The 2026 recipients of the Killam Prize, Dorothy Killam Fellowships and Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowships are advancing knowledge for a stronger Canada
Ottawa, March 11, 2026 – The National Killam Program is pleased to announce the 2026 Killam Laureates, whose contributions to research are having direct impacts on the way we live. The recipients of the Killam Prizes, Dorothy Killam Fellowships and Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowships are barrier-breakers, research leaders and inclusive collaborators inspiring the next generation of researchers in Canada.
“The 2026 Killam Laureates exemplify research excellence that will help in the building of Canada’s future,” said Bernard F. Miller, KC, Managing Trustee, Killam Trusts. “Their research supports innovation, advances learning and knowledge, encourages understanding and collaboration, all of which will strengthen the future well-being of Canada and Canadians.”
“It is an honour to assess the submissions from such highly accomplished and esteemed scholars across research disciplines,” said Maydianne Andrade, Chair, National Killam Selection Committee. “The 2026 Laureates reflect the excellence, diversity and humanity of Canada’s scholarly community.”
“On behalf of the National Research Council of Canada, I am pleased to congratulate the 2026 Killam Laureates on their significant contributions to advancing research in Canada,” said Mitch Davies, President, NRC. “The Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowships offer a unique opportunity to drive research and innovation, fostering stronger collaboration between government and academia to strengthen Canada’s research excellence.”
The Killam Prizes are awarded to active Canadian scholars who have distinguished themselves through sustained research excellence, making a significant impact in their respective fields of engineering, health sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. A prize of $100,000 is awarded to each Killam Prize winner.
The National Killam Program is privately funded through the generous contribution of Dorothy J. Killam to build Canada’s future by encouraging advanced study. Since its inception, the Killam Trusts have provided more than $1 billion for higher education in Canada. There are more than 8,000 Killam laureates worldwide.
Revealing the 2026 Killam Prize winners:
Engineering – Nigel Shrive, University of Calgary
Nigel Shrive is a Faculty Professor at the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. Shrive is a world-renowned expert in biomedical and civil engineering, using his extensive knowledge of structural mechanics to drive forward transdisciplinary collaborative research in areas such as human mobility, cardiovascular mechanics, regenerative medicine and novel medical technologies, with the goal of improving treatments. Shrive set a benchmark for innovation early on, when he held a patent (jointly with his DPhil supervisors) on an artificial knee, which is still being implanted worldwide. In civil engineering Shrive has concentrated mainly on masonry, a field in which he has made many contributions to improve our understanding of this complex material. He continues trying to explain the behaviour of masonry and propose safe design methods. Shrive’s work, teaching and mentorship has shaped generations of engineers for over 45 years, developing the foundational knowledge of engineering principles and a passion for research. Shrive’s work has been field-defining and has led to novel understandings that translate into meaningful changes in Canadian society.
Health Sciences – Lucie Germain, Université Laval
Lucie Germain is a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Director of the LOEX Tissue Engineering Research Center, and Tier One Canada Research Chair in Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering at Université Laval. Germain is recognized as a world leader in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and for translating her discoveries to the clinic. Her fundamental research focuses on developing therapies to heal serious wounds. The LOEX discovery of a new method of tissue engineering, the self-assembly approach, led to the development of a bilayered self-assembled skin substitute (SASS), which is very similar to native skin and allows the preservation of stem cells after grafting. The results provide human models for studying the effects of visible light and UV radiation on skin and exceeded expectations after autologous SASS grafting on severely burned patients. Germain’s commitment to science and to the well-being of the population is evident in the path she has blazed in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
Humanities – Katherine McKittrick, Queen’s University
Katherine McKittrick is Professor of Gender Studies and Canada Research Chair in Black Studies at Queen’s University. Internationally recognized for her contributions to the fields of black studies, studies of liberation, and cultural geographies, she studies the creative contours of black livingness and diasporic placemaking. McKittrick’s research focuses on how histories racial displacement and loss have provided the conditions for black creatives and theorists to disrupt and remake spatial and scholarly norms. Her monograph Demonic Grounds: Black Women and the Cartographies of Struggle was one of the first texts to connect black studies, human geography, and the arts. Demonic Grounds set the stage for the vibrant and dynamic field of black geographies and was followed by multiple studies of black and black feminist geographies, now collected in Heartbreak and Other Geographies. An interdisciplinary scholar, McKittrick stiches together conventional academic forms and creative narratives as a way to challenge methodological norms, while also drawing attention to the complex layers of black imaginative texts, knowledges, and narrative-sonic forms.
Natural Sciences – Marie- Josée Fortin, University of Toronto
Marie-Josée Fortin is a University Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Spatial Ecology. Fortin is a world-renowned expert in spatial ecology, landscape ecology, and conservation biology. Fortin’s timely contributions have revolutionized the prediction of species dispersal and persistence in dynamic, fragmented landscapes, providing needed knowledge for biodiversity conservation, a global issue requiring urgent attention. Her work has transformed how ecologists and environmentalists understand the spatial ecology of populations, communities, and species across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems, and underpins initiatives by researchers, government agencies, and conservation authorities to tackle threats to biodiversity posed by climate change and habitat loss. Fortin’s contributions have changed the paradigms of fundamental knowledge and applied practice, and raised spatial ecology to a powerful and impactful discipline with critical applications for our understanding and conservation of our planet’s ecosystems.
Social Sciences – Margaret Moore, Queen’s University
Margaret Moore is a Professor in the Political Studies department and cross-appointed in Philosophy at Queen’s University. Moore pioneered the field of rights to territory, with important implications for the study of law, political science, and territorial disputes, and is universally recognized as one of its top authorities world-wide. Moore’s work on territory has been hailed a major achievement, and has influenced work not only in political science and political philosophy, but in critical geography, nationalism studies, international legal scholarship, work on colonialism, Indigenous rights, the Arctic and Antarctic, how we think about resources, and in various conflict zones. Prior to the publication of her book, almost all political theory was concerned with the rights and obligations of citizens to the state, and vice versa, but rarely theorized the state’s territorial domain. Moore is a prolific scholar whose research on nationalism, secession, and territory has impacted debates in political theory, comparative politics, Canadian politics, and human rights and international settlement law.
Dorothy Killam Fellowships
The Dorothy Killam Fellowships support scholars of exceptional ability by granting them time to pursue research projects of broad significance and widespread interest within the disciplines of the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, health sciences, engineering or studies linking any of these disciplines. A Dorothy Killam Fellow is a leading researcher whose ground-breaking, best-in-class research stands to have significant impact on a national or global scale. Dorothy Killam Fellowships are valued at $80,000 per year for a total of 2 years, and are paid to the recipients’ institution to provide relief from teaching and administrative duties.
Revealing the 2026 Dorothy Killam Fellows:
- Wendell Nii Laryea Adjetey, McGill University; Project: Exploring Black self-determination, carceral systems and repression in the Americas from the 1870s to1990s
- Chunjiang An, Concordia University; Project:Strengthening Canada’s costal resilience
- Jill Baumgartner, McGill University; Project: Advancing sustainable and climate change-resilient communities
- Lily Cho, York University; Project: Shaping national memory and identity through the archival materials of contemporary Chinese Canadian artists
- Victor Kuperman, McMaster University; Project: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to strengthen and personalize learning to read
- Carla Prado, University of Alberta; Project: Defining protein requirements to protect muscle health during breast cancer treatment
- Joanna Redden, Western University; Project: The role of civic participation in decision-making about Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications
- Wei Shi, Université Laval; Project: Rethinking how data is moved within computing systems to support a more energy-efficient and resilient digital future
Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowship
The Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowships support research excellence and innovation by creating opportunities for Canadian and international scholars to partner with National Research Council of Canada (NRC) researchers, leverage NRC facilities and resources, and share knowledge through new collaborations. The program promotes discovery and innovation through shared exploration, work and growth. The Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowships provide release time from employment for national and international scholars who have demonstrated outstanding research ability and are proposing collaborative research with an NRC researcher. Fellowships are valued at $100,000 CAD per year in the form of a grant that is paid to the institution of each Fellow to cover release time. An additional grant of up to $50,000 CAD is available to accommodate travel and knowledge dissemination costs of the Fellow.
Revealing the 2026 Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellows:
- Shabir Barzanjeh & Sergei Studenikin, University of Calgary and the National Research Council of Canada; Project: Bridging spin qubits and superconducting amplifiers to tackle major obstacles in scalable quantum devices
- Kimberley Hall & Angela Gamouras, Dalhousie University and the National Research Council of Canada; Project: Improving quantum light sources to strengthen Canada’s leadership in quantum technology
- Mitra Mirhassani & Taufiq Rahman, University of Windsor and the National Research Council of Canada; Project: Strengthening autonomous systems through real-time defences
About the National Killam Program
The National Killam Program is privately funded through the generous contribution of Dorothy J. Killam to build Canada’s future by encouraging advanced study. The National Killam Program comprises the Killam Prizes, the Dorothy Killam Fellowships, and the new Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowships. The National Research Council of Canada assumed administration and delivery of the National Killam Program in 2022 after more than 50 years of program delivery by the Canada Council for the Arts. With input from the Killam Trusts, the National Killam Program Advisory Board, and hundreds of stakeholders, the National Killam Program honours Dorothy Killam’s vision for inclusive excellence through an updated approach to program delivery. In April 2024, the new Killam NRC Paul Corkum Fellowships launched, marking an great moment in the Killam legacy and furthering the collaboration between the National Research Council of Canada and the Killam Trusts.
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