Five UCalgary scholars named 2025 Killam Annual Professors

Five UCalgary faculty members have been named Killam Annual Professors, recognizing their exceptional achievements in research, teaching, and community engagement. 

These prestigious professorships are awarded to individuals who have demonstrated a sustained record, typically spanning over a decade of nationally and internationally recognized scholarship and educational leadership in their field.

This year’s recipients are:

• Dr. Cheryl Barnabe, MD 
• Dr. Jörn Davidsen, PhD
• Dr. Susan Kutz, PhD
• Dr. Suzanne Tough, PhD 
• Dr. Nick Turner, PhD

“We are proud to recognize these five exceptional Killam Annual Professors, whose impactful research and teaching exemplify UCalgary’s commitment to research excellence,” says Dr. William Ghali, vice-president (research). “Their leadership strengthens our university’s ability to address global challenges. Congratulations to each of them on this well-deserved honour.”

Dr. Cheryl Barnabe, MD

Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Medicine and Community Health Sciences
Scientific Director, McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health

Canada Research Chair in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Autoimmune Diseases 

Arthur JE Child Chair in Rheumatology Research.

Dr. Cheryl Barnabe has dedicated over 15 years to advancing Indigenous healthcare through pioneering research, clinical innovation, and policy leadership. Recognized nationally and internationally for promoting health equity in rheumatology, Barnabe's work addresses systemic disparities existing in arthritis care for Indigenous peoples. 

The Arthritis Care with Indigenous Populations program, a cornerstone initiative established through partnerships with rural First Nations and urban Indigenous communities and maintained with sustained funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), has identified critical gaps in arthritis outcomes. Barnabe works with these communities to develop and implement healthcare models that align with their priorities and cultural approaches, while advancing knowledge on culturally relevant care frameworks. 

Barnabe's research has significantly influenced national clinical guidelines, including those for rheumatoid arthritis and COVID-19 vaccination, by incorporating equity-focused approaches that center Indigenous health perspectives. 

This ethical, community-based methodology has gained global recognition, inspiring arthritis care improvements in countries such as the U.S. and Australia through partnerships with organizations including OMERACT and chronic pain research networks. The work has transformed international standards for arthritis outcome measures while enhancing healthcare education across multiple medical disciplines, from primary care to acute medicine.

These substantial contributions have earned prestigious honors including the Killam Emerging Research Leader Award and induction into the Royal Society of Canada's College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. These accolades reflect both the academic excellence and tangible real-world impact of Barnabe's work in advancing Indigenous health equity and rheumatology care.

Dr. Jörn Davidsen, PhD

Professor, Faculty of Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy

Associate Head (Research), Faculty of Science

Dr. Jörn Davidsen is a world-renowned transdisciplinary physicist whose groundbreaking work on complex systems bridges geosciences, neuroscience and social sciences. 

Applying complexity science across diverse fields, Davidsen has made seminal contributions with significant real-world implications. Pioneering research in seismology demonstrated that certain features of seismic events and earthquake sequences are largely universal, a fundamental discovery that connects laboratory studies with natural phenomena. 

This breakthrough has transformed our understanding of earthquake dynamics and seismic hazards with implications for industry-related activities such as mining and the extraction of hydrocarbons. Equally impactful is Davidsen's work on network evolution and triadic closure, which has reshaped scientific understanding of social structures and been cited more than 600 times.

Beyond these research achievements, Davidsen is deeply committed to mentorship and academic leadership. Having supervised 77 students, postdoctoral fellows, and undergraduates, many of whom now hold prominent positions in academia, healthcare, finance, and environmental science, for example, Davidsen has cultivated the next generation of scientific leaders.

As lead of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute's Computational Neuroscience Platform, Davidsen drives interdisciplinary research initiatives, secures major funding, and establishes international collaborations. Notable among these is the NSF-funded International Network for Brain-Inspired Computing, which advances cutting-edge research at the intersection of computing and neuroscience. 

Through both scientific contributions and institutional leadership, Davidsen continues to push the boundaries of complex systems science while fostering meaningful scientific exchange and discovery.

