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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Dr. Bischoff investigated a novel approach to preventing the auto-immune response in Type 1 diabetes. She demonstrated that specific immune cells can be directed to particular locations in the body, to protect tissues from inflammation. Her findings offer new insights into immune processes and have implications for treating Type 1 diabetes and organ transplant rejection. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Garrison used linked BC Ministry of Health databases to show that three commonly used medications are strongly associated with the development of nocturnal leg cramps. Replacing or discontinuing these potentially cramp promoting drugs is now a treatment option physicians can consider for some sufferers of frequent night-time leg cramps. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Yu solved the crystal structure of an enzyme that is critical to the spread of infectious E. coli bacteria, such as those found in the beef that was recalled last month. The crystal structure provides insights into how this enzyme attacks and disrupts host proteins that provide a defence against the bacteria. It is hoped this work will lead to the design of new treatments for E.coli. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Vashchenko studied the way the human body absorbs iron using a protein called hephaestin. By using genetic engineering techniques, she showed that hephaestin is able to oxidize iron. New details about the structure and function of hephaestin revealed by Dr. Vashchenko's research advance our current knowledge of the iron metabolism in humans. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Gray discovered that, during stressful experiences, a neurotransmitter in the brain called vasopressin assists by restricting the release of stress hormones. This suggests that vasopressin is an important regulator of stress, and that low levels of vasopressin may be a factor in mental illnesses like depression, particularly in senior citizens and women. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Himmel examined the role of T cells and T regulatory cells in the human immune system and particularly in the setting of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Dr. Himmel's work will further the development of clinical therapy using T cells or T regulatory cells for the treatment of chronic immune disorders. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Plemel tested several strategies that focused on replacing a biological substance known as myelin following injury to the nervous system. Loss of myelin is a common occurrence after Multiple Sclerosis and Spinal Cord Injury and strategies improving myelin replacement should provide new treatments for these conditions. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Debruin's research revealed a new role for the gene podocalyxin in blood vessels. She uncovered that podocalyxin is required on cells that line the blood vessels to maintain normal lung structure and vascular permeability. This work establishes an important role for podocalyxin in lung vascular health and function. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Speechley examined decision-making processes in patients with schizophrenia. He found that patients have a diminished capacity to activate the logical reasoning parts of the brain when faced with conflicts between intuition and reasoning. This discovery aids doctors in comprehending why patients with schizophrenia maintain delusional beliefs. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Fisher used British Columbian health databases to compare how long patients with rheumatoid arthritis are treated with drugs from a new group: biologic anti-inflammatory drugs. She studied ways in which patient and physician characteristics and study design influenced treatment duration. Her findings contribute to the body of research on rheumatoid arthritis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |