Applicants to master’s and doctoral degrees are not affected by the recently announced cap on study permits. Review more details
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Dr. Zhang developed genetic models to study the development of tissues in the human body, including muscle, fat, and bones. By characterizing a key regulatory factor, his research highlights how development is controlled by genetic information beyond the DNA. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Imam studied the incidence of lower limb amputation and the provision of rehabilitation services in Canada. In addition she designed and evaluated a novel approach towards cost-effective and accessible rehabilitation for individuals with lower limb amputation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Li studied how drug-resistant prostate cancer develops. He found a novel target for this lethal disease and applied a computer-aided system to screen for superior inhibitors of this target. His study provides a potential therapeutic strategy for drug-resistant prostate cancer that may eventually benefit the patient survival. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Courtade's doctoral studies focused on the processing of hormones in the pancreas. He developed an assay to detect a novel hormone precursor in humans, and modeled his findings in rodent models of diabetes. His research increases our understanding of hormone function in the pancreas during the healthy and diabetic state. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Cocker utilised a novel rodent slot machine task to probe the underlying neurobiological basis of problem gambling. He found a novel role for the dopamine D4 receptor in mediating attributions of salience to reward related stimuli, indicating that targeting this receptor may represent a potential treatment avenue for problem gambling in humans | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Tang identified an independent diagnostic marker (gene CD82) for cutaneous human melanoma. He also discovered a novel automatic regulator of this marker on melanoma cell migration, invasion, and the formation of blood vessels. This work will lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies against malignant melanoma. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Lin studied novel treatment options for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients. He found that combined inhibition of two enzymes is more effective in killing CML cells than single inhibition is. He also identified novel RNA molecules that can act as therapeutic agents and as biomarkers to predict patient response to current therapy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Luk studied new therapeutic targets in prostate cancers. She identified a specific protein, called BIRC6, that is critical in the survival of prostate cancer and developed a new agent targeting this molecule. Her research supports that anti-BIRC6 agents may represent a new treatment for patients with advanced prostate cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Axerio-Cilies completed his doctoral studies in experimental medicine. He identified a new mechanism to protect the brain from injury caused by stroke or ischemic damage which is caused by restricted blood flow. He has also found a way to enhance this cell survival mechanism to stop cell death that occurs after an ischemic stroke. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Wen studied how the key excitatory neurotransmitter enhances the function of an inhibitory transmitter receptor in the brain. She also developed drugs targeting this pathway. Her work not only blurs the classic definition of excitatory/inhibitory neurotransmissions, but also offers a stepping-stone for developing new medications for epilepsy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |