Life Sciences Ontario Awards Dr. Michael Julius with the 2021 LSO Lifetime Achievement Award

On November 25th, Life Sciences Ontario announced the recipients of the 2021 LSO Awards, recognizing outstanding individuals and companies that have contributed to the success of Ontario’s life sciences sector.

We are thrilled to share that Dr. Michael Julius, Shift Health Associate and Former Vice President, Research at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, has been awarded Life Sciences Ontario’s 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award! 

Among his numerous successes and ongoing contributions to Ontario’s life sciences sector, Michael built an international hub for life sciences discovery and commercialization that achieved functional integration of researchers, clinicians, business and patients towards moving discoveries through the marketplace and into the clinic. He shepherded growth to a $125M annual research enterprise that spun off 15 companies over his tenure with Sunnybrook Research Institute. 

Ahead of taking on his leadership position at Sunnybrook, Michael Chaired the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto (1994-2000). He has Chaired both the Canadian Institutes for Health Research review panel for Immunology and Transplantation and Research Canada, an advocacy corporation dedicated to ensuring that the federal government supports and funds the priority of health research in Canada. He serves as a member of Scientific Advisory Boards for a number of companies and has Chaired two of Sunnybrook’s spin-off companies.

Michael and Shift Health have been partners for over two decades and have enjoyed working together to help strengthen the health research and innovation ecosystem in Canada through our work with SRI, MaRS Innovation and Research Canada, among other efforts. We would also like to recognize Michael’s pivotal role in helping us to establish our foothold in the Middle East, bringing vision and passion to our work with research and innovation stakeholders in Saudi Arabia.

Congratulations, Michael, on this momentous achievement! We look forward to celebrating with you—if only virtually—at LSO’s Celebration of Success Awards in February 2021.