Innovation Profile: Dr Michael Siu
Founding Director, Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry
York University
Dr Michael Siu leads one of the largest and most advanced facilities of its kind in the world. As the NSERC-MDS Analytical Technologies Industrial Research Chair, Dr Siu understands the importance of R&D partnerships between industry and research and is Chair of the Ontario Cancer Biomarker Network.
Professor KW Michael Siu is Distinguished Research Professor and NSERC-MDS Analytical Technologies (formerly SCIEX) Industrial Research Chair in Analytical Mass Spectrometry at York University. He is the Founding Director of York's Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry. A major goal of the Centre is to foster collaborative research among academics and with industries in the rapidly expanding field of mass spectrometry. Since 2005, he is also York's Associate Vice President Research, Science & Technology. In addition, Michael has been generous with his time serving the chemical profession. He is currently the Vice President, Canadian Society for Mass Spectrometry. He has served on the advisory boards of a number of international meetings. Dr Siu is a Co-Chair of HUPO 2009 in Toronto. He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of American Society for Mass Spectrometry, Mass Spectrometry Reviews and Clinical Proteomics, and reviews manuscripts on a regular basis for a large number of journals. He has served as a grant reviewer and/or panel members for NSERC, CIHR, NCIC, CFI, NSF, Petroleum Research Fund, and the Research Grant Council of Hong Kong. He is sought after as an external reviewer for university faculty promotion cases and external examiner for thesis defences. He serves on the directory or advisory boards of the Ontario Cancer Biomarker Network, SHARCNET, the Calibration and Validation Group, and the Canadian National Proteomics Network. Dr Siu has published over 180 scientific papers and 7 peer-reviewed book chapters, co-edited two books, and given over 320 presentations, of which over 60% were invited, keynote or plenary.
Professor Siu has received many awards and honors. Recent accolades include the following: In 2009, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the highest honour a Canadian scholar can achieve in the arts, humanities and sciences. In 2002, the Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals Education Foundation honoured Siu with the Award of Merit for his long-term impact and exceptional achievement in science. In 2004, Dr Siu received the Gerhard Herzberg Award from the Canadian Society for Analytical Sciences and Spectroscopy for achievement in the science of spectroscopy. In December, 2005, he received the FP Lossing Award for significant achievement in mass spectrometry from the Canadian Society for Mass Spectrometry. Dr Siu received the 2006 Maxxam Award for significant contributions in analytical chemistry from the Canadian Society for Chemistry in May 2006. In March 2007, Dr Siu received the New Pioneers Award in Science and Technology for his contributions as an immigrant from Skills for Change. Dr Siu received a Distinguished Research Professorship at the June 2007 convocation of York University.
