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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Dr. MacDonald completed her doctoral program in the field of Experimental Medicine. She developed a new therapy to prevent transplant rejection by genetically modifying the immune system to protect transplanted tissue. This research could allow wait-listed patients to receive transplants sooner and reduce their need for immunosuppressive drugs. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Malik investigated channels that allow calcium entry into brain cells. Her work provided a new mechanism by which these channels contribute to signal transmission in the hippocampus. Her findings have advanced our understanding of information processing in a brain region associated with learning and memory functions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Heppner's doctoral research focussed on a rare, inherited childhood disease known as MPS-1. He used genomic technologies to demonstrate that the disease is more complex and begins earlier than previously thought. He developed a novel model of the disease's mechanisms that will guide future research and support early diagnosis and treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2015 | Obesity is associated with chronic inflammation, which greatly increases the risk of various health problems such as type 2 diabetes. Why does obesity-associated inflammation develop? Is there a way to reverse it? Dr. Han's research shows that a type of immune cells called regulatory T cells plays an important part in answering these questions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Li studied the way in which the implantation of human placenta is regulated by a protein named activin. That protein is found where the fetus connects with the mother. The findings provide insights into the biology of placenta implantation, and can improve the diagnosis and treatment methods used in pregnancies with dysfunctional placenta. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2015 | Using systems biology approaches, Dr. Wee investigated the molecular basis of lower immune responses against infection in newborns and adults, sixty-five years and older. This study sheds light on the molecular pathways that influence age-dependent differences in immune systems, which may result in differences in the clinical outcome of infection. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Ardiel investigated the ways in which experience can change brains. He identified two signalling pathways that shape performance on a newly-established learning task. Identifying the molecular basis of learning and memory is essential for developing treatments for neurodegenerative disorders and memory deficits associated with ageing. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Won examined the performance of breast cancer biomarkers in hospital laboratories across Canada. Through her research, she helped to develop an improved diagnostic test for basal-like breast cancer. Her work highlights the importance of effective quality assurance and quality control, in order to ensure optimal cancer patient care and safety. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Dissing-Olesen discovered two novel modes of communication between the brain's neurons and the brain's immune cells. These fascinating findings provide new insight into the functional role of the brain's immune cells in the healthy and diseased brain. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2015 | Dr. Gerlach identified how an early intervention program fostered health equity for Indigenous children, by being responsive to the lived realities and priorities of Indigenous families. This socially responsive form of intervention challenges our assumptions about early childhood programming for families and children who experience marginalization. | Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD) |