Dr. Megan Levings is a Professor in the Department of Surgery and Department of Biomedical Engineering at UBC and a Researcher at BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. An immunologist and preeminent researcher of regulatory T cells (Tregs), her world-leading study changed the understanding of how this immune cell works in humans, providing valued new insight into how it can be used as cell therapy in disease and for improving outcomes of organ transplantation. She holds five provisional patents of which two, describing methods to use regulatory cell therapy as a new way to improve the success of transplantation, have been licensed by TxCell S.A. (a French biotechnology company) which plans to begin clinical testing of the approach in 2020. A proud non-scientific achievement is her contribution to bringing systemic changes to UBC to prevent gender pay inequity.
Read more about the other YWCA Women of Distinction Award Winners.