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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Dr. Baronas discovered new regulatory mechanisms for a potassium channel involved in severe childhood epilepsy and movement disorders. Her findings demonstrate how a potassium channel can be influenced by its environment, and reveal unexpected ways that electrical signaling in the brain can be regulated and disrupted in neurological diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Nackiewicz studied how immune cells called macrophages contribute to inflammation in insulin-producing islets in type 2 diabetes. She showed that macrophages could either induce or resolve islet inflammation. This work could aid in the design of therapies that may improve function of islet cells in diabetes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Kuhlmann studied how a mutation in the LRRK2 gene and its corresponding protein alters neurotransmission in Parkinson's disease. She found that the mutation disrupts glutamate transmission in young mice, which may contribute to disease onset. A drug targeting LRRK2 function restored normal neurotransmission, suggesting its treatment potential. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Mei developed a universal coating that could prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections. With the application of the new coating, interactions between the catheters and urine components can be reduced. This study improves the safety and performance of medical devices, thus improving patients' health. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. McClymont examined multiple aspects of HPV vaccination in women living with HIV. She found that while the vaccine has good efficacy, the post-vaccination burden of oncogenic HPV suggests that cervical screening remains important. These findings will inform the World Health Organization's global strategy for eliminating cervical cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. ten Brinke examined the effect of lifestyle strategies on cognitive function in older adults. She showed that computerized cognitive training, especially when combined with exercise, improved cognitive function and its brain networks. Overall, her research supports cognitive training as a promising strategy to promote healthy cognitive aging. | Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Zarei studied and implemented machine learning techniques for cancer detection, diagnosis, and prognosis. She developed technology to analyze and detect abnormalities in the cervix, and to classify and grade prostate cancer. Her work will ultimately help to reduce healthcare costs and increase patients' quality of life. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Jones characterized the risk factors, dynamics, and consequences of psychosis experienced by adults living in precarious housing in Vancouver over a period of five years. These longitudinal studies contribute to our understanding of how psychotic symptoms evolve over time, and illustrate opportunities for intervention. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Zhao identified patterns of mutations in cancer genomes which can reveal whether cancer cells are repairing their DNA properly. He developed a method to analyze the evolution of these mutation patterns over time. He also showed that certain patterns of mutation predict treatment effectiveness and may help oncologists make clinical decisions. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Workman used X-ray crystallography to study the structure-function relationship of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of the bacterial cell wall. His structural data revealed an unexpected topology and suggested an additional function for a key membrane protein. This knowledge provides a foundation for the development of novel antibiotics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |