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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Dr. Ajaykumar studied cellular and mitochondrial toxicities of HIV antiretrovirals. He showed that some HIV drugs used in pregnancy increase the amount of mitochondrial DNA in infants, and that a newer drug increases mitochondrial toxicity. His research advances our understanding of the long-term safety of HIV therapy, for both mother and child. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Ehlers investigated how stress influences how we learn which things or actions are associated with something good. She showed that stress can both be beneficial and detrimental. Results further demonstrated that in the brain, novel associations are represented by our emotional response to them. Her work may have important clinical implications. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Zhao studied the effect of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) on placental development during pregnancy. He found that BMP2 positively regulates human placental cell invasion and the underlying mechanisms involved, which may inform advances in clinical diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for pregnancy disorders. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Windt extended knowledge in sport and exercise medicine by exploring why some athletes get hurt and others do not. He analyzed novel international data sets using advanced methods to unpack the association between sport participation and injury. His discoveries will reduce the burden of sports injury and allow athletes to perform their best. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Singh studied cerebral vessel growth in Alzheimer's disease. She repurposed drugs used in cancer therapy to reduce pathogenic blood vessel formation and improve cognition in mouse models of Alzheimer's. Findings from these studies improve our understanding of how an altered blood vessel growth can contribute to pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2019 | Myxoid liposarcoma is a type of cancer that predominantly affects young adults. Dr. Yu's doctoral studies examined the role of how a mutant protein functions as the main cause of myxoid liposarcoma. Her research uncovered a new function of the mutant protein that can form the basis of future treatment strategies for this disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Gignac studied a rare genetic disease called Robinow syndrome that is caused by mutations in the Wingless or WNT signaling pathway. Her work demonstrated how WNT5A and DVL1 genetic mutations disrupt formation of the skeleton. In future, these studies will lead to therapies for WNT diseases in humans such as cancer or bone related disorders. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Velasquez Garcia made use of novel methods to estimate the causal effects of breast density on breast cancer risk, and to determine whether genetic mutations related to breast cancer act through breast density. His findings provide insights regarding potential future methods of breast cancer prevention. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Campbell investigated the role of the Trithorax Group (TrxG) protein complexes during pancreas development. She discovered that loss of TrxG epigenetic activity resulted in fewer insulin-producing beta-cells and diabetes. Her research may improve the generation of functional pancreatic beta-cells from stem cells as a potential diabetes therapy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Celiberto investigated how good bacteria in the gut protect against Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and the role of intestinal mucus in providing protection against bacterial infections. Her research may help in the development of new therapies for patients suffering acute infectious and chronic inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |