Degrees
- B.Sc. (University of Toronto, 1977)
- Ph.D. (University of Toronto, 1981)
Current Positions
- University Professor, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
- University Professor, Department of Cell and Systems Biology (cross appointment), University of Toronto
- Distinguished Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)
- Director of Bioscience (BIOS) Division, Royal Society of Canada
- Chair of BIOS New Fellows Selection Committee, Royal Society of Canada
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
- Senior Fellow, Massey College
Prior Positions
- Interim Chair, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
- Academic Director, Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development, University of Toronto
- Co-Director of the Child & Brain Development Programme, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)
- Co-Director of the Experience Based Brain and Biological Development Programme, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)
- Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Genetics and Behavioural Neurology, Biology UTM, University of Toronto
- Weston Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)
- Co-Director of Genes, Environment, Nervous System and Behaviour Research Cluster, UTM, University of Toronto
- University Professor, Biology, York University
- Adjunct Professor, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Guelph University
Contact
- marla.sokolowski@utoronto.ca
Biography:
Marla B. Sokolowski (University Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto) is an internationally renowned behaviour geneticist whose ground-breaking research has permanently changed how we frame questions about individual differences in behaviour. Her comprehensive, multidisciplinary analyses of gene‐environment interactions have been instrumental in refuting longstanding ideas of genetic determinism and continue to shape fundamental concepts in the evolution of behaviour, genetic pleiotropy, and plasticity. Her foundational discoveries in the fruit fly have been extended to other diverse animals and humans. She has received Distinguished Visiting Professorships in the U.S.A. and Europe, where she regularly contributes to graduate education. Awards and honours recognizing her work include: Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) in 1998; a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (2001-2015); Fellow of Massey College (2004); the Genetics Society of Canada’s Award of Excellence (2007); Senior Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (2013); the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013, RSC); the Distinguished Investigator Award from the International Behaviour and Neurogenetics Society (2014); University Professor, University of Toronto (2014); and the RSC’s Flavelle Medal for research in the Biological Sciences (2020). She was the Weston Fellow and co-director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research’s Child and Brain Development Program from 2008-2019. In addition, she directed the Life Sciences Division of the Academy of Sciences of the RSC from 2009-2012. Most recently, in 2021, a special issue of the Journal of Neurogenetics (vol. 35(3)) was published in her honour. In 2022, she was awarded the JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award from the School of Graduate Studies, University of Toronto, in recognition of her outstanding supervision of 40 graduate students and 20 postdoctoral fellows, in addition to the University College Alumni of Influence Award and the distinction of Distinguished Fellow from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR)
Awards and Honours
Life Member, Royal Society of Canada (2023)
University College Alumni of Influence Award, University of Toronto (2022-2023)
JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award. School of Graduate Studies. University of Toronto (2022)
CIFAR, Distinguished Fellow, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. Only eight fellows have received this honour in CIFAR’s 40-year history (2022)
Special issue of a volume of Journal of Neurogenetics (vol. 35(3) in honour of Marla Sokolowski https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ineg20/35/3?nav=tocList (2021)
Royal Society of Canada Flavelle Medal (for research in the biological sciences) (2020)
Renewal of CIFAR Fellow Award (2019)
Visiting Fellow, The Halbert Centre for Canadian Studies and Department of Psychology, Hebrew University, Israel. (2016)
Visiting Professor, Temporal Dynamics of Learning, University of California, San Diego, California, US (2015)
Weston Fellow of CIFAR
Lifetime Senior Fellow Massey College (2015-present)
International Behavioural and Neural Genetics (IBANGS) Society Distinguished Investigator Award (2014)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Center for Advanced Studies, Norwegian Academy of Sciences Oslo, Norway (2013-2014)
Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Genetics and Behavioural Neurology, Government of Canada (2002-2014)
Senior Fellow, CIFAR (2013)
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal Government of Canada (for research through the Royal Society of Canada) (2013)
Inter American Network of Academies of Sciences (Woman in Science) (2013)
University Professorship University of Toronto (2012)
William F. Grant and Peter B. Moens Award of Excellence, Genetics Society of Canada (2010)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Paris, France (2006)
Research Excellence Award, University of Toronto Mississauga (2004)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Tucson, Arizona, US (2004)
Senior Fellow Massey College (2004)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1998)
Teaching Excellence Award, York University, Canada (1993)
Young Scientist Award, Genetics Society of Canada (1993)
NSERC University Research Fellow (1982)
NSERC postdoctoral Fellow (1982)
Ramsay Wright Award, Zoology, University of Toronto (1980)
Dobzhansky Memorial Research Award, International Behaviour Genetics Society (1979)