The Gairdner High School Symposium is a half-day event held each fall that gives secondary students and teachers the opportunity to hear from Gairdner award-winning scientists and attend a behind-the-scenes tour of BC Children's Hospital's research facilities.

Watch Gairdner Symposium Lectures

Click on a screenshot below to play the corresponding video.

Inheritance of Your DNA: Passing on Genes and Other Information

Bruce Stillman
Dr. Bruce Stillman — Inheritance of Your DNA: Passing on Genes and Other Information

Dr. Stillman’s research focuses on how chromosomes, including both DNA and chromosome-associated proteins, are duplicated in human cells and in yeast, thereby ensuring accurate inheritance of genetic material from one generation to the next. Presented by Dr. Bruce Stillman, President, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring, New York; 2019 Canada Gairdner International Award Recipient. | Watch here.

Molecular Motors: How Life Generates Motion

Ron Vale
Dr. Ronald Vale — Molecular Motors: How Life Generates Motion

Dr. Vale’s research has focused on molecular motor proteins, nature’s nano-scale machines that convert chemical energy into directed movement. Presented by Dr. Ronald Vale, Professor, Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; 2019 Canada Gairdner International Award Recipient. | Watch here.

Out of Africa to a Career in Science

Azim Surani
Dr. Azim Surani — Out of Africa to a Career in Science

Dr. Surani's work has contributed to the understanding of the developmental consequences and molecular mechanisms of genomic imprinting. Presented by Dr. Azim Surani, Director, Germline and Epigenetics Research, Wellcome Senior Investigator, Professor, University of Cambridge; 2018 Canada Gairdner International Award Recipient. | Watch here.

Conceptualizing and Quantifying the Global Burden of Disease

Christopher Murray
Dr. Christopher J. L. Murray — Conceptualizing and Quantifying the Global Burden of Disease

Dr. Murray is a co-founder of the Global Burden of Disease study, a scientific effort to quantify the comparative magnitude of health loss from all major diseases, injuries, and risk factors by age, sex, and location over time. Presented by Dr. Christopher J. L. Murray, Director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation & Professor, Dept. of Global Health, University of Washington; 2018 John Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award Recipient. | Watch here.