Alexander Wong is internationally recognized for his pioneering contributions to operational artificial intelligence and computational medical imaging. As a Canada Research Chair at the University of Waterloo, his work on scalable and explainable deep learning aims at making AI technology accessible to everyone, and at gaining a deeper understanding in how neural networks think. A prolific innovator, his creative work in computational medical imaging has led to the invention of a new form of MRI designed for cancer detection, the first blood-flow imaging system for observing arterial and venous flow from a distance, and a spectral light-field fusion microscope without lenses.

Alexander Wong est reconnu sur le plan international pour ses contributions pionnières en intelligence artificielle opérationnelle et imagerie médicale informatisée. Titulaire d’une Chaire de recherche du Canada à la University of Waterloo, ses travaux sur l’apprentissage profond mesurable et explicable visent à rendre la technologie de l’intelligence artificielle accessible à tout le monde et à acquérir une meilleure compréhension de la manière de penser des réseaux neuronaux. Inventeur prolifique, ses travaux créatifs en imagerie médicale informatisée ont mené à la création d’une nouvelle forme d’IRM conçue pour la détection des cancers, le premier système d’imagerie du flux sanguin pour l’observation à distance des flux artériels et vénaux, et un microscope à lumière spectrale sans lentilles.

Professor Wong is one of the very top leaders internationally in the important, widely cultivated, extensively applied and extraordinarily difficult field of asymptotic analysis. His work is characterized by great power, strict rigour, deep insight, imaginative originality, remarkable clarity and by wide-ranging applicablity within mathematics and to physics, engineering and statistics. In the asymptotics of integrals containing a parameter, subsuming such important transforms as those of Hankel, Hilbert, Kantorovich-Lebedev and Stieltjes, his novel methods yielded complete expansions and computable error bounds, all completely rigorously.

Long Citation K. Max Wong is a leader in signal processing. His research ranges from fundamental theory and algorithms to applications and designs of signal processors in communication, radar, and sonar systems. His work brought high resolution array processing methods into practical use in non-ideal environments. He pioneered applications of convex optimization to signal processing and solved design problems in line and wireless communications previously considered impossible. Author of over 200 technical papers, his inventions include the transmultiplexer and the wavelet echo canceller used in daily telephone systems while his algorithms in target detection and estimation are implemented in our defence systems. Short Citation K. Max Wong is a leader in signal processing who pioneered applications of convex optimization to signal processing and solved design problems in line and wireless communications previously considered impossible. His research ranges from fundamental theory and algorithms to applications and designs of signal processors in communication, radar, and sonar systems.

James Woodgett is Head of Experimental Therapeutics at the Ontario Cancer Institute and a major contributor to our understanding of the mechanisms by which proteins can convey signals and regulate cell activity. He began with studies of a protein regulator of glycogen metabolism (GSK-3); he showed that GSK is part of the signal pathway that is important in hepatic apoptosis. Woodgett's major work has been the elucidation of the signaling pathway triggered by genotypic stress. The Stress Activated Protein Kinase (SAPK) pathway is important in cellular response to drugs and may play a key role in resistance to cancer chemotherapy. His accomplishments have been recognized by appointment as Senior MRC Scientist, early promotion to full professor and appointment as Head of Experimental Therapeutics at the Ontario Cancer Institute.

Arch Woodside, Professor of Marketing, Carroll School of Management, Boston College, is one of the world's leading authorities on marketing and consumer psychology. Among his 350 academic journal articles (published in some 35 different major scientific journals) and conference proceedings papers and 24 books, he has contributed many articles identified in the scientific literature as seminal studies. His citations count places him in the 99.99 percentile among full professors. He has been recognized as a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society and the Society for Marketing Advances. He has served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Marketing at 12 universities in Canada, Finland, Hungary, Croatia, Colombia, New Zealand, Australia, Austria, the United States and the United Kingdom. Since 1974, he has served as the editor of a leading academic journal in his field, the Journal of Business Research.

Andrew Woolford's research sits at the forefront of genocide studies and has contributed to rethinking how genocide applies to Canadian settler colonialism. He is author or editor of several important books on diverse topics such as treaty negotiations, residential schools, restorative justice, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. His current research is a community-led effort to use virtual technology to foster empathy for and knowledge about Canada's residential schools.

Les recherches d’Andrew Woolford se situent à l’avant-garde des études sur le génocide et ont contribué à repenser la façon dont le génocide s’applique au colonialisme du peuplement canadien. Il est l’auteur ou le réviseur de plusieurs livres importants sur différents sujets comme les négociations de traité, les écoles résidentielles, la justice réparatrice, et le Musée canadien pour les droits de la personne. Sa recherche actuelle est un effort communautaire visant à utiliser la technologie virtuelle pour favoriser l’empathie et les connaissances sur les écoles résidentielles du Canada.

Michael Wortis was already recognized as a leading theoretical physicist before he came to Canada, as was indicated by his appointment in 1987 as the first incumbent of the Shrum Chair of Science at Simon Fraser University. He was well known for his important contributions to the theory of spin waves in ferromagnets and for his contributions to the statistical mechanics of surfaces. After coming to Canada, Professor Wortis pioneered the quantitative study of shape transitions of liposomes, cell-like objects that exhibit many of the properties of biological cells. The quantitative study of shape transitions in liposomes is now an active area of study in biological physics, and the theory of shape transitions in its modern form is due to Michael Wortis and his associates.

Long Citation Jeff Wrana has played a key role in deciphering the signaling pathways activated by the TGFß superfamily of secreted growth factors, and has made lasting contributions to our understanding of signal transduction. In early work, Jeff elucidated the mechanism by which TGFß signals through activation of transmembrane serine/threonine kinase receptors. He went on to identify the mammalian Smad signaling pathway. He isolated the first R-Smad (originally MADR1), and showed that R-Smads are substrates of serine/threonine kinase receptors that transduce signals directly from the receptor into the nucleus. More recently he has discovered proteins, such as SARA and the Smurf E3 ubiquitin ligases, which regulate TGFß receptor/Smad signaling. Jeff’s work has been pivotal in demonstrating the importance of TGFß receptor/Smad signaling in normal vertebrate development, and in human cancers. Short Citation Jeff Wrana has played a key role in deciphering the signaling pathways activated by the TGFß superfamily of secreted growth factors, and has made lasting contributions to our understanding of signal transduction. In his recent work he has discovered proteins, such as SARA and the Smurf E3 ubiquitin ligases, which regulate TGFß receptor/Smad signaling. Jeff’s work has been pivotal in demonstrating the importance of TGFß receptor/Smad signaling in normal vertebrate development, and in human cancers.

WRIGHT, Gerard D. - Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University Dr. Wright’s research is centered on understanding the origins, evolution and molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. This information is applied in the discovery new anti-infective compounds in particular from microbial natural products.

WRIGHT, Gerard D. - Département de biochimie et de sciences biomédicales, McMaster University Les travaux de recherche de Gérard Wright se concentrent sur la compréhension de l’origine, de l’évolution et des mécanismes moléculaires en jeu dans la résistance des bactéries aux antibiotiques. L’information ainsi obtenue servira à la mise au point de nouvelles molécules anti-infectieuses tirées notamment de produits microbiens naturels.

David Wright is Professor of History and Canada Research Chair in the History of Health Policy at McGill University. A specialist in the social history of Modern medicine, he has published extensively on the history of psychiatry, children’s health and disability, the development of hospitals, medical migration, and the evolution of Canadian Medicare.

David Wright est professeur d’ histoire et titulaire de la Chaire de recherche du Canada sur l’histoire des politiques de santé à l’Université McGill. Spécialiste de l’histoire sociale de la médecine moderne, il a publié de nombreux ouvrages tant sur l’histoire de la psychiatrie, que sur celles de la santé infantile et des handicaps, du développement des hôpitaux, des migrations médicales et de l’évolution de l’assurance maladie au Canada.

Renowned mathematician Jianhong Wu has made foundational contributions to the global dynamics and bifurcation theory. His novel mathematical models have pioneered several research fields. His disease modelling research provides critical insights of mechanisms behind complex patterns and accurately forecasts disease trends. His leadership has profoundly contributed to the paradigm shift toward using interdisciplinary modelling extensively in health planning and firmly establishing Canada as a global leader in mathematical epidemiology.

Mathématicien de renom, Jianhong Wu a apporté des contributions fondamentales à la théorie des dynamiques mondiales et des bifurcations. Ses modèles mathématiques novateurs ont ouvert la voie à plusieurs domaines de recherche. Ses recherches sur la modélisation des maladies fournissent des informations essentielles sur les mécanismes à l’origine de schémas complexes et permettent de prévoir avec précision l’évolution des maladies. Son leadership a profondément contribué au changement de paradigme en faveur d’une utilisation intensive de la modélisation interdisciplinaire dans la planification de la santé, et il a fermement positionné le Canada comme un chef de file mondial de l’épidémiologie mathématique.