Every day across British Columbia, trainees and researchers at the UBC Faculty of Medicine are turning skills into jobs, investments into discoveries, and discoveries into solutions that are transforming health for everyone.

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.

 

Research Facilities

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.

Research Highlights

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.

Graduate Degree Programs

Research Supervisors in Faculty

or browse the list of faculty members in various academic units. You may click each unit to view faculty members appointed in that unit. View the full faculty member directory for more search and filter options.
Name Academic Unit(s) Research Interests
Loewen, Christopher Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences Genomics; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS); Autism; Cancer Cell Metabolism; Cell Biology; Cell polarity; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Genetic Networks; Golgi; Lipid Signalling; Lipid Traffic; Membrane Contact Sites; Membrane Diffusion Barriers; Membranes and Organelles; Super Resolution Microscopy; Systems Biology
Loock, Christine Ann Department of Pediatrics Brain, Behaviour & Development; Social Pediatrics; Health Inequities; Child-health medical-home: children/families, integration / patient care / community services; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders; Pediatric Sleep Disorders
Loree, Jonathan Division of Medical Oncology Cancer; Carcinoid tumors
Lorincz, Matthew Department of Medical Genetics Genetic medicine; Developmental Genetics; genomics; chromatin; chromatinopathies; Epigenetics; Epigenomics; Gene regulation; Neurodevelopmental disorders
Loucks, Catrina Department of Pediatrics, Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics Medical, health and life sciences; Pharmacogenomics; Pain management; Medical Genetics; Model organism genetics; Drug reactions
Luciani, Dan Department of Surgery Cell metabolism; Cell differentiation, proliferation and death; Organelle function; Other basic medicine and life sciences; Diabetes; Pancreatic beta-cell function and failure; Mitochondrial physiology; Lysosomal physiology; Cell calcium signalling; Cell stress signalling; Mechanisms of cell death; autophagy; Cellular senescence; fluorescence microscopy
Lui, Harvey Department of Dermatology & Skin Science lasers; skin disease; psoriasis; dermatology; pigmentary disorders; vitiligo; applied optics; photomedicine; photodynamic therapy, Dermatology, photomedicine, lasers, psoriasis, vitiligo, dermatologic education
Lunken, Genelle Department of Pediatrics Clinical nutrition; Human nutrition and dietetics, n.e.c.; Gastroenterology; Personalised nutrition therapies; Dietary fibre; Inflammatory bowel disease; Gut microbiome; Food additives
Luo, Honglin Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Basic medicine and life sciences; Viral Infections; Cardiomyopathy; Innate immunity; RNA viruses; Enteroviral infection and neurodegeneration; Oncolytic virus; Protein quality control in cardiac remodeling
Lynn, Francis Department of Surgery, School of Biomedical Engineering Diabetes; ß-cell development; ß-cell biology; Human pluripotent stem cells; CRISPR/Cas; transcriptional regulation
Lyons, Christopher Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Pediatric Ophthalmology; Oculoplastics
MacHan, Lindsay Department of Radiology radiology; infertility; vascular disease
Mackenzie, Ian Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Alzheimer's Disease
MacLure, Malcolm Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics Epidemiology, patient safety, quality control, pharmaceutical sciences, health services research
MacNab, Ying School of Population and Public Health Bayesian paradigm, foundations of statistics, space-time statistics, structured statistical models, taxonomic models, item response theory, inductive reasoning, Bayesian burden of disease methodology, Geometics, Health service and population health geoinformation system, and meta-data innovation in medical and health research
Macnab, Andrew Department of Pediatrics Developmental Neurosciences, Child Health, Diabetes, Nutrition & Metabolism (Nutrition & Metabolism)
MacNeily, Andrew Department of Urologic Sciences Evidence to Innovation; Care of children with urological conditions
MacVicar, Brian Department of Psychiatry Brain Research, epilepsy, astrocyte, glia, dendrites, synapse, imaging, two photon laser scanning microscopy, neurophysiology, Role of calcium, regulation of neurons, cell death
Madden, Kenneth Division of Geriatric Medicine Geriatrics and gerontology; Exercise interventions; Sedentary Behaviour; Syncope; Falls Prevention; Sarcopenia; Machine Learning; point of care ultrasound
Madhav, Manu School of Biomedical Engineering Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; Cognitive representations in the brain; Place cells; Spatial navigation; Path planning; Control theory; Alzheimer's disease
Mancini, John Divisions of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery Cardiology
Manges, Amee School of Population and Public Health Health sciences; Immunology; Microbiology; Public and population health; Epidemiology; Molecular epidemiology; Public health
Mannas, Miles Department of Urologic Sciences prostate cancer, novel techniques for real-time pathologic tissue analysis utilizing artificial intelligence
Marinova-Todd, Stefka School of Audiology and Speech Sciences bilingualism, second language acquisition, language development, literacy, ESL children, children at risk of language difficulties, language disorders in bilingual children and adults, Second language acquisition; language development and language learning difficulties of bilingual children
Marra, Marco Department of Medical Genetics, Michael Smith Laboratories Genomics; Bioinformatics, n.e.c.; Epigenetics and epigenomics; Genetics, n.e.c.; Cancer genetics; Genetics; Epigenomics; Cancer biology