Learn more about Jörn Davidsen’s work

Dr. Susan Kutz, PhD

Professor, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Dr. Susan Kutz stands as an internationally renowned expert in Arctic wildlife health, pioneering critical research on how climate change is transforming host-parasite relationships in northern ecosystems. As a founding faculty member of the University of Calgary's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kutz has revolutionized wildlife health surveillance through innovative, community-based approaches developed in close partnership with Indigenous communities and government stakeholders. 

The introduction of groundbreaking monitoring techniques, including hunter-based surveillance and blood-spot testing, has directly informed wildlife policy decisions across northern regions. Kutz's scholarly contributions are equally significant, encompassing the first comprehensive review of Arctic parasites and co-editing the definitive reference work on reindeer and caribou diseases.

Beyond these research achievements, Kutz has cultivated the next generation of scientific leaders through an inclusive, field-based mentorship model that has guided more than 100 students and staff, many now occupying prominent positions in veterinary medicine, public health, and environmental science. 

The development of UCalgary's Northern Community Health rotation represents another landmark achievement, creating an internationally recognized program that immerses veterinary students in Indigenous communities to provide care while developing cultural competence. This innovative model continues to expand through partnerships like the Stoney Nakoda rotation.

Kutz's commitment to knowledge translation extends to prominent public engagement, having provided expert testimony before Parliament, delivered a TEDx talk, and contributed to major media productions including BBC's Planet Earth. 

These sustained outreach efforts have inspired youth while advancing equity in STEM education for remote communities. Through this combination of rigorous science, community collaboration, and educational innovation, Kutz has established new paradigms for understanding and protecting northern ecosystems in a changing climate.

Dr. Suzanne Tough, PhD

Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and Community Health Sciences

Dr. Suzanne Tough has established an international reputation as a leading authority in maternal and child health research, with transformative contributions across multiple domains including preterm birth, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, reproductive technologies, and delayed childbearing. 

Recognized among the top three per cent of researchers in Canada and top 4.5 per cent globally, Tough's exceptional scholarly output includes more than 320 peer-reviewed publications, an h-index of 80, and over $29 million in research funding that underscores the significant impact of this work.

At the core of Tough's research program lies the All Our Families (AOF) cohort, an ambitious longitudinal study tracking more than 3,000 mother-child pairs through integrated biological, demographic, and developmental assessments. 

This initiative has set new standards for ethical data sharing through the development of rigorous frameworks that have facilitated over 50 collaborative agreements with major global consortia including Maelstrom and ISGlobal. The AOF study exemplifies Tough's commitment to research excellence while addressing pressing societal concerns.

The real-world impact of Tough's work is evidenced by direct influence on clinical practice guidelines, particularly in the areas of alcohol use during pregnancy and optimal childbearing ages. During the COVID-19 pandemic, timely investigations into family health and economic impacts gained international recognition, including publication in The Lancet. These achievements align with the University of Calgary's Ahead of Tomorrow strategy through their emphasis on collaborative innovation, mentorship of emerging scholars, and solutions-oriented approaches to complex health challenges.

With more than 30 career awards recognizing these contributions, Tough has cemented a position as a global leader in maternal and child health research. The combination of rigorous methodology, large-scale longitudinal data, and commitment to translational impact continues to advance understanding of critical issues affecting families worldwide.

Dr. Nick Turner, PhD

Professor, Haskayne School of Business

Dr. Nick Turner is a leading Canadian organizational psychologist whose research explores how leadership, work design, and organizational systems shape employee well-being and safety. His work has informed national safety campaigns, shaped training and job design practices in safety-critical industries and helped reframe how researchers and practitioners understand the connection between work and mental health. 

He currently leads a ten-year longitudinal study tracking young Canadians’ leadership development, examining how early life experiences shape the emergence of leadership over time. 

At the University of Calgary, Dr. Turner teaches and mentors research students across undergraduate and graduate levels and contributes actively to academic leadership. Beyond the university, he recently served as Editor-in-Chief of Human Relations, a leading international journal in the social sciences, where he helped strengthen the journal’s scholarly reach and broaden the diversity of voices in organizational research.