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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Dr. Mills studied the transport of nutrient molecules and toxins across the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. He revealed novel steps in the transport of vitamin B12 and an antimicrobial toxin across this membrane. His work will inform research on these transport pathways and help in the development of future antimicrobial therapeutics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Greenblatt dedicated her studies to understanding how the bacterium that causes tuberculosis evades our immune system. She discovered a novel mechanism that allows the bacterium to survive in the body in a dormant, drug-resistant state. These findings have generated a new area of research in latent tuberculosis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Nuclear imaging has a significant role in cancer management including diagnosis, staging, treatment planning and treatment monitoring. Dr. Lau developed radiotracers targeting carbonic anhydrase IX, a protein found in tumours. His research enables physicians to identify patients that can benefit from personalized therapies targeting this protein. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Background noise is one of the biggest challenges for people with hearing loss. Dr. Chong examined the effects of hearing aid noise reduction on Mandarin speech sounds. She found that noise reduction did not impede novel speech sound identification. Her findings have implications for the widespread use of noise reduction systems in hearing aids. | Doctor of Philosophy in Audiology and Speech Sciences (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Cheung studied how an anti-inflammatory protein (IL-10) inhibits immune cells activation and the development of immune disorders. She showed how a specific drug candidate could interact with its target and mimic the action of IL-10. This work provides insight on the development of similar and better drugs for treating immune disorders. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Fung investigated the interplay between cellular stress responses and coxsackievirus B3 infection. He showed a mechanism by which viral infection disrupts host immune stress response mechanisms to support viral replication and disease progression. This research illuminates underlying mechanisms that contribute to virus-induced diseases such as viral cardiomyopathy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Baimel studied how orexin neurons modulate the activity of dopamine neurons in the reward circuitry of the brain. He determined that orexin gates addictive-drug induced changes in subpopulations of these neurons. This knowledge adds to our understanding of how addictive drugs alter the brain and may aid in the search for novel treatments. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Jaw developed a new model of atherosclerotic plaque destabilization related to lung inflammation. He found a white blood cell enzyme is contributing to this processes. His discovery led to new insights about the molecular pathways of heart attack and stroke and may facilitate future therapy for these diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Endometrial cancer is the fourth most common cancer in females. Dr. Xiong studied the signaling pathways and identified two important factors that influence the development of endometrial cancer cells. These findings suggest novel therapeutic targets for treating type II endometrial cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2016 | Parkinson's disease is a severe disease of the brain and alpha-synuclein is one of the most important disease-causing proteins. Dr. Jin has developed a compound that can effectively reduce the level of alpha-synuclein in the brain, which may lead to a potential therapy for Parkinson's disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |