The Jeanne Manery-Fisher Memorial Award from the Canadian Society for Molecular Biosciences (CSMB) honors the late Dr. Jeanne Manery-Fisher, a trailblazing biochemist and advocate for women in science. This award recognizes an eminent Canadian woman scientist with a distinguished career in biochemistry, molecular or cellular biology, or genetics, recognizing her outstanding contributions to research, teaching, or society. Congratulations to GlycoNet Investigator Dr. P. Lynne Howell on being the 2025 recipient of this award!

Dr. Howell is a Senior Scientist in the Program in Molecular Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and a professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Howell’s research focuses on how certain sugars, called exopolysaccharides—which help bacteria stick together in slimy layers known as biofilms—are made, changed, and moved out of the cell. Through this work, her team has discovered enzymes that can stop these biofilms from forming and can even break down ones that already exist. These enzymes could lead to new treatments for many long-lasting infections.