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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Dr. Solomonson studied how bacteria cause the disease tuberculosis, or TB, which is still a major world-wide problem. He provided a glimpse of the tiny molecular machines used by the bacteria to manipulate human cells during an infection. The findings will hopefully contribute to the development of better drugs and vaccines to prevent and treat TB. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Zhang studied Reproductive and Developmental Sciences. She showed how oocyte-derived growth factors in the human ovarian cells regulate sex hormone production and ovulation. This knowledge will aid in the understanding of ovulation and the findings will help therapies of female infertility and improve In-Vitro Fertilization protocols. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Sze investigated the role of bacterial communities in the lung and how they can potentially impact disease progression in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Specifically, he studied how these bacterial communities influence and drive immune and inflammatory processes, and identified specific bacteria that could be targeted by those processes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2015 | Leishmania are small parasites that are transmitted to humans by sand flies and can cause severe disease. Dr. Lambertz examined how leishmania cause disease and can shut down the host's immune response. Her research advanced our understanding of how parasites communicate with humans and may aid in development of new drugs to treat leishmania infection. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Bean studied the factors that move proteins to the correct places in yeast cells. He discovered a new transport protein and suggested a process by which other proteins are brought to their functional location in our cells. The findings from these studies may improve our understanding of hemophilia, Parkinson disease and Alzheimer disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Biln studied how molecular barriers between cells are assembled and maintained. These barriers are essential to organism development. She identified novel roles for a critical protein in barrier organization and epithelial cell survival. This advances our knowledge of how cellular barriers are developed and provides insight into therapeutic targets. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Khong characterized a family of agriculturally important viruses called dicistroviruses. Notable members of this family infect shrimps, aphids, and honey bees. Dr. Khong's work sheds light on how these understudied viruses replicate and usurp the host, and evade antiviral defenses. These strategies are conserved across other viral families. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2015 | Actions of sex steroid hormones in humans are regulated by a transporter protein in the blood. Dr. Wu's research revealed how genetic variations alter production and functions of this protein. In the era of personalized medicine, his research may improve current counselling, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of endocrine or metabolic disorders. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Ryz studied the ways in which vitamin D affects the gut during colitis. Her novel research showed that high levels of vitamin D can negatively affect the intestinal immune system, increasing the risk of infection by dangerous gut bacteria. Her findings may help patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, who are at high risk of bacterial infection. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Shi studied the mechanisms contributing to virus-induced heart diseases. She investigate autophagy, a protein degradation pathway, and the critical role it plays in viral infection. Her research findings will aid in the development of novel anti-viral therapies, and contribute to improvements in the prognosis for viral-induced heart diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |