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Every day across British Columbia, trainees and researchers at the UBC Faculty of Medicine are turning skills into jobs, investments into discoveries, and discoveries into solutions that are transforming health for everyone.

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.

 

Research Facilities

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.

Research Highlights

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.

Graduate Degree Programs

Research Supervisors in Faculty

or browse the list of faculty members in various academic units. You may click each unit to view faculty members appointed in that unit. View the full faculty member directory for more search and filter options.
Name Academic Unit(s) Research Interests
Gilbert, Mark School of Population and Public Health Public and population health; Development, implementation, evaluation and scale-up of innovative sexual health programs; Gay men’s sexual health, including sexual health literacy; Synergistic and integrated dynamics of infectious diseases, mental illness and other conditions
Gill, John Division of Nephrology Clinical outcomes in kidney transplant patients; Access to kidney transplantation; Living donor transplantation; Cardiovascular risk in transplant patients
Gill, Jagbir Division of Nephrology Kidney transplantation; Organ donation; Clinical epidemiology
Gill, Sharlene Division of Medical Oncology Colorectal cancer, hepatobiliary malignancies, pancreatic cancer, phase II/III clinical trials, health outcomes research
Gleave, Martin Department of Urologic Sciences Infectious diseases, interdisciplinary oncology, prostate
Glegg, Stephanie Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy Child Development; Children's Health; Developmental Disabilities; Exercise for Children; Health services research; Opioid Abuse and Addiction; rehabilitation; Translational Medical Research; Knowledge translation
Goerges, Matthias Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics Electronic health (e-Health); Health information systems (including surveillance); Expert systems technologies in artificial intelligence; Anesthesiology; Medical devices; Human-computer systems and interface; Bio-signal processing and analysis; Digital health; predictive analytics; decision support systems; Critical Care Medicine; Biomedical Technologies; Health Care Technologies; Human Computer Interaction and Design; Medical informatics; Software Development; patient-oriented research; Data sharing / open data
Goldenberg, S Larry Department of Urologic Sciences prostate cancer, men’s health issues
Goldman, Ran Department of Pediatrics Evidence to Innovation; Pediatric Research in Emergency Therapeutics (PRETx) Program
Gonzalez-Montaner, Julio Sergio Division of Infectious Diseases Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, development of antiretroviral therapies and management strategies
Gourlay, William Department of Urologic Sciences renal transplantation
Granville, David Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Autoimmunity; Medical molecular engineering of nucleic acids and proteins; Proteases; Granzymes; Extracellular matrix; Chronic inflammation; Aging; Disease models; Autoimmune disease; Skin; Vascular biology
Greenblatt, Ethan Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Gregory-Evans, Kevin Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences retina, stem cells, gene therapy, retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, age-related macular degeneration, Stargardt’s disease, Best’s disease, x-linked retinoschisis, electroretinography., Eye, novel molcular approaches in the treatment of retinal disease, cell-based therapeutics ofr age-related macular degenration and retinitis pigmentosa, molecular defects underlying retinal disease
Gregory-Evans, Cheryl Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Tissue fusion during development, Aniridia, retinal therapeutics
Greidanus, Nelson Department of Orthopaedics osteoarthritis and joint replacement procedures
Greyson, Devon School of Population and Public Health Health-related information practices of youth, parents, and families; Intersection between information practices and health behavior,; Cannabis use decision making in pregnancy and lactation; Vaccine confidence and decision making about vaccination; Disinformation in social media support communities; Online communication among young parents
Griesdale, Donald E Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Department of Medicine Neurocritical care, traumatic brain injury, invasive neuromonitoring, airway management
Grunau, Brian Department of Emergency Medicine Anaphylaxis and allergic reactions in the emergency department; Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, resuscitation and E-CPR; Pre-hospital care
Grunau, Ruth V Department of Pediatrics Biobehavioural regulation, brain and neurodevelopment in premature infants and children, Long-term effects of neonatal pain on stress regulation, brain, behavior, neurodevelopment, Infant pain and stress, Parenting stress, parent-infant interaction
Grzybowski, Stefan Department of Family Practice preconception care; prenatal care; rural obstetric outcomes
Gsponer, Joerg Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories Protein-DNA, protein-RNA and protein-protein interactions
Guenette, Jordan Department of Physical Therapy Respiratory diseases; Other biological sciences; Clinical exercise physiology; Cardiorespiratory physiology; Mechanisms and management of breathlessness and exercise intolerance; Chronic respiratory diseases
Guhn, Martin Developmental psychology; Psychosocial, sociocultural and behavioral determinants of health; social context and child development/well-being; Population health; social determinants of health
Gupta, Neeru Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Population and Public Health relationship between the eye and other health conditions, blinding disease, Eyes and Vision

