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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Dr. Rungta studied how brain cells swell, a neurological problem underlying certain forms of brain edema. By developing a new technique to silence gene expression in brain cells, Dr. Rungta identified a novel chloride channel in neurons that, when activated, causes swelling. These findings may lead to the development of treatments for brain edema. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Zhang investigated the bio-molecular mechanisms that cause Alzheimer's disease. Her study identified a novel risk factor in the Tmp21 gene, and further examined how this risk factor contributed to disease development. Her research will potentially lead to the identification of novel targets in treatment of Alzheimer's disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Zhang conducted research into the causes of ovarian cancer. She discovered that homeobox B4, a developmental gene, suppressed invasion of human epithelial ovarian cancer cells via CD44, a cell surface adhesive molecule. This research is the first to demonstrate the role of homeobox B4 in epithelial ovarian cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Foulds studied the cardiac and vascular health of Aboriginal adults, and their responses to exercise. She found that the benefits of exercise were different for Aboriginal adults than for Europeans. She showed that the relation of blood pressure to vascular health differs among ethnic groups, with greater dangers of hypertension for Aboriginals. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Esmailzadeh conducted her research in medical genetics with a focus on cancer genetics and molecular biology. Her research highlights the role of a gene in the development of an aggressive type of lymphoma. The results of this work pave the way to a greater understanding of disease mechanisms and potential new therapeutic options. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Pikor completed her doctoral studies in the field of Interdisciplinary Oncology. She analyzed the genetic alterations that characterize the main subtypes of lung cancer, and influence the treatment response. She identified several genes and pathways involved in subtype tumor biology, and a new potential treatment for squamous cell carcinoma. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Lee studied the effects of genetic and environmental factors on the risk of developing multiple sclerosis, as well as its clinical variation, in populations of Asian ancestry. This research advances current understanding of the factors underlying population differences in the risk and severity of multiple sclerosis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Swenson used a new sequencing method to detect HIV drug resistance in blood with better accuracy and sensitivity. He used this technique in over 2800 patients receiving HIV therapy, and found that it was the best predictor of their future clinical outcomes. This approach is now being used across Canada for routine monitoring of HIV drug resistance. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Gage examined how human stem cells can be coaxed to form pancreatic cells that make hormones such as insulin. His studies describe how simple and complex cues influence which hormone a pancreatic cell chooses to make. This work helps build a roadmap of human stem cell development which may lead to new stem cell-based therapies for Diabetes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2014 | Dr. Boroomand studied diseased heart valves, specifically aortic valves that had calcified from aging. Her work elucidated the roles of several signaling molecules and the nutrient, vitamin D, in this disease, suggesting possible treatments. Additionally, her work developed a cell culture model of the disease to facilitate further study. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |