Brenda Andrews

Brenda Andrews is a geneticist recognized for her functional genomics work in the budding yeast model system. She is known particularly for her studies on cell cycle-regulated transcription and protein kinase function in yeast and for pioneering work with Charles Boone on genetic networks. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in Medical Biophysics in 1986 and pursued postdoctoral training in genetics with the late Ira Herskowitz at the University of California San Francisco. In 1991, Andrews was recruited to the Department of Medical Genetics (now Molecular Genetics) at the University of Toronto. She became Chair of the Department in 1999, a position she held for 5 years before assuming a position as Chair of the Banting & Best Department of Medical Research and as the inaugural Director of the Donnelly Centre. She continued as Director of the Donnelly Centre and Charles H Best Chair of Medical Research until 2020, and currently holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Systems Genetics & Cell Biology (2020-present). Andrews was named a University Professor in 2017, a designation that recognizes pre-eminence in a particular field of knowledge and is held by no more than two percent of the tenured faculty. She is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Microbiology, and an International Member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA).