appointed to the Senate, Dyck was a neuroscientist with the University of Saskatchewan, where she was also associate dean. On March 12, 1999, Dyck, who is of Cree and Chinese heritage and was one of the first Aboriginal women in Canada to pursue an academic career in the sciences, was presented with a lifetime achievement award by Indspire. Her research focuses on mechanisms of action of monoamine oxidase inhibitors to identify drugs useful for treatment of neurological disorders and stroke. She continues to teach at the university as well as conduct research on a part-time basis. Senate Dyck was appointed to the Senate on the recommendation of Prime Minister Paul Martin on March 24, 2005. Upon appointment, Dyck wished to sit as a New Democratic Party senator, but NDP spokesperson Karl Belanger immediately indicated that the party would not recognize her as a member of the NDP caucus: as the party platform specifically favours abolition of the Senate, it refused to confer legitimacy on the body by accepting Dyck; additionally, Dyck's membership in the NDP was revealed to have lapsed. Under the rules of the Senate, senators are free to designate themselves however they see fit, and Dyck changed her designation to say Independent New Democratic Party. On January 15, 2009, she joined the Liberal Senate caucus. On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced all Liberal Senators, including Dyck, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents. The Senators referred to themselves as the Senate Liberal Caucus even though they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus. In 2014 Dyck accused Conservative MP Rob Clarke, who is also native, of "behaving like a white man" by pushing the Indian Act Amendment and Replacement Act. She later said she recognized the comment could be hurtful. In April 2018 The Feminist Alliance for International Action recognized Lillian as a member of the Indigenous Famous Six. Other members are Jeannette Corbiere-Lavell, Yvonne Bedard, Sharon McIvor, Lynn Gehl, and Senator Sandra Lovelace Nicholas. In November 2019, Dyck joined the rest of the Senate Liberal Caucus in deciding to dissolve the caucus and form the new Progressive Senate Group. Political Work Dyck's priorities as a senator included Aboriginal women (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Violence towards Aboriginal Women), Bill C-31 and its impact on Aboriginal women and men, women in science (recruitment and retention of women