UBC Reports | Vol. 49 | No. 1 | Jan.
2, 2003
Strynadka awarded the 2002 Steacie Prize
Natalie Strynadka, associate professor of Biochemistry and
an expert in the design of new antibiotics, has been awarded
the 2002 Steacie Prize, Canada’s top award for young
scientists and engineers.
Strynadka and her research team recently discovered that
an enzyme that plays a key role in the function of antibiotic-
resistant bacteria is abnormally structured — a difference
that allows the bacteria to survive in the presence of antibiotics.
The information will help scientists design new classes of
drugs to conquer potentially lethal infections caused by the
bacteria.
An associate member of UBC’s Biotechnology Laboratory
and a member of the Centre for Blood Research, Strynadka joined
UBC in 1997.
She is an Investigator of the Canadian Institutes of Health
Research, a Burroughs Wellcome New Investigator and a Howard
Hughes Medical Institute International Scholar.
Previous Steacie Prize recipients include Biotechnology Laboratory
faculty members Brett Finlay and Terry Snutch.
The Steacie Prize is a Canadian award of $15,000 presented
to a scientist or engineer of 40 years of age or less for
outstanding scientific work. The prize is given by the E.W.R.
Steacie Memorial Fund, a private foundation dedicated to the
advancement of science and engineering in Canada.
