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Ranked among the world’s top medical schools with the fifth-largest MD enrollment in North America, the UBC Faculty of Medicine is a leader in both the science and the practice of medicine. Across British Columbia, more than 12,000 faculty and staff are training the next generation of doctors, health care professionals, and medical researchers, making remarkable discoveries to help create the pathways to better health for our communities at home and around the world.
The UBC Faculty of Medicine offers a diverse array of training opportunities including cutting-edge research experiences in the biosciences, globally recognized population health education, quality health professional training, as well as several certificate and online training options. The Faculty of Medicine is home to more than 1,700 graduate students housed in 20 graduate programs (14 of which offer doctoral research options). Year after year, research excellence in the Faculty of Medicine is supported by investment from funding sources here at home and around the globe, receiving approximately more than $1.8B in total research funding since 2016.
We value our trainees and the creative input they have to scholarly activities at UBC. Our priority is to enable their maximum potential through flexible opportunities that provide a breadth of experiences tailored to their own individual career objectives. We maintain high standards of excellence, and work to create a community of intellectually and socially engaged scholars that work collaboratively with each other, the university, and the world, with the overarching goal of promoting the health of individuals and communities.
Most Faculty research is conducted under the auspices of 23 centres and institutes that are part of UBC or affiliated with it, in collaboration with our health partners.
UBC Faculty of Medicine provides innovative educational and research programs in the areas of health and life sciences through an integrated and province-wide delivery model in facilities at locations throughout British Columbia.
The Life Sciences Centre is the largest building on the UBC Vancouver campus. Completed in 2004, the $125 million, 52,165 sq metres building was built to accommodate the distributed medical educational program and the Life Sciences Institute.
The Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health (DMCBH), a partnership between the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health, unites under one roof research and clinical expertise in neuroscience, psychiatry and neurology in order to accelerate discovery and translate new knowledge into better treatment and prevention strategies. DMCBH has both laboratory and clinical research areas within the Centre proper and in the UBC Hospital Koerner Pavilion. Our core facilities are essential to ongoing collaboration, teaching, and research.
The BC Children's Hospital Research Institute is it the largest research institute of its kind in Western Canada in terms of people, productivity, funding and size. With more than 350,000 square feet of space, the Institute has both 'wet bench' laboratory and 'dry lab' clinical research areas, and other areas to facilitate particular areas of research and training.
New knowledge and innovation are crucial to successfully identifying, addressing and overcoming the increasingly complex health-related challenges that influence the lives of all of us – in British Columbia, in Canada, and in countries and communities around the globe.
The UBC Faculty of Medicine is recognized nationally and internationally for research innovation that advances knowledge and translates new discoveries to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities. Research opportunities feature extensive collaborations across other faculties, health institutions and health partners across British Columbia, Canada and internationally.
The Faculty provides and fosters research excellence across the full continuum, from basic science to applied science and then to knowledge implementation, with a focus on precision health; cancer; brain and mental health; heart and lung health; population health; and chronic diseases.
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Medicine.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Dr. Jang's research in the field of biochemistry investigated the unusual mechanisms that viruses use to take over and hijack cells, and how they lead to infections. These studies assist us in understanding how viruses are able to infect their hosts and may reveal new drug therapies to combat viruses. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Verreault has contributed to define strategies to improve chemotherapeutic drug delivery and efficacy in one of the most aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Bromley-Brits discovered a new method of action for a modulatory protein involved in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. She also showed that a deficit of this protein is associated with anxiety in a mouse model. Her research suggests that using this protein as a therapeutic target would require careful, dose-dependent evaluation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Hadeel Ayyad analysed the development of the speech skills of typically developing Kuwaiti Arabic-speaking preschool children, documenting types of word structures and speech sounds acquired by age 4. Her research project set some of the groundwork for the development of a phonological assessment tool for Kuwaiti Arabic. | Doctor of Philosophy in Audiology and Speech Sciences (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Hong established human granulosa cell lines and elucidated clearly the characteristics of human ovarian granulosa cells. Additionally, he investigated the effects of GnRH I and II in human ovarian granulosa cells. Thus, his in vitro system can be one of the usual model systems to study human follicular development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Schuetz examined genetic features in non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a cancer of the body's immune cells. She looked for differences that cause people to be susceptible to the disease, and also changes that arise in cancer cells. Her research highlights the importance of genes that control cell death in lymphoma biology. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Yang studied a group of proteins that are modified with palmitate, a common saturated lipid in animals. He investigated the functions of these proteins in neural development and pathological brain disease. By identifying a new mechanism controlling brain cell death, he developed therapeutic drugs targeting a palmitate-modified protein to protect the brain during stroke. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. David studied T-type calcium channel proteins which are present in the developing heart. These proteins are absent in normal adult hearts, but re-appear in diseased hearts. Dr. David found they have distinct properties, and his research has the potential to explain their role in the development of the heart and the progression of heart disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Wong investigated the role of a protein called Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in the thickening of blood vessels, particularly in heart transplants. His research highlighted the abnormal presence of VEGF in human disease, showed its effect on cholesterol accumulation, and explored potential treatments targeting this protein. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Bessette investigated the role of a protein tyrosine phosphatase in regulating cell signaling and prostate cancer. He found that expression of this protein promoted prostate cancer and may be a valuable biomarker for prostate cancer aggressiveness. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |