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.
| Name | Academic Unit(s) | Research Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Holsti, Liisa | Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy | Medical, health and life sciences; premature infants; neurodevelopment; stress; pain; measurement; technology transfer; sucrose; rehabilitation; pediatrics |
| Holt, Robert | Department of Medical Genetics, Department of Psychiatry | Immunogenetics, Metagenomics - Infectious agents in Cancer, Cancer Genomes, Neurobiology, DNA Sequencing |
| Honer, William | Department of Psychiatry | Brain disorders, risk factors for disease |
| Honey, Christopher Richard | Department of Surgery | Neurosurgery, deep brain stimulation, trigeminal neuralgia, menifacial spasm, movement disorders, mood, pain |
| Hoodless, Pamela | Department of Medical Genetics, School of Biomedical Engineering | Computational cell biology; Cancer; Genomics; Medical and biomedical engineering; Nucleic acids studies; Developmental Genetics; Embryology; Embryonic Development; Epigenetics; Heart Valve / Valvular Diseases; Heart valve formation; Liver; Liver development; Stem Cells and Organogenesis; transcriptional regulation |
| Howe, Tami | School of Audiology and Speech Sciences | Acquired language disorders, aphasia |
| Hsiung, Ging-Yuek Robin | Division of Neurology | Dementia, Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology, Neurodegeneration, Alzheimer Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, Music Therapy in Dementia, Genetics of Dementia, Dementia Clinical Trials |
| Hunt, Michael | Department of Physical Therapy | Physical therapy; Rehabilitation medicine; Arthritis / Osteo-Arthritis; biomechanics; exercise; Joints (Articulations); musculoskeletal; Musculoskeletal Deformation; Neuromuscular Diseases; Orthoses and Prostheses; Physical Activity; rehabilitation |
| Huntsman, David | Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology | hereditary cancer, molecular pathology, cancer biomarkers, Pancreas centre |
| Huot, Suzanne | Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy | Occupational therapy; Human geography; asylum seekers; bilingualism; community-engaged research; critical theory; francophone minority communities; francophones; french; Gender; immigration; intersectionality; Migration Studies; Migrations, Populations, Cultural Exchanges; occupational science; Qualitative research; refugees; social inclusion; social integration; Platform economy |
| Hutcheon, Jennifer | Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology | Perinatal epidemiology ; Perinatal research methods; Fetal growth restriction; Severe maternal morbidity; Improving the reference charts used to assess fetal growth and maternal weight gain in pregnancy; Evaluating the impact of obstetrical health care policies on maternal and infant health; Developing clinical prediction models for the identification of adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes |
| Illes, Judy | Division of Neurology | Medical biotechnology; Biomedical Ethics; Aging and dementia; Neurodevelopmental disorders; Brain Injury; Stem Cells; Neurotechnology; Neuroethics |
| Isaac, Kathryn | Department of Surgery | Surgery; Breast Reconstruction Surgery |
| Jamieson, Amy | Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology | |
| Jan, Eric | Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | Biochemistry; Virus; Nucleic Acids; Proteomics; Antiviral innate immunity; Zika; coxsackievirus; enterovirus; Innate immunity; molecular biology; picornavirus; protease; Protein synthesis; RNA; RNA structure function; RNA virus; ribosome; SARS; tRNA; translation; Virology; virus host interactions; mRNA therapeutics |
| Janssen, Patricia | School of Population and Public Health | Health sciences; Public and population health; Gestation / Parturition; health of marginalized women; Lifestyle Determinants and Health; maternal child health; mobile health for pregnancy and parenting; Perinatal Period; social determinants of health |
| Jarus, Tal | Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy | Occupational therapy; Rehabilitation medicine; Disciplinary education; art-based research; disabled practitioners;; Disabled students;; diversifying health and human service professions; Justice and equity in health professions |
| Jenstad, Lorienne | School of Audiology and Speech Sciences | Other health sciences; hearing aids; Aging; audiology; hearing health; amplification |
| Jevitt, Cecilia | Department of Family Practice | Medical, health and life sciences; Midwifery; perinatal obesity; weight management in pregnancy; obesity prevention; breastfeeding/lactation; prenatal nutrition |
| Jiang, Xiaoyan | Department of Medical Genetics | Cancer drug development and therapeutics |
| John Peter, Arun | Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences | Lipid transport, Membrane contact sites, Organelle homeostasis, Lipid quality control, Synthetic biology, Lipidomics |
| Johnson, James | Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences, Department of Surgery | diabetes, hormones, cell biology, signal transduction, apoptosis or programmed cell death, heart failure, heart disease, calcium signalling, pancreatic cancer, obesity, longevity, imaging, Causes of type 1 and type 2 diabetes at a molecular level discovery of genes and associated gene networks linked to diabetes risk and by known risk factors that predispose individuals to diabetes |
| Jones, Steven J | Department of Medical Genetics | Bioinformatics, genome science, mutations, cancer progression |
| Joseph, K.S. | Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, School of Population and Public Health | Pregnancy complications, preterm birth, fetal growth, infant mortality, neonatal |
| Ju, Myeong Jin | Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, School of Biomedical Engineering | Medical and biomedical engineering; algorithms for quantitatively imaging biological dynamics in human retina; cellular resolution functional retinal imaging systems; Medical Imaging; optical imaging systems; signal processing algorithms |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Dr. Scherbinsky determined methionine requirements during healthy human pregnancies and showed that sulfur amino acid requirements increase throughout healthy gestation. These novel findings highlight the need for updated nutrition recommendations in a pregnant population. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Ogura explored the meaning of an ancestral farming practice in Japan: small grains cultivation. She found this neglected practice supports the emotional and physical well-being of the cultivators, nurtures people's relationships with nature, and improves food security. Through documentary filmmaking, this research supports the resurgence of ancestral knowledge and practice into the future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Iyamu explored design and implementation factors influencing access to GetCheckedonline, BC's online service for STI testing. He found these services may not always increase testing access for historically marginalized populations if their design and implementation do not reduce the effort needed for testing and argued for empowering them to make informed testing choices through personalized education. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Wang investigated the effect of DNA-PK inhibition when combined with Chemotherapy or Radiotherapy for solid tumor treatment. His findings revealed DNA-PK as a therapeutic target to enhance the potency of conventional cancer therapies and suggested a selective tumor-targeting strategy is needed to exploit the full potential of DNA-PK inhibitors. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Henriquez examined the dentition of adult leopard geckos, which continuously replace their teeth throughout life. He found dental stem cells in the dentition of leopard geckos and cells responsible for resorbing the tooth roots so teeth can be shed. These experiments could be used to selectively block unwanted tooth resorption and engineer biological tooth replacements in humans. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Campbell explored the impact of prenatal antidepressants on the developing brain. Her research uncovered new insight into how fetal drug exposure and early brain connectivity may underlie social-emotional behaviours in children of depressed mothers. This work may help guide clinical care on optimizing perinatal mental health and child development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Biln examined the effectiveness of a patient-completed questionnaire to help direct and prioritize arthritis patient referrals. Based on the questionnaire's performance, and patient and rheumatologist feedback, its integration into the healthcare system may shorten patient time to treatment, improve their quality of life, and reduce disability. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Li and collaborators analyzed the DNA mutational patterns in two types of B cell lymphomas and found mutations that alter distinct biological signaling pathways. His findings may help guide future treatment strategies to improve lymphoma patient care. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Oppedisano used the awesome power of yeast genetics to investigate the underlying mechanisms driving the function of an attractive anti-cancer target called MUS81. His research led to the discovery of compounds that effectively and specifically target MUS81. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2024 | Dr. Kobelev studied how epigenetic changes contribute to treatment resistance in late stage prostate cancer. He identified that prostate cancer is epigenetically predisposed to switch its identity to resist treatment, and identified novel factors regulating this process. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
