David Leitch is, in his words, a chemical cartographer. And now, as a recipient of the prestigious 2025 Dorothy Killam Fellowship, he is poised to map a new route in chemistry, one that will lead to better health care and environmental sustainability. His newest project? Developing more sustainable platinum group metal (PGM) catalysts.
"Platinum group metals are one of Canada's key natural resources, and a major component of the critical minerals list," says Leitch. "They are important in the development and manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, but are scarce, expensive and extracted using environmentally destructive mining and refining processes."
David Leitch
PGM catalysts, often used in the synthesis of complex organic molecules, are critical in the pharmaceutical industry, among others, but they decompose during chemical reactions and therefore can't be reused. The current process is unsustainable but continues because chemists don't have an alternative. Yet.
"I'm honoured, humbled and excited to be awarded a Dorothy Killam Fellowship," says Leitch. "It will give my lab the resources to explore this new research direction, and give me the time to do hands-on, large-scale experiments alongside my group."
The Dorothy Killam Fellowship recognizes leading researchers, like Leitch, whose superior, ground-breaking and transformative research stands to positively improve the lives of Canadians. The fellowship specifically helps mid-career researchers with $160,000 in funding over two years. Leitch is one of eight recipients this year.
As with many of Leitch's research projects, his quest to create a reusable PGM catalyst is a combination of fundamental and applied chemistry. He is aiming to better understand the chemical mechanisms that lead to catalyst "death," and to design a new catalyst that can cheat death.
"If we can successfully create a reusable PGM catalyst," he says, "this would help to create a more circular economy in pharmaceutical manufacturing, ultimately helping to ensure that future generations of Canadians will be able to access critical medicines and maintain our national supply of critical minerals."
But he's not stopping at just creating the reusable catalyst. He also plans to pursue an intellectual property and licensing strategy for the new catalyst, and to leverage his extensive network of pharmaceutical industry contacts to promote its use.
To truly make a positive impact in the 21st century, scientific research must be simultaneously curiosity-driven and focused on the most pressing problems. This research problem is the perfect blend of both, and its success would directly and positively impact the economics and sustainability of pharmaceutical manufacturing."
David Leitch
Leitch's work has long built to this stage and to the Dorothy Killam Fellowship.
Throughout his career, he has strived to map chemical space, increasing our understanding of the mechanisms behind chemical reactions, developing new catalysts and catalytic methods and making quantitative predictions about reactivity.
Before joining UVic in 2019, he spent five years working as a process chemist and group leader in the pharmaceutical industry. He developed deep first-hand knowledge of pharmaceutical manufacturing, which gave him unique insights into the pressing scientific problems the industry is wrestling with.
Over the past six years at UVic, he has honed his reputation as an expert in high-throughput experimentation, patented and commercialized a new palladium catalyst and become a leader in the field of bioisostere synthesis, an area of critical importance in medicinal chemistry.
"David Leitch has had a remarkable impact on his field in just a short time," says Laura Cowen, acting dean of science. "His background in industrial pharmaceutical chemistry gives him a unique perspective and the Dorothy Killam Fellowship will allow him the scope to extend his impact on health and our environment."
Leitch has also been recognized with a 2023 Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, one of only 14 Canadians to ever have won this early-career award, UVic's 2024 REACH Early Career Award for Excellence in Research and the 2025 Keith Fagnou Award from the Canadian Society for Chemistry.
These honours recognize his leadership in changing the landscape of chemical catalysis and drawing new pathways for pharmaceutical manufacturing, leading to processes that are more efficient, more effective and more sustainable.
For more information on Leitch's work, visit the Leitch Lab website. Visit the Killam Laureates website for more information on the Dorothy Killam Fellowship.
