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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 | Epstein-Barr virus (also known as EBV) causes serious and life-threatening consequences for individuals with weakened immune systems. Dr. Huang has investigated how immunity against this virus is achieved. The knowledge acquired from her studies will aid in the design of novel immune therapies for severe EBV infection and virus-associated cancers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Mousavizadeh studied the effect of physical stimuli on tendon vascularization. He established the role and mechanism of a protein that promotes vascular changes in tendons. These findings constitute an important advance in our understanding of tendon tissue biology and may form the basis of therapeutic applications in the future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Kirkham studied the potential for exercise to protect the heart of breast cancer patients from the damaging effects of chemotherapy treatment. Her research showed that treadmill walking can alter the typical chemotherapy-related changes in heart function. This finding has implications for the heart and cancer-related health of cancer survivors. | Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Huang studied novel molecular markers for skin lymphoma. She demonstrated the clinical value and functional importance of a gene, TOX, in the most common skin lymphoma. Her research assists us in understanding the cause of this disease, improving management of patients, and developing novel therapies for this skin cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Dastan used genomic technologies to study the phenotypic variability in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders carrying a small genomic gain in chromosome 16. Her findings help clinicians to provide more accurate genetic counselling, and personalized management options for such families. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Ladha studied the role of an important enzyme involved in the origins and effects of Huntington's disease. Although partially knocking out the gene for this enzyme did not alter the course of the disease in a mouse model, she did find that this enzyme plays a previously unknown role in regulating inflammation in Huntington's disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Clermont explored novel avenues to treat prostate cancer. by analyzing proteins controlling genetic activity. He discovered that a protein called CBX2 is involved in the progression of prostate cancer. His studies demonstrated that blocking the action of CBX2 may represent a novel therapeutic strategy against advanced prostate cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Qiu studied the signaling pathways of the epidermal growth factor receptor in human ovarian cancer. She examined how the invasiveness and proliferation of the cancer cells are regulated by those pathways. Her findings advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that regulate the progression of ovarian cancer and inform prevention strategies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Gunawardana's doctoral studies focused on discovering novel mutations that are frequent in B cell lymphoma, the cancer in blood cells. He found these gene mutations play an important role in the formation of these cancers. These findings will lead to the development of potential new drugs and better treatments for patients affected by lymphoma. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Ibrahim studied the development of pre-leukemia disorders at the BC Cancer Research Centre. Her work has led to a better understanding of how malignant cells interact with normal components of the bone marrow. She has identified important signaling pathways that can be therapeutically targeted in the fight against blood cancers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |