His work started with worms: Researcher who helps personalize cancer treatments wins Killam Prize

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This article was published 19/03/2025 (566 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO – Marco Marra spent five years earning his PhD by studying DNA fragments of roundworms, fascinated by the notion that scientists could use them to learn about genetics in animal muscle and nerve function.  

Thirty years later, the University of British Columbia medical genetics professor is leading the way in analyzing the genomes of human cancers to drive personalized treatment for patients — an achievement that would have astonished his younger self.

“This was all happening at a pace that outstripped anything that I could comprehend at the time,” said Marra, who left Simon Fraser University after his worm research to turn to human genetics in St. Louis, where he was part of the international Human Genome Project in the mid-1990s. 

“I came from a fairly traditional laboratory environment, and found myself smack dab in the middle of what I think became known as Big Science, the likes of which biology had never seen.”

On Wednesday, Marra won the 2025 Killam Prize in health sciences, a $100,000 award recognizing excellence in Canadian research. Four others also won the prize in their respective fields of engineering, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences.

For Marra, the award comes on the heels of his appointment to the Order of Canada in December, which also recognized his contribution to genome research in the cancer field.  

When congratulated on both honours, Marra said he was “frankly overwhelmed (and) a little embarrassed,” noting his research colleagues were just as deserving. 

“Nobody does these kinds of things on their own,” he said. “The Killam Prize and the Order of Canada … they’re delightful recognitions, but they tend to focus on the individual, don’t they?”

Marra left the Human Genome Project in St. Louis when renowned Nobel laureate Michael Smith convinced him to return to Canada in 1999 to help him start the Genome Sciences Centre at BC Cancer in Vancouver.   

“It was important that it be in a cancer hospital with access to tumour samples and clinical data from patients,” Marra said.

“I had become convinced that cancer genomics was going to be an important thing, if not revolutionary.” 

Over the next decade, their research progressed and BC Cancer opened a centre called Personalized Onco-Genomics in 2012, co-led by Marra. Oncologists from across B.C. recommend patients for the program if they have exhausted all available treatment options, he said.  

The researchers take tissue from a tumour biopsy, sequence its genome looking for “cancer cell vulnerabilities,” and provide a genetic report to the oncologist. Together, they can assess if there’s a medication or other treatment that could target that vulnerability and kill the cancer. 

The Terry Fox Research Institute has embraced the idea of genetic-based cancer treatment personalized for each patient, Marra said, and is working to make it accessible to people across Canada. 

“This is the culmination, I think, of anything I could ever have hoped for in my wildest dreams,” he said.  

Sharing genomic data from individual cancers between provinces and territories will be critical as the field evolves, Marra said. 

His vision is that “some oncologist here in B.C. recognizes similarities in the patient profile from a patient in Newfoundland and has access to the treating oncologist and (says) ‘hey, we saw a case that looks like that, same genomic profile or a related genomic profile, and we treated them with agent X and here was the response.'” 

The other 2025 Killam laureates are:

Engineering: Peter Zandstra, University of British Columbia, for being “a globally recognized leader in cell therapy bioprocess engineering, with pioneering contributions that are shaping the future of regenerative medicine and immunotherapy” through integrating engineering design, computational modelling and stem cell biology. 

Humanities: Christina Sharpe, York University, for being “one of the most influential voices shaping Black Studies today” through writing, visual and performing art, film, theory, literature, debates, conversations and research in the Black diaspora.  

Natural Sciences: René Doyon, Université de Montréal, for his pioneering work in developing “cutting-edge instruments for detecting and characterizing planets located outside our solar system,” including his contribution to the James Webb Space Telescope, launched by NASA in 2021.

Social Sciences: David Dyzenhaus, University of Toronto, for his research on the role of the rule of law in societies under stress, which has “spurred courts and policy makers to rethink the rule of law,” while his writing is praised as a “powerful and respected reference point in the international debates about the rule of law.”

Bernard F. Miller, the managing trustee of Killam Trusts, said in a news release Wednesday morning that each of the laureates “contribute to increasing the scientific achievements of Canadian institutions.” 

“Now, more than ever, their research is needed to help build Canada’s future, foster innovation and encourage multidisciplinary collaboration, which are core pillars of the Killam values,” he said. 

Killam Trusts was founded in 1965 after the deaths of philanthropists Izaak Walton Killam and his wife Dorothy J. Killam.

2025 DOROTHY KILLAM FELLOWSHIPS

The organization also awarded eight Dorothy Killam Fellowships on Wednesday, which provide $80,000 per year for two years to their institutions to free them up from teaching responsibilities so they can  pursue research on the following topics:  

Heather Aldersey, Queen’s University, to study the full inclusion of people with disabilities.

Jeffrey Ansloos, University of Toronto, to explore the interplay between environmental changes and mental health on Indigenous communities in Canada. 

Jennifer Bruin, Carleton University, to examine how chronic exposure to environmental pollutants contributes to rising global diabetes rates. 

Simon Caron-Huot, McGill University, to deepen understanding of particle physics. 

Laura Horak, Carleton University, to study building a trans-inclusive media culture in Canada. 

David Leitch, University of Victoria, to explore a new approach to platinum group metal catalysts to develop medicine without depleting non-renewable resources. 

Mark Schmidt, University of British Columbia, to address hyper-parameters in machine learning. 

Leyla Soleymani, McMaster University, to study the next generation of wearable health-care devices for early disease detection and prevention.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2025.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.