![](https://www.grad.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/styles/card_vertical_767/public/students/brewis_hilary-1_0.jpg?itok=rx4aSPbk&c=62b59c3529532206e5c46bd41f106891)
Hilary Brewis
Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD)
Investigating the function and regulation of the histone variant H2A.Z in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
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.
Name | Academic Unit(s) | Research Interests |
---|---|---|
Masri, Bas | Department of Orthopaedics | Adult Hip and Knee Reconstruction and Replacement and to Musculoskeletal Oncology |
Masse, Louise | School of Population and Public Health | Health care administration; Health sciences; Public and population health; Childhood obesity with specific interests in prevention and treatment using lifestyle modification; Films, Membranes and Multiphase Polymers; Health Promotion; Nutrition; Obesity; Physical Activity |
Matsell, Douglas | Department of Pediatrics | Childhood kidney disease, Congenital urinary tract obstruction |
Matsubara, Joanne Aiko | Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences | Sensory systems, visual; Cellular interactions (including adhesion, matrix and cell wall); Gene and molecular therapy; Cellular neuroscience; neuroscience; vision; cell and development; cell death pathways; innate immune response; eye disease, retinal degenerations; Alzheimer's disease; neurodegeneration |
Mawson, John | Department of Radiology | Quality improvement/quality assurance issues; Pediatric medical imaging services; Anatomy; Congenital Heart Defects |
Maxwell, Christopher | Department of Pediatrics | Cancer; Hereditary Cancer; Cell division; Cell migration; Differentiation; Cell polarity |
Mayor, Thibault | Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories | Biochemistry; Genomics; Aging; Cell Biology; Neurodegenerative diseases; Proteasome; Protein Degradation; Protein Folding; Proteomics; Proteostasis; Ubiquitin; Yeast Genetics |
McAlpine, Jessica | Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology | subtypes of ovarian and endometrial cancers, and prevention |
McCracken, Rita | Department of Family Practice | Audit and feedback to improve primary care prescribing; Health human resources; Polypharmacy and deprescribing; Frailty, aging; Patient-oriented research outcomes; Primary care research; Health services evaluation |
McGrail, Kimberlyn | School of Population and Public Health | aging and health care services use; health care costs; health care financing; primary care; health care policy, Variations in health care services use across patients, providers and regions, and their relationship to population health, Aging and the use of health and social services, Personal, economic, and social factors that produce health at an individual and population level, and the role of the health care system in that process |
McKay, Heather | Department of Family Practice, Department of Orthopaedics | Population health interventions; Aging process; Social and biological determinants of aging; Health promotion and disease prevention; Prevention, treatment and support of youth health; Medical, health and life sciences; Knowledge translation and implementation science in health; Health and community services; Aging Process; Public and Population Health |
McKeown, Martin | Division of Neurology | Neurology; novel treatments for Parkinson's; Video Monitoring Parkinson's; Brain Stimulation; Biomedical Engineering; Machine Learning; fMRI; EEG |
McLeod, Christopher | School of Population and Public Health | occupational heath and the social epidemiology of the working life course. |
McMaster, W Robert | Department of Medical Genetics | Molecular Immunology |
McNagny, Kelly Marshall | School of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medical Genetics | Cellular immunology; Regenerative medicine (including stem cells and tissue engineering); Stem Cells; Immunology; Inflammation; Mouse models of human disease; Tissue degeneration/regeneration; Cancer; innate immune response; kidney function; Biologics and therapeutics |
Meckler, Garth | Department of Pediatrics | Evidence to Innovation; Pediatric Simulation; Continuing Medical Education; Pediatric Headache |
Meneghetti, Adam | Department of Surgery | Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery; oncology; Education and Curriculum Development |
Meneilly, Graydon | Division of Geriatric Medicine | diabetes and carbohydrate metabolism in the elderly |
Michalak, Erin | Department of Psychiatry | bipolar disorder; quality of life; stigma, community based research; depression; mental health; ehealth; self-management, Bipolar disorder, quality of life, stigma, community based research, depression, mental health, ehealth, self-management |
Mikelberg, Frederick Samuel | Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences | Other clinical medicine; Glaucoma |
Miller, William | Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy | Occupational therapy |
Miller, Steven | Department of Pediatrics | Birth defects, Concussion, Preterm labor, Steroids |
Milloy, Michael-John | Division of Social Medicine | Infectious diseases; Clinical sciences, n.e.c.; Psychosocial, sociocultural and behavioral determinants of health; medical cannabis; overdose; HIV disease; people who use drugs; Substance use disorder |
Miran-Khan, Karim | Department of Family Practice, School of Kinesiology | Exercise is Medicine; Health promotion via Exercise; Type 2 DM prevention |
Mitton, Craig | School of Population and Public Health | Health care administration; Health sciences; Public and population health; Health Policies; Health care resource allocation |
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 |
---|---|---|
2023 | Dr. Sharafian studied T cell development in infants, focusing on the physiological effects of T cells on the intestinal organoid model. She found that T cells induce the proliferation and differentiation of the infant's intestinal epithelial cells. Her work has potential implications for therapeutic advancements in infant intestinal diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
2023 | Translational approaches to restoring autonomic dysfunction after spinal cord injury | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |
2023 | Dr. Virk adapted a self-administered mental health screening instrument for post-secondary students (called HEARTSMAP-U). He applied a user-centred approach and engaged diverse student sub-populations in validating the instrument, to ensure it can be accurately and equitably applied in post-secondary educational settings. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
2023 | Dr. Tan developed a novel oncogene-induced de novo model of triple negative human breast cancer by forcing the expression of various mutant genes in normal human mammary cells. It offers a powerful platform to analyze the complete sequence of changes that lead to the genesis of aggressive breast cancers and hence test new therapeutic strategies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
2023 | Dr. Wang studied the biological process that regulates the cells that give rise to different types of white blood cells in humans. She found these cells proliferate at a faster speed at an early step of their differentiation. In addition, the generation of lymphocytes is dependent on a mechanism that controls how their genomic DNA is organized. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
2023 | Dr. Wang examined how the drug mefenamic acid affects the delayed cardiac rectifier current revealing a drug binding site. In neuroscience, she identified aberrant forelimb motor behavior and cortical changes in a Huntington Disease mouse model. This research revealed the importance of multiple techniques in therapeutic development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
2023 | Dr. Nethery explored how we screen for gestational diabetes in pregnancy. Her work showed that changes in screening methods in BC were the primary drivers for a rapid increase in this condition. This points to an ongoing need to balance benefits and burdens of this diagnosis when considering screening changes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
2023 | Dr. Mei's research examined the mechanisms that control the size of the two daughter cells that result from a cell division. The findings from Dr. Mei's thesis link the loss of daughter cell size control with breast cancer development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
2023 | Dr. Philippe identified novel neuronal targets involved in adaptive responses to stress. He subsequently demonstrated these to modulate the serotonin subtype 1A receptor. Finally, he set the stage to study the role, connectivity, and effects of this modulation on health-related risk factors (e.g. metabolism, stress hormone, behaviour). | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
2023 | Dr. Zhao investigated membrane proteins using a membrane mimetic -- peptidiscs. Results showed peptidiscs enables the enrichment of membrane proteins in a water-soluble environment. The study can be beneficial to cancer biologists to discover novel biomarkers and drug targets and to biochemists to study membrane proteins in a native-like state. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |