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TORONTO — A Vancouver-based researcher is among this year’s winners of the $100,000 Canada Gairdner Awards for her contributions to the study of stem cells and commitment to the advancement of women in science.

Over five decades Dr. Connie Jean Eaves, who co-founded the Terry Fox Laboratory at the B.C. Cancer Agency, has conducted pioneering research into stem cells in the blood and mammary glands, and how they’re altered in leukemia and breast cancer.

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Along with her husband, Alan Eaves, she was part of a team that developed methodologies to detect and quantify blood and mammary-gland stem cells in different situations. This led to the discovery of hidden suppressed normal blood stem cells in patients with leukemia, spurring new research into cancer therapies.

The University of B.C. professor is receiving the Canada Gairdner Wightman Award, which recognizes outstanding leadership in medicine and medical science, both for her own accomplishments and dedication to boosting the careers of budding researchers, many of them women.