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Graduate Student Stories

Recent Publications

This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Medicine.

 

Publication: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
UBC Author(s): Wade Thompson (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 14651858
Volume: 2025
Publication Date: 31 March 2025

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Publication: Science Advances
UBC Author(s): Robert Molday (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 11
Publication Date: 28 March 2025

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Publication: PLOS Global Public Health
UBC Author(s): Daniel Steel (School of Population and Public Health / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 5
Publication Date: 26 March 2025

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Publication: Blood Advances
UBC Author(s): Kerry Savage (Division of Medical Oncology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 24739529
Volume: 9
Page Range: 1366-1369
Publication Date: 25 March 2025

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Publication: Circulation
UBC Author(s): Shubhayan Sanatani (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00097322
Volume: 151
Page Range: 847-862
Publication Date: 25 March 2025

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Publication: JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions
UBC Author(s): Stephanie Sellers (Divisions of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 19368798
Volume: 18
Page Range: 767-781
Publication Date: 24 March 2025

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Publication: BMJ Open
UBC Author(s): Rita McCracken (Family Practice / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 15
Publication Date: 21 March 2025

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Publication: ACS Catalysis
UBC Author(s): Corinna Schindler (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 15
Page Range: 4934-4941
Publication Date: 21 March 2025

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Publication: STAR Protocols
UBC Author(s): Michael Kobor (Medical Genetics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 6
Publication Date: 21 March 2025

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Publication: STAR Protocols
UBC Author(s): Hilla Weidberg (Cellular & Physiological Sciences / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 6
Publication Date: 21 March 2025

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Publication: iScience
UBC Author(s): James Johnson (Cellular & Physiological Sciences / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 28
Publication Date: 21 March 2025

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Publication: Vaccine
UBC Author(s): Julie Bettinger (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine), Gina Ogilvie (School of Population and Public Health / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 0264410X
Volume: 50
Publication Date: 19 March 2025

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Publication: Vaccine
UBC Author(s): Manish Sadarangani (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 0264410X
Volume: 50
Publication Date: 19 March 2025

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Publication: Journal of the American Heart Association
UBC Author(s): Brian Grunau (Emergency Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 14
Page Range: e036108
Publication Date: 18 March 2025

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Publication: Journal of the American College of Cardiology
UBC Author(s): John Webb (Divisions of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 07351097
Volume: 85
Page Range: 1042-1055
Publication Date: 18 March 2025

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Publication: CMAJ. Canadian Medical Association Journal
UBC Author(s): James Christenson (Emergency Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 08203946
Volume: 197
Page Range: E258-E265
Publication Date: 17 March 2025

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Publication: The Journal of clinical investigation
UBC Author(s): Tillie-Louise Hackett (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 135
Publication Date: 17 March 2025

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Publication: Clinical Infectious Diseases
UBC Author(s): Joseph Puyat (School of Population and Public Health / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 10584838
Volume: 80
Page Range: 644-652
Publication Date: 15 March 2025

