From: Vivek Goel, Vice-President, Research & Innovation
Date: February 21, 2019
Re: 2018 Recipients of the President’s Impact Award (PDAD&C #57)

I am delighted to announce the recipients of the 2018 President’s Impact Awards. The President’s Impact Awards (PIA) celebrate and honour faculty members whose research has led to significant impact beyond academia, including, for example, on society, culture, public policy or law, practices or services, education, the development of products, processes or services from inventions, the economy, health, a profession, the environment, quality of life, or through public engagement. PIA nominees were also considered for the Carolyn Tuohy Impact on Public Policy Award, presented annually under the banner of the U of T Awards of Excellence (AWEX).

Recipients of the PIA are designated as members of the President’s Impact Academy for a period of five years, during which they receive an award of $10,000 per year to be used toward their research. The Academy meets to discuss matters relevant to research impact, offers advice to the Vice-President, Research & Innovation, and advocates for sustained excellence in research and innovation impact within and outside of the University.

I want to thank all the nominators for their support and care in preparing the dossiers. I also want to extend appreciation to the members of the Selection Committee for their time and dedication to the process. Thank you all for your commitment to recognizing excellence in research impact at U of T.

The 2018 PIA recipients are as follows:

Michael Cusimano
Professor, Department of Surgery
Faculty of Medicine; St. Michael’s Hospital

For his significant contributions to the prevention of traumatic brain injury and development of neurosurgery, and for his professional and public education and advocacy. Professor Cusimano is also the recipient of the 2018 Carolyn Tuohy Impact on Public Policy Award.

Kamran Khan
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
Faculty of Medicine; St. Michael’s Hospital; BlueDot

For pioneering research on the globalization of infectious diseases that has informed international policy, and for founding BlueDot, a Toronto-based tech company that protects people around the world from infectious diseases with data-driven technologies.

Tania Li
University Professor, Department of Anthropology
Faculty of Arts and Science

For research that has demonstrated fatal flaws in growth-promoting development policies and outlined more equitable alternatives, shaping rural development research and policy internationally.

Jeffrey Rosenthal
Professor, Department of Statistical Sciences
Faculty of Arts and Science

For contributions to public discourse about the importance of quantitative reasoning, and efforts to improve a variety of societal problems through application of statistical analysis.

Karan Singh
Professor, Department of Computer Science
Faculty of Arts and Science

For contributions in computer graphics, design and animation, through the creation of commercial software (Maya, MeshMixer), companies (JanusVR, JALI) and the Oscar winning animation “Ryan”.

The biographies of this year’s recipients as well as more information about the President’s Impact Award are available online.