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Recent Publications

This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Medicine.

 

Publication: British journal of sports medicine
UBC Author(s): Jacqueline Whittaker (Physical Therapy / Faculty of Medicine), Clare Ardern (Physical Therapy / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 58
Page Range: 733-744
Publication Date: 20 June 2024

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Publication: Journal of the American Heart Association
UBC Author(s): Gordon Francis (Division of Endocrinology / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 13
Page Range: e034990
Publication Date: 18 June 2024

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Publication: Swiss medical weekly
UBC Author(s): Kristin Campbell (Physical Therapy / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 154
Page Range: 3588
Publication Date: 17 June 2024

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Publication: RMD open
UBC Author(s): Kelly Brown (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 10
Publication Date: 17 June 2024

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Publication: International Journal of Cardiology
UBC Author(s): John Webb (Divisions of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 01675273
Volume: 405
Publication Date: 15 June 2024

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Publication: The Lancet
UBC Author(s): Thalia Field (Division of Neurology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 01406736
Volume: 403
Page Range: 2597-2605
Publication Date: 15 June 2024

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Publication: Nature
UBC Author(s): Poul Sorensen (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine), Calvin Kuo (School of Biomedical Engineering / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00280836
Volume: 630
Page Range: 457-465
Publication Date: 13 June 2024

View Publication
Publication: BMJ open quality
UBC Author(s): David Schaeffer (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 13
Publication Date: 11 June 2024

View Publication
Publication: Cancer Cell
UBC Author(s): Brad Nelson (Medical Genetics / Faculty of Medicine), Andrew Roth (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 15356108
Volume: 42
Page Range: 1003-1017.e6
Publication Date: 10 June 2024

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Publication: JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions
UBC Author(s): John Webb (Divisions of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 19368798
Volume: 17
Page Range: 1340-1351
Publication Date: 10 June 2024

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Publication: JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions
UBC Author(s): John Webb (Divisions of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery / Faculty of Medicine), Philipp Blanke (Radiology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 19368798
Volume: 17
Page Range: 1325-1336
Publication Date: 10 June 2024

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Publication: JAMA Neurology
UBC Author(s): Ging-Yuek Robin Hsiung (Division of Neurology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 21686149
Volume: 81
Page Range: 582-593
Publication Date: 10 June 2024

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Publication: Journal of Proteome Research
UBC Author(s): Philipp Lange (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 15353893
Volume: 23
Page Range: 2169-2185
Publication Date: 7 June 2024

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Publication: American Journal of Human Genetics
UBC Author(s): David Huntsman (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00029297
Volume: 111
Page Range: 1061-1083
Publication Date: 6 June 2024

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Publication: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
UBC Author(s): Jeremy Seamans (Psychiatry / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 44
Publication Date: 5 June 2024

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Publication: Genome biology and evolution
UBC Author(s): Inanc Birol (Medical Genetics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 16
Publication Date: 4 June 2024

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Publication: BMJ (Clinical research ed.)
UBC Author(s): John Kramer (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 385
Page Range: q1187
Publication Date: 3 June 2024

