Lingyun (Lily) Wu

Distinguished Researcher Award - Fall 2005

The Distinguished Researcher Award recognizes a faculty member's contribution to scholarship through the creation, expansion, and critique of knowledge. Lingyun (Lily) Wu, Associate Professor of Pharmacology in the College of Medicine, is the recipient of the Fall 2005 award.

Wu earned her M.D. in China and practiced medicine there before coming to Canada in 1987. She completed her Master of Science in Physiology at the University of Alberta in 1991. She earned her Ph.D. at the Université de Montréal in 1999, where her dissertation was ranked in the top five per cent. She returned to Western Canada to the University of Saskatchewan in 1999 for post-doctoral training under Dr. Bernhard Juurlink in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology. Wu has published 61 papers, four book chapters, and 97 abstracts. Recently, her research was featured in Time magazine. She has also given more than 20 invited seminars as plenary speaker at national and international conferences. 

A medical scholar working on groundbreaking research garnering national attention, Wu's research focuses on the causes and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, which are responsible for more than 35 percent of deaths in Canada. Her recent work focuses on insulin resistance syndrome, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.

For this work, she has won numerous national and international awards, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator Award, the highest award a young Canadian scientist can receive in the field of health research. Named one of Canada's rising stars, Wu also holds a New Investigator Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and a Young Investigator Award from the Canadian Hypertension Society. She was awarded the Alumni Award of Excellence from University of Alberta Alumni Association in 2004 and the Merck Frost Junior Scientist Award from the Pharmacology Society of Canada in 2005.

Wu has compiled this lengthy record of scholarly achievement while participating actively in the life of the university community, being a devoted teacher to both undergraduate and graduate students. She has supervised seven graduate students, two of which have won major national research awards. Two post-doctoral fellows under her supervision have received substantial fellowships from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation or Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

In June 2005, Wu was honoured with one of the YWCA's Women of Distinction awards, in the Science, Technology and Research category. A member of numerous local and national organizations, she is an active participant in the Saskatoon community. Her achievements contribute greatly to the international reputation of this university and to the success of our students.