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Publication: Journal of global health
UBC Author(s): Michelle Amri (School of Population and Public Health / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 15
Page Range: 02001
Publication Date: 14 March 2025

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Publication: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
UBC Author(s): Kourosh Afshar (Urologic Sciences / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 14651858
Volume: 2025
Publication Date: 14 March 2025

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Publication: Nature
UBC Author(s): Laura Arbour (Medical Genetics / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00280836
Volume: 639
Page Range: 307-309
Publication Date: 13 March 2025

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Publication: The New England journal of medicine
UBC Author(s): Gary Redekop (Surgery / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 392
Page Range: 1079-1088
Publication Date: 13 March 2025

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Publication: Journal of the American College of Cardiology
UBC Author(s): John Webb (Divisions of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 07351097
Volume: 85
Page Range: 944-964
Publication Date: 11 March 2025

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Publication: BMJ (Clinical research ed.)
UBC Author(s): Laura Arbour (Medical Genetics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 388
Page Range: e082486
Publication Date: 11 March 2025

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Publication: CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne
UBC Author(s): Michael Law (School of Population and Public Health / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 197
Page Range: E236-E243
Publication Date: 10 March 2025

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Recent Thesis Submissions

Doctoral Citations

A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
Year Citation Program
2024 Dr. Segat studied how intrinsic and extrinsic factors can influence the onset of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She showed that inflammation favors the development of a more immature disease subtype, and that a gene called MYCN is essential for this subtype. She also found indirect ways to inhibit MYCN which could guide therapy development. Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD)
2024 Dr. Verma has discovered a novel role for the PAN protein complex. Her work demonstrates that targeting this specific protein complex in cancer cells disrupts their ability to divide. Importantly, such intervention may spare normal cells from harm while specifically affecting the cancerous ones. Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD)
2024 Dr. Brewis used budding yeast as a model to explore how the histone variant H2A.Z, a DNA packaging protein, affects gene expression during cellular stress. Her work advances both our knowledge of the mechanisms involved in genome regulation along with our understanding of what makes a histone variant a variant. Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD)
2024 Dr. May classified a set of molecules produced by tumours which inhibit the immune response and enhance tumour growth. To combat this, he developed multiple approaches to engineer immune cells to overcome this inhibition. When applied to cell-based therapies, this has a potential to result in improved efficacy across diverse cancer types. Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD)
2024 Dr. Qiu studied an aggressive soft tissue cancer called synovial sarcoma. He profiled human synovial sarcoma surgical specimens using epigenetic sequencing techniques and subsequently characterized epigenetic subgroups of the tumours. This research can guide emerging epigenetic therapeutic strategies in the treatment of this cancer. Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD)
2024 Dr. Li studied the functional roles of a cell adhesion receptor, integrin alpha6, in breast cancer cells. She found that splice variants of this integrin differentially modulate tumour cell adhesion, invasion and metastasis. Her work enhances our understanding of the roles of particular integrins in tumour progression. Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD)
2024 Dr. Cheung studied a protein involved in the autophagy pathway that removes waste from cells in the human body. His work investigated the structural and functional relationship of this autophagy regulator and its coordination with other proteins to facilitate the process, further delineating its underlying mechanism that leads to related diseases. Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD)
2024 Dr. Kangarani-Farahani investigated the effectiveness of rehabilitation in autistic children with developmental coordination disorder, revealing lasting improvements in motor performance and changes in brain regions related to motor and cognitive functions. This study underscores the effectiveness of rehabilitation in this clinical population. Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD)
2024 Dr. Wardman's research has focused on developing new enzymatic tools to manipulate proteins that are modified with certain sugars. To do so, he discovered new enzymes from Nature and also engineered these enzymes to better carry out these manipulations. The tools he developed will enable us to shed light on these otherwise mysterious modifications. Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD)
2024 Dr. Nikiforuk studied how the coronavirus which causes COVID-19 infects cells in the upper human respiratory tract to find that people's risk of infection varies. This finding will be useful in controlling coronavirus transmission and designing new treatment strategies. Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD)

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