James Woodgett

James (Jim) Woodgett is a British-born biologist and the Principal Investigator of an active research laboratory at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health System (formerly Mount Sinai Hospital), in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[1][2] He was the Koffler Director of Research at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute from November 2005 to January 2021.[3]

James (Jim) Woodgett
Born9 February 1960
Leicestershire, England
Occupation(s)Research Institute Director (2005-21) and Principal Investigator
Known forco-discoveries of the molecules PKB/Akt and SAPK/JNKs, and the functions of the GSK-3 genes.
SpouseCaroline
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Academic background
EducationBSc University of York, PhD University of Dundee
Doctoral advisorSir Philip Cohen
Other advisorsTony Hunter, Salk Institute
InfluencesLouis Siminovitch
Academic work
DisciplineMolecular Biology
Sub-disciplineMolecular Biology
InstitutionsLunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto
Notable ideasCharacterization of the biological role of protein kinases including GSK-3, protein kinase B/Akt and stress-activated protein kinases
Websitehttps://www.lunenfeld.ca/

Woodgett's research spans the fields of Signal Transduction, Cancer Stem Cells, Diabetes, and Neurological Disorders.[4] He is known for his co-discoveries of the molecules PKB/Akt and SAPK/JNKs, which have central roles in the evolution of cancer.[5] Woodgett is also an authority on the functions of the GSK-3 genes, which play significant roles in insulin/diabetes and brain development/Alzheimer's disease, as well as bipolar disorder.[5]

Woodgett is a long-time advocate for increasing public support for science and medical research.[6][1][7][8] He is known for his science communication[9] and public science outreach,[2][10][11] as well as his support for Women in STEM[12] and early career researchers.[1]

Woodgett is frequently interviewed by journalists to provide commentary on questions of research relating to health matters, and also medical and science research funding and policy.[1][13][14][15][16]

Biography

Jim Woodgett was born in Leicestershire in the United Kingdom, He grew up in the village of Quorn.[1] Encouraged by his mother, he entered the BBC's Inventor of the Year competition and won a runner-up prize.[1]

Picture of Jim Woodgett at a Toronto Raptors basketball game
Jim Woodgett (at rest)

Woodgett studied biochemistry as an undergraduate at the University of York, before undertaking doctoral research at the University of Dundee, Scotland.[1][17] He did post-doctoral research in Tony Hunter's group at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California.[1] This was followed by five years (1987-1992) at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Middlesex, England, where he headed his own research laboratory.[1]

In 1992, Woodgett and his family emigrated to Canada from the United Kingdom. He worked at the Ontario Cancer Institute, based at Princess Margaret Hospital. His fellow researchers at the time included Tak Mak and Josef Penninger.[5][1][18] Woodgett went on to be appointed head of the division of experimental therapeutics, and director of the Microarray Centre at University Health Network.[1]

In 2005, Woodgett became Director of the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute. He is also a professor of medical biophysics at the University of Toronto.[19]

Research

Jim Woodgett has (co-)authored over 300 peer-reviewed scientific research articles.[4] In 2007, he was interviewed for the Question and Answer section of the journal Current Biology, about his research and thoughts on being a scientist.[17]

Scientific Community Service and Leadership

Woodgett is a Member of the Medical Advisory Board of the Gairdner Foundation.[5]

When the CIHR proposed to change the way that it awarded research grants, including replacing the existing face-to-face peer reviews of grant applications with a virtual, anonymous review system, Woodgett wrote an open letter to Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott criticizing the changes.[20] Within days more than 1,300 scientists and researchers had signed on to his letter. Woodgett subsequently met with Minister Philpott on July 13, 2016.[21] While some plans were re-evaluated, Woodgett later told University Affairs magazine that with the next round of research applications looming, the CIHR grant system "is still a mess."[7]

Together with Professor Imogen Coe, the founding Dean of Science at Ryerson University, Woodgett co-organized a one-day conference, held at the end of May 2017 in Toronto, at which researchers came together to discuss, and to support[22] the findings of the Naylor Report: Investing in Canada's Future – Strengthening the Foundations of Canadian Research.[23][24][25][26]

In June 2016, Dr. Kirsty Duncan, then Minister of Science in the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, commissioned a nine-member advisory panel, chaired by former president of the University of Toronto, Dr. David Naylor, to consult with Canada's research community and to report on the state of basic science and scholarly inquiry in Canada.[23]

