By Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press

TORONTO - One of the co-discoverers of the Ebola virus and a leading Canadian stem cell researcher are among this year's winners of the prestigious Canada Gairdner Awards.

Dr. Peter Piot is the recipient of the Canada Gairdner Global Health Award, recognizing his work on the discovery of the Ebola virus in 1976 and his leadership in the global response to the HIV-AIDS epidemic.

Dr. Janet Rossant, chief of research at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, is the recipient of the 2015 Canada Gairdner Wightman Award, which honours a Canadian who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in medicine and medical science.

Five international scientists are also being honoured with Canada Gairdner Awards, two each from the United States and Japan and one from Switzerland.

The Gairdners are among the world's most esteemed medical research prizes and each carries a prize of $100,000.

They are awarded annually by the Gairdner Foundation; 82 Gairdner winners have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes.

"The Canada Gairdner Awards distinguish Canada as a leader in biomedical research, raising the profile of science both nationally and on the world stage," Dr. John Dirks, the foundation's president and scientific director, said in a statement announcing the 2015 honourees.

"This year's winners are an exceptional example of the wide implications basic cellular discovery can have on future translational discoveries."

The international winners are:

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Canadians honoured for medical research