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Publication: JAMA Pediatrics
UBC Author(s): Jennifer Tomek (Obstetrics & Gynaecology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 21686203
Volume: 178
Page Range: 522-524
Publication Date: 3 June 2024

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Publication: Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine
UBC Author(s): Torsten Nielsen (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 14
Publication Date: 3 June 2024

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Publication: Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology
UBC Author(s): Andrew Krahn (Divisions of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 26
Publication Date: 3 June 2024

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Publication: CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne
UBC Author(s): Gina Ogilvie (School of Population and Public Health / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 196
Page Range: E716-E723
Publication Date: 2 June 2024

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Publication: CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne
UBC Author(s): Brett Schrewe (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 196
Page Range: E732-E733
Publication Date: 2 June 2024

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Publication: Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases
UBC Author(s): Thalia Field (Division of Neurology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 10523057
Volume: 33
Publication Date: June 2024

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Publication: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - Part D: Genomics and Proteomics
UBC Author(s): Inanc Birol (Medical Genetics / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 1744117X
Volume: 50
Publication Date: June 2024

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Recent Thesis Submissions

Doctoral Citations

A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
Year Citation Program
2023 Dr. Lapointe extensively employed various DNA sequencing technologies to gain deeper insights into anti-viral drug resistance and the molecular epidemiology of HIV, HCV, and SARS-CoV-2. His research has significantly advanced our understanding of viral public health dynamics, and heloed shape the local and national clinical management guidelines. Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD)
2023 Dr. Sheth investigated the neural correlates of two distinct types of dynamic patterns  freely-moving and goal-driven  present in the stream of thought. Her findings offer new insights into the functions of the default and executive networks of brain and have implications for mental health, spontaneous thought, mind-wandering, and creativity. Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD)
2023 Dr. Rufenach studied the biophysical interactions and three-dimensional structures of protein complexes involved in calcium signaling pathways. Her research has contributed to understanding the mechanisms of skeletal muscle contraction and rare neuromuscular diseases. Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Francis mapped the dynamics of antibiotic resistance gene carriage in the healthy newborn infant gut and characterized changes in response to severe acute malnutrition and HIV, in low-resource settings. His findings have major implications for antibiotic prophylaxis, therapy and stewardship practices in global neonatal and infant populations. Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD)
2023 Dr. Desai revealed that despite better CF prognosis in recent years, people with CF still face substantial burden from lung impairment and other complications. Rising healthcare costs due to expensive medications pose additional challenges. These findings will help improve their service planning and resource allocation in the future. Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD)
2023 Dr. Dellazizzo Toth developed imaging techniques and technologies enabling rapid recording of all activity across a complete neural arbor in an awake animal and applied these tools to interrogate how individual neurons are modified by experience. Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD)
2023 Millions of undiscovered viruses circulate in wildlife and many of them threaten to spillover into humans and livestock, causing outbreaks and pandemics. Dr. Kuchinski developed new genome sequencing techniques for discovering these threats and monitoring their spread. These tools will help protect our health and livelihoods from these viruses. Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD)
2023 Dr. Carlaw's research helped improve the efficacy of therapeutic CRISPR Cas9 base editing for the treatment of previously incurable childhood genetic diseases. Her research helped establish some of the first reporter models for studying base editors and paved the way for the next generation of lipid nanoparticle delivered gene editors. Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Cyrus' work focused on the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 syndromes, where she expanded the clinical phenotype of the most recently described syndrome: SUZ-12 Related Overgrowth. She further used Drosophila melanogaster to develop assays that can tell us if human genetic variants of interest can cause these syndromes or not. Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Lu studied the function of a major autism risk gene neurexin-1, showing that losing one copy of this molecule leads to significant synaptic deficits. He subsequently used gene-editing technology to rescue these impairments by altering how neurexin-1 RNA is processed, identifying a potential therapeutic strategy for neuropsychiatric patients. Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD)

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