Honours and awards

2000 – Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in the field of Molecular Biology and Genetics[27]

2018 – Awarded the Arthur Wynne Gold Medal by the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences[28]

Selected bibliography
  1. John M Kyriakis, Papia Banerjee, Eleni Nikolakaki, Tianang Dai, Elizabeth A Rubie, Mir F Ahmad, Joseph Avruch, James R Woodgett (1994) The stress-activated protein kinase subfamily of c-Jun kinases. Nature 369 (6476): 156–160
  2. Qi-Long Ying, Jason Wray, Jennifer Nichols, Laura Batlle-Morera, Bradley Doble, James Woodgett, Philip Cohen, Austin Smith (2008) The ground state of embryonic stem cell self-renewal. Nature 453 (7194): 519–523

References
  1. Picard, André (26 September 2014). "Leading Canadian scientist's biggest challenge? Funding fatigue". The Globe and Mail (12 May 2018 ed.). Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  2. Woodgett, Jim (15 August 2019). "Opinion: Science is pure, but scientists are human". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  3. "Senior Administration | Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute". www.lunenfeld.ca. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  4. "Jim Woodgett – Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.ca. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  5. "The Gairdner Foundation Team". Gairdner Foundation. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  6. Woodgett, Jim (19 July 2018). "Who needs science advice anyway? Governments, for one". The Conversation. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  7. Rynor, Becky (26 September 2016). "Why Jim Woodgett wrote an open letter blasting CIHR reforms – and what comes next". University Affairs. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  8. Woodgett, Jim (23 July 2018). "Doug Ford fired Ontario's chief scientist. Here's why that's a big deal". The Narwhal. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  9. Woodgett, Jim (2014). "Burning platforms: friending social media's role in #scicomm". Trends in Cell Biology. 24 (10): 555–557. doi:10.1016/j.tcb.2014.08.002. PMID 25260836.
  10. Schmunk, Rhianna (21 October 2017). "Discredited vaccine paper from UBC researchers highlights issue in retraction process, experts say". CBC News. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  11. Hall, Joseph (23 April 2017). "How poor tobacco farmer Henrietta Lacks became a medical superstar after her death". Toronto Star. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  12. Woodgett, Jim (4 April 2019). Role of Men in Promoting Equity in STEM Leadership. Annual Meeting of the Canadian Pain Society. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  13. Beeby, Dean (7 December 2018). "Federal agency racks up big expenses after scientists reject web meetings". CBC News. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  14. Owens, Brian (20 March 2019). "Canada budget overlooks basic research". Nature. 567 (7749): 443–444. Bibcode:2019Natur.567..443O. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-00852-0. PMID 30914809.
  15. Owens, Brian (24 April 2019). "Why are Canada's scientists getting political?". Nature. 568 (7753): S1–S3. Bibcode:2019Natur.568S...1O. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01244-0. PMID 31019321.
  16. Owens, Brian (20 October 2015). "In Canada, election results cheer scientists". Science: AAAS. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  17. Woodgett, Jim (7 August 2007). "Jim Woodgett". Current Biology. 17 (15): R576–R577. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2007.05.014. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 17879460. S2CID 35134311.
  18. Friedland, Martin L. (2013). The University of Toronto: a history. University of Toronto Press. p. 613. ISBN 9781442615366.
  19. "Jim Woodgett*". www.neuroscience.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  20. Woodgett, Jim (20 July 2016). "Open Letter to Minister Jane Philpott". Medium. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  21. Kondro, Wayne (1 July 2016). "Update: Canada's health funder agrees to meet with researchers outraged by peer-review changes". Science | AAAS. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  22. "Support the report – Implementing Canada's Fundamental Science Review is important for all Canadians". Support the report. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  23. Shen, Anqi (12 April 2017). "Naylor report lays the groundwork to renew basic research in Canada". University Affairs. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  24. "Unleashing Innovation: Excellent Healthcare for Canada: Report of the Advisory Panel on Healthcare Innovation". aem. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  25. Semeniuk, Ivan (2 June 2017). "Canadian researchers rally around funding recommendations". The Globe and Mail (15 June 2017 ed.). Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  26. "Report: Researchers' Response to Canada's Fundamental Science Review". Canadian Science Policy Centre. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  27. "Find an RSC Member | The Royal Society of Canada". rsc-src.ca. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  28. "2018 Award winners – Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences". Retrieved 15 March 2020.
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