U of T faculty member named CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar

Edited and reposted from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).

The tenth cohort of CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars is ready to tackle important and pressing questions facing science and humanity — from studying the design of safe and trustworthy AI systems to exploring the intricacies of ice and glacier meltwater.

This year, 12 emerging research leaders will join the 2025-2027 cohort of CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars, marking the prestigious program's 10th anniversary. Since 2016, the CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars program has empowered early-career researchers to strive for global impact by supporting opportunities for leadership development and championing bold ideas through deep, interdisciplinary collaboration.

This next-generation initiative, generously supported by the Azrieli Foundation, enables early-career researchers to expand their professional networks and pursue cutting-edge ideas with CAD $100,000 of unrestricted research funding. 

Following a competitive recruitment process that generated 232 applications from around the world, the new cohort features top emerging global researchers based at institutions in Canada, the United States, Germany, Ireland and Israel. Their geographic diversity is enriched by additional countries of origin, including Austria, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The Scholars will each join a CIFAR research program where they will participate as equal members within an international and interdisciplinary network of some of the world’s leading researchers, who are pursuing a fundamental research question together. This year’s cohort will contribute to the following programs: Boundaries, Membership & Belonging, Earth 4D: Subsurface Science & Exploration, Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities and Innovation, Equity & the Future of Prosperity.

Artem Babaian, assistant professor of molecular genetics and faculty member at the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, is a scholar of the Fungal Kindgom: Threats & Opportunities program. Artem’s research group develops state-of-the-art computational tools to re-analyze biological data sets and answer critical questions, including what RNA viruses may be hidden around us and whether genes in fungi can be identified to make new cancer therapies. 

“As we celebrate a decade of the program, it is inspiring to see how far this next-gen initiative has come in supporting early-career researchers on their academic pathways,” says CIFAR President & CEO Stephen Toope.

“I am honoured to welcome and congratulate the latest cohort of Global Scholars to our research community, and look forward to the bold ideas, discoveries and collaborations they’ll help spark at CIFAR.