Principal Investigator

Tillie L. Hackett, Ph.D., ATSF

Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics,
University of British Columbia

Tier I Canada Research Chair in Asthma and COPD Lung Pathobiology & Therapeutics

Phone Number: (604) 682-2344 x 62563

Fax Number: (604) 806-8351

Email: tillie.hackett@hli.ubc.ca

Alternate webpage: HLI

Bio


Dr. Hackett received her BSc. (2002) in Biochemistry and Pharmacology and her Ph.D. (2006) in Cellular and Biological Sciences from the University of Southampton, in the UK under the mentorship of Dr. J.A. Warner and Prof. S.T. Holgate. In 2006, Dr. Hackett joined the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (HLI) for her postdoctoral fellowship with Drs D.A. Knight and T. Bai. In 2010, she undertook additional postdoctoral training at the University Medical Centre Groningen with Prof. D.S. Postma and Dr. H.I. Heijink. In 2012, she was awarded a Parker B. Francis Foundation career-transition fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Hogg. Dr. Hackett joined the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, & Therapeutics as an Assistant Professor in 2013, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016.

Dr. Hackett is an internationally recognized leader in ultra-resolution biomedical imaging modalities and human in vitro models to investigate and treat the pathobiology of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which daily affects the ability of over 4.5 million Canadians to breathe. Dr. Hackett’s research has been formally recognized by over 35 awards, including the Parker B. Francis Fellowship (2012), Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award (2014), and the UBC Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Researcher Award (2018). In 2018, she was named an Inaugural American Thoracic Society Fellow (100 awarded), a mark of distinction and recognition for accomplishments and dedication to the society and field of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. In 2020, Dr. Hackett was awarded a Tier I Canada Research Chair in Asthma and COPD Lung Pathobiology & Therapeutics. Dr. Hackett has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and ranks in the top 0.2% of 157,339 published authors worldwide on obstructive lung diseases (Expertscape.com).

Since 2014, Dr. Hackett has served as the Director of the HLI James C. Hogg Lung Tissue Biobank. Established in 1977, it is one of the largest biobanks in the world, enabling researchers from academia, health authorities, and industry to access comprehensively phenotyped lung samples from over 3,000 patients. Between 2013 – 2018, Dr. Hackett served as the Associate Director of the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation.

Dr. Hackett has served as the primary supervisor for 3 MSc and 8 PhD students, 5 postdoctoral fellows, 4 co-op students, 9 summer students, 3 clinical fellows, and 4 BSc Honours students who have collectively won over 68 fellowships, travel awards, and best presentation awards in the last 5 years. Since 2017, she has been recognized annually for Excellence in Student Teaching by the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences.

Areas of Research Interest


  • Understanding the contribution of dysregulated epithelial repair to airway remodeling.
  • Targeted Pathology Phenotyping to understand small airways disease in asthma, COPD and IPF.
  • The contribution of sex-differences to small airways disease in COPD.
  • Spatial, single-cell imaging to understand the inflammation and remodeling in lung disease.
  • Human Lung Cell Repository and human In vitro models.

Awards


  • Promotion to tenured professor in the department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, UBC.

  • Tier I Canada Research Chair in Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Pathobiology and Therapeutics in the Faculty of Medicine competition 2019. Application submitted to CRC in May 2020.

  • Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics Research Day Paper of the Year 2019. Defective fibrillar collagen organization by fibroblasts contributes to airway remodeling in Asthma. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2019 Aug 15;200(4):431-443.

  • American Thoracic Society Fellow (First year of inaugural fellows). The ATS Fellow designation is a mark of distinction, conferring recognition on members for their accomplishments, dedication, and contributions to the Society as well as to the fields of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.
  • Congratulations on Excellence in Student Teaching in Pharmacology, from the Faculty of Sciences Dean.
  • Congratulations by Dean Susan Porter on being name ‘great supervisor” through the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies’ #UBC #GreatSupervisor campaign, which ran in May 2018.
  • University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award – Excellence in Basic Science 2018. This award recognizes individuals whose performance during the prior review year was exceptionally meritorious.
  • Publication on COPD published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine was named one of UBC’s Faculty of Medicine Top Ten Research highlights in 2018.

  • Congratulations on Excellence in Student Teaching PCTH 400, Faculty of Sciences Dean.

  • Nominated by UBC for the CIHR GOLD Leaf New Investigator Award.

  • Canadian Institutes for Health New Investigator Award.
  • Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award.
  • Voted Programming Chair for the Respiratory Structure Function Assembly of the American Thoracic Society.

  • The Peter D. Pare Award of Distinguished Merit. Awarded for an outstanding year of extraordinary dedication, enthusiasm and success. Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, University of British Columbia.

  • The Parker B. Francis Foundation Respiratory Fellowship Faculty Transition Award.
  • The American Thoracic Society Ann Woolcock Memorial Award for overall accomplishments and promise of a young investigator in the field of Asthma research.
  • The Alain de Weck Collegium International Allergologicum Award.

  • International Klosterfrau Awardee for Pediatric Asthma Research.

  • National Post Doc Association (USA) Summit on Gender Travel Award, Philadelphia, PA, USA
  • European Respiratory Society Short Term Fellowship, Groningen, The Netherland.

  • UBC Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics Best Published Paper UBC James Hogg Young Investigator of the Year.

  • European Respiratory Society Travel Award Research Award, European Respiratory Society, Switzerland.
  • AllerGen Travel Award Research Award, AllerGen NCE Inc.
  • European Respiratory Society Travel Award Research Award, European Respiratory Society, Switzerland.

  • CLA Research Fellowship Research Award, Canadian Lung Association, Canada.
  • AllerGen Travel Award Research Award, AllerGen NCE Inc. ·
  • AllerGen-CSACI Poster Presentation Award Young Investigator Award AllerGen NCE Inc.

  • D. studentship Research Award, Arakis Ltd, United Kingdom.

  • Summer Studentship Research Award, Arakis Ltd, United Kingdom.
  • Named on Dean’s list of Distinction for High Achievers, School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, United Kingdom.