Fellows
- 112 new fellows, advisors & co-directors
- Four CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars become fellows
- CIFAR’s community of fellows includes 400+ of the world’s most accomplished fellows, scholars and advisors – New program members represent universities and research institutions in 10 countries; Our community of fellows represent 130+ institutions in 22 countries
- Our new research portfolio includes 13 interdisciplinary research programs – Research programs are funded for an average of 10 years
- 19 Nobel laureates have been affiliated with CIFAR since its founding in 1982
- More than half of CIFAR fellows have contributed to the top 1% of most influential research papers
Life & Health
Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities
What might we uncover in an unknown biosphere?
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New co-directors: Joseph Heitman, Duke University New advisors: Arturo Casadevall, Johns Hopkins University David Denning, University of Manchester Neil Gow, University of Exeter Regine Kahmann, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology John Taylor, University of California, Berkeley |
New fellows:
David Blehert, US Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center Charles Boone, University of Toronto (Former Genetic Networks co-director) Christina Cuomo, Broad Institute Matthew Fisher, Imperial College London Sarah Gurr, University of Exeter Hailing Jin, University of California, Riverside Bruce S. Klein, University of Wisconsin J.W. Kronstad, University of British Columbia Don Sheppard, McGill University Jason E. Stajich, University of California, Riverside Eva Holtgrewe Stukenbrock, University of Kiel & Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Biology Gerard Wright, McMaster University |
Humans & the Microbiome
How do microbes that live in and on us affect our health, development and even behaviour?
| New co-director:
Melissa Melby, University of Delaware (former advisor) |
New fellows:
Katherine R. Amato, Northwestern University (former CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar) Maria Gloria Dominguez, Rutgers University |
Molecular Architecture of Life
How does life originate and what are the processes that make life possible?
No changes
Individuals & Society
Azrieli Brain, Mind & Consciousness
What are the origins and mechanisms of consciousness?
No changes
Boundaries, Membership & Belonging
Is it possible to have a world without “us” and “them”?
| New co-directors:
Irene Bloemraad, University of California Berkeley Will Kymlicka, Queen’s University New advisors: Keith Banting, Queen’s University Catherine Dauvergne, University of British Columbia Hazel Markus, Stanford University (also an advisor in Successful Societies) Vijayendra Rao, World Bank (also an advisor in Successful Societies Ayelet Shachar, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious & Ethnic Diversity |
New fellows: Yasmeen Abu-Laban, University of Alberta Victoria M. Esses, Western University Allison Harell, Université de Québec à Montréal Evan S. Lieberman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Audrey Macklin, University of Toronto Stephen Reicher, St. Andrews University Prerna Singh, Brown University (also a fellow in Successful Societies) Andreas Wimmer, Columbia University |
Innovation, Equity & the Future of Prosperity
How can innovation be beneficial to all?
| New co-directors:
Dan Breznitz, University of Toronto Susan Helper, Case Western Reserve University New associate director: Amos Zehavi, Tel Aviv University New advisor: Woody Powell, Stanford University |
New fellows:
Yochai Benkler, Harvard Law School Jane Gingrich, University of Oxford Ray Gosine, Memorial University William Lazonick, Academic-Industry Research Network Keun Lee, Seoul National University Ken Lipartito, Florida International University Andrew Schrank, Brown University |
Child & Brain Development
How do childhood experiences affect lifelong health?
| New co-directors:
Takao Hensch, Harvard University (former fellow) Candice Odgers, University of California Irvine (former fellow) New advisors: Thomas Boyce, University of California, San Francisco (former program co-director) Ulman Lyndenberger, Max Planck Institute for Human Development Michael Meaney, McGill University (former fellow) |
New fellows:
Daniel Ansari, Western University Daniel Belsky, Columbia University Ami Citri, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Kieran O’Donnell, McGill University (former CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar) Marla Sokolowski, University of Toronto (former program co-director) New associate fellows: Megan Gunnar, University of Minnesota (former fellow) David Clayton, Queen Mary University of London (former fellow) Daniela Kaufer, University of California Berkeley (former fellow) Bryan Kolb, University of Lethbridge (former fellow) Janet Werker, University of British Columbia (former fellow) Brian Dias (former CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar) |
Earth & Space
Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration
How do we understand the life, groundwater and environment deep below the surface of the planet?
| New co-directors:
Barbara Sherwood Lollar, University of Toronto Jack Mustard, Brown University New advisors: Jan Amend, University of Southern California Fumio Inagaki, R&D Center for Ocean Drilling Science Jeffrey McDonnell, University of Saskatchewan Bénédicte Ménez, Paris Diderot University & Institute Physique du Globe |
New fellows: Chris Ballentine, University of Oxford Heather Graham, University of Guelph Jennifer McIntosh, University of Arizona Joseph Michalski, University of Hong Kong Victoria Orphan, California Institute of Technology Magdalena Osburn, Northwestern University Nigel Smith, SNOLAB & Laurentian University Vlada Stamenković, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Gravity & the Extreme Universe
What is the nature of extreme gravity, and how can it help us understand the origin and evolution of the universe?
| New fellows:
Juna Kollmeier, Carnegie Institution for Science Kendrick Smith, Perimeter Institute |
Information & Matter
Learning in Machines & Brains
How do we understand intelligence and build intelligent machines?
| New advisor:
Joelle Pineau, McGill University (former fellow) |
New fellows: Leon Bottou, Facebook AI Research Emmanuel Dupoux, School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) Chelsea Finn, Stanford University Bernhard Schölkopf, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems Raquel Urtasun, Uber ATG and University of Toronto |
Quantum Information Science
How do we harness the power of quantum mechanics to improve information processing?
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New advisors: Michel Devoret, Yale University John Preskill, California Institute of Technology Ray Laflamme, University of Waterloo (former fellow) New fellows: Dorit Aharonov, Hebrew University of Jerusalem Stacey Jeffery, Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica Ben Lanyon, Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information Irfan Siddiqi, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Stephanie Simmons, Simon Fraser University Guifre Vidal, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics Thomas Vidick, California Institute of Technology |
New associate fellows: David Bacon, Google Jay Gambetta, IBM Matthew Hastings, Microsoft Research Jeremy O’Brien, PsiQuantum Matthias Troyer, Microsoft Research
|
Quantum Materials
How could quantum materials transform our society?
| New co-director:
Leon Balents, University of California Santa Barbara New advisors: Nigel Hussey, Radboud University Allan Macdonald, University of Texas at Austin Roser Valenti, Goethe University Frankfurt |
New fellows:
James Analytis, University of California, Berkeley N. Peter Armitage, Johns Hopkins University Claudia Felser, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids Liang Fu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Satoru Nakatsuji, University of Tokyo Kathryn Ross, Colorado State University (former CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar) |