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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Dr. Thu compared lung tumours of smokers and people who have never smoked. She found they exhibit differential disruption of genes and cellular pathways, supporting the hypothesis that lung cancers in these two cohorts are distinct diseases. Dr. Thu's findings suggest lung cancer patients may benefit from treatment that considers their smoking history. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Al-Bannay focused on the health of women in Saudi Arabia, with special reference to type 2 diabetes mellitus. She studied the health beliefs and behaviours of the women, and the outcomes of a pilot diabetes education program. Findings show that Saudi women experience lifestyle-related conditions and could benefit from the education program. | Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Cheng demonstrated a novel immunization strategy using a rub-on drug rather than an injection to enhance vaccine effectiveness. The drug mimics bacterial DNA, augments immune responses in the skin and provides long-lasting protection against infection. Her findings point to ways to improve vaccine responses to common infections like influenza. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Donohue identified an approved drug, verteporfin, as a chemical inhibitor of autophagy, a process that protects cancer cells against stress. Verteporfin was shown to counter autophagy and was characterized as a potential anticancer therapy. This study supports autophagy inhibition as a strategy to improve current cancer therapies | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Weisser's research focused on Inflammatory Bowel Disease. She examined the impact of immune cells, called macrophages, on disease severity. She found that converting inflammatory "killer" macrophages to healing cells offers promising new treatment options for patients suffering from intestinal inflammation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Chao studied cell biology in budding yeast. His research discovered how the cell orchestrates the events in cell division by restricting the diffusion of membrane proteins between the mother and daughter cells. His research contributes to understanding the spatial regulation of proteins and their diverse activities in eukaryotic cells. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Lee characterized and developed a novel therapeutic for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. He achieved this using a lipid drug delivery system that silenced the expression of cancer causing genes. This therapeutic holds great potential as a future treatment option for prostate cancer patients. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. de Leeuw developed and evaluated MiniPromoter tools, using mice as a model organism. These tools may lead to future applications in both brain and eye clinical gene therapies. He subsequently employed them to generate novel genetic models of a key neural stem cell gene. His studies advance our knowledge of genome regulation and brain development | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Mazarei studied biochemical modifications in Huntington's disease. She discovered novel metabolic changes using a mouse model, paving the way to greater understanding of disease mechanisms and potential treatments. The results of this work are likely to benefit patients with HD and other neurodegenerative disorders. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Zhang examined Alzheimer's disease in families, or FAD. She found the unique mechanisms underlying two FAD-causing mutations. This research shed light on the causes of Alzheimer's disease and also highlighted the possibility of developing potential treatment strategies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |