Dr. Pauline Johnson receives the 2026 Gillian E. Wu Mentorship Award

Congratulations to Dr. Pauline Johnson, recipient of the 2026 Gillian E. Wu Mentorship Award from the Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI)! This award recognizes CSI members who have made outstanding contributions to the mentorship of scientists at all career stages – including undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees, as well as early career investigators.

Throughout her career, Dr. Johnson mentored 100 undergraduate and 24 graduate students and 15 postdoctoral fellows in her lab, served on 136 graduate thesis committees, and was university examiner on over 120 thesis defences. She additionally served as Associate Head and Departmental Graduate and Postdoctoral Advisor in the Dept. of Microbiology & Immunology, co-directed the Immunology Group in the LSI, and was Co-Director of the ubcFLOW core for 20 years. As Emerita Professor, she is still contributing to the mentorship and growth of the next generation of scientists, helping direct an NSERC CREATE graduate training program in ImmunoEngineering (ImmunoE).

Excerpts from the nomination:

“Dr. Johnson's pursuit of research excellence is not for accolades but purely for the discovery of new knowledge.”

“Dr. Johnson instilled in us a profound sense of responsibility, teaching us the importance of environmental stewardship and ethical accountability. She is responsible for my past, present and future success. She always found ways to channel my negativity in a positive direction. Pauline and her lab have been the highlight of my graduate experience.”

“Dr. Johnson taught me to balance rigor with empathy. She often took other students under her wing, including those from labs who were struggling with difficult supervisors.”

“From her, I have also learned how a laboratory should be managed. I am now supervising five PhD students using many of her approaches.”

“She continues to spearhead EDI initiatives at UBC and is co-leading an NSERC CREATE Program for training the next generation of immunologists and immuno-engineers.”

“She was recognized by the Women in Science Award for Community Leadership and Scientific Excellence from the Minerva Foundation for B.C. Women.”