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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. Saferali investigated the inflammatory response to infection in cystic fibrosis, with a focus on the PLUNC genes as modifiers of lung disease severity. These studies identified SPLUNC1 as being beneficial to lung function in CF. This molecule is currently under development as a novel CF therapeutic. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Field studied how children who have difficulty walking due to a chronic health condition use power wheelchairs to participate in daily life. Her findings explored the feasibility of research methods and the suitability of measurement tools describing children's participation and changes in their participation following receipt of a new power wheelchair. | Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Towle analyzed the molecular profiles of the different stages of progression in oral squamous cell carcinoma. She further investigated several genes that were frequently deregulated in the premalignant stage of this disease in order to understand their role in this disease. This research contributes to our understanding of the development and progression of oral cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Using big health data, Dr. Puyat examined depression treatment in the general population. He found that half of those treated for depression received inadequate care and that paying physicians more will not greatly improve access to care. His findings underscore the need for fundamental changes in the way mental health services are provided. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Martin developed personalized vaccines targeting tumor-specific mutations in mouse models of cancer. He also identified a subset of human ovarian cancer patients most likely to benefit from these vaccines. His research will help select cancer patients for immunotherapy and improve the efficacy of anti-cancer vaccines. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Lam studied myelodysplastic syndromes, a group of debilitating blood cancers, as well as characterized genes important in the regulation of blood stem cells. Using a mouse model, he linked these genes to the development of myelodysplastic syndromes when disregulated. This research advances our understanding of blood stem cells and how cancers may arise. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Munuganti developed novel anti-prostate cancer therapeutics using computational modeling methods to target androgen receptors, a protein that drives prostate cancer. He demonstrated that these drug candidates bind to a new location on the receptor which is different from the conventional drug binding site and thereby overcome drug resistance. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Ng studied a cardiac ion channel responsible for pacemaking. He examined various molecules and mutations that influence how the channel works. This research provides insights on therapeutically controlling heart rate, especially in patients suffering from cardiac arrhythmia. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Knapp examined the molecular underpinnings of mouse and human blood stem cells and how they control key decisions, including the decision to survive, grow, or differentiate. These studies lay a foundation on which future blood stem cell expansion strategies can be constructed, and have implications for the development of leukemia. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Hanson conducted research on virus-mediated heart disease at the Centre for Heart and Lung Innovation at St. Paul's Hospital. Specifically, his work focused on viral proteases and their cellular targets. These findings may be useful in future diagnosis and treatment of this disease, preventing heart failure and death in these patients. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |