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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
Balevi, Ben Dentistry and oral health, n.e.c.; EBM
Bally, Marcel Bertran Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Pancreas centre
Bamji, Shernaz Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences, School of Biomedical Engineering Medical and biomedical engineering; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; neurodevelopmental disease; primary neuronal cultures; synapse biology; transgenic mouse models
Bansback, Nick School of Population and Public Health inform policies and practices in health through the application of
Barbic, Skye Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy Occupational therapy; Rehabilitation medicine; assessment; community integration; health and well-being; Implementation Science; Individual Placement Support; measurement; Mental Health and Society; mental health; metrology; Patient Engagement; Rasch Measurement Theory; recovery; Supported Employment; youth
Barr, Alasdair Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics Mental health and addictions, with a particular emphasis on psychosis and the medications used in its treatment, Anesthesiology
Barton, Jason Division of Neurology, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences face perception, object recognition, eye movements, higher visual function, Human vision and eye movement
Bashashati Saghezchi, Ali School of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Bioinformatics; Medical and biomedical engineering; Artificial Intelligence; Computational Pathology; Cancer Genomics; Computational Biology; Digital Pathology; Image Processing; Machine Learning; Ovarian Cancer; Signal Processing; Multi-modal Learning
Basilious, Alfred Other clinical medicine; Ophthalmology; Cataract Surgery
Bassett, Ken Department of Family Practice Gender and Blindness: testing gender specific community interventions in Upper Egypt, an assessment of community ophthalmology projects in Central India, as well as community ophthalmology projects in Nepal and Tanzania.
Bayrampour Basmenj, Hamideh Midwifery Program Psychosocial, sociocultural and behavioral determinants of health; Electronic health (e-Health); Mobile health (mHealth); Midwifery; Health information systems (including surveillance); Perinatal mental health; Perinatal Anxiety; Pregnancy Outcomes; eHealth; mHealth
Beasley, Clare Louise Department of Psychiatry identify changes in the brains of individuals with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder that may elucidate the etiology of these disorders and provide clues to novel treatments; white matter pathology and inflammation; effects of antipsychotic medications on the brain
Bedaiwy, Mohamed Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Other clinical medicine; Endometriosis; Recurrent Pregnancy Loss; Infertility; Minimally Invasive Surgery
Benard, Francois Department of Radiology Medical isotopes Radioisotopes Nuclear Medicine Cancer Imaging Molecular imaging of cancer Radionuclide therapy, Cancer division, radiology, pancreas centre
Benavente, Oscar Division of Neurology Acute Stroke Trials, Secondary stroke prevention
Bennewith, Kevin Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Oncology; Molecular Pathology & Cell Biology; Cancer research; Solid tumour microenvironment; Hypoxia; Metastasis research; Pre-metastatic niche; Targeting hypoxic tumour cells in therapy; Radiation biology
Berger, Michael
Beristain, Alexander Guillermo Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Healthy Starts; cellular and molecular processes that direct trophoblast cell biology in early placental development; Examining the A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase (ADAM) family in trophoblast biology; Examining the effects of obesity-associated inflammation on the maternal-fetal interface; Identifying gene expression differences in subpopulations of trophoblasts in normal and pathological pregnancies
Bernatchez, Pascal Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences (except clinical aspects); Cardiovascular diseases; Cardiovascular System; Genetic Diseases; Hypertension; atherosclerosis; angiogenesis; Muscular Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Lipid/Lipoprotein analysis; Lipid Disorders; Pharmacokinetics; Cell Signaling and Infectious and Immune Diseases; endothelial dysfunction; endothelium; Inflammation; lipoproteins; Marfan syndrome; muscular dystrophy; nitric oxide; vascular disease
Besserer, Floyd Department of Emergency Medicine
Bettinger, Julie Department of Pediatrics Public and population health; Epidemiology; Vaccination; Infectious diseases; Health Promotion; Community Health / Public Health; Infectious disease epidemiology; vaccine clinical trials; Vaccine hesitancy; vaccine programs; vaccine safety
Bevilacqua, Micheli
Bhagavatula, Sastry Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics Age-related research, Anesthesiology, plasticity of synaptic transmission, mammalian central nervous system
Bhatti, Parveen School of Population and Public Health
Birol, Inanc Department of Medical Genetics bioinformatics, computational biology, genomics, transcriptome analysis, next generation sequencing, cancer, Bioinformatics, sequence assembly, transcriptomics, gene regulation networks, high throughput informatics for big data

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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: Annals of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine
UBC Author(s): Jeffrey Brubacher (Emergency Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 18770657
Volume: 67
Publication Date: May 2024

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Publication: Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Canada
UBC Author(s): Joseph Kuruthukulangare (Obstetrics & Gynaecology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 17012163
Volume: 46
Publication Date: May 2024

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Publication: Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases
UBC Author(s): Thalia Field (Division of Neurology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 10523057
Volume: 33
Publication Date: May 2024

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Publication: Neurology
UBC Author(s): Steven Miller (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine), Thiviya Selvanathan (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine), Ruth V Grunau (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 102
Page Range: e209264
Publication Date: 23 April 2024

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Publication: iScience
UBC Author(s): Franck Duong Van Hoa (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 27
Publication Date: 19 April 2024

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Publication: Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950)
UBC Author(s): Kelly Marshall McNagny (School of Biomedical Engineering / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 212
Page Range: 1257-1267
Publication Date: 15 April 2024

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Publication: Journal of Molecular Biology
UBC Author(s): Amritpal Singh (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00222836
Volume: 436
Publication Date: 15 April 2024

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Publication: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes
UBC Author(s): Deborah Money (Obstetrics & Gynaecology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 15254135
Volume: 95
Page Range: 411-416
Publication Date: 15 April 2024

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Publication: Journal of Affective Disorders
UBC Author(s): Raymond Lam (Psychiatry / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 01650327
Volume: 351
Page Range: 631-640
Publication Date: 15 April 2024

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Publication: Human Genetics and Genomics Advances
UBC Author(s): Jehannine Austin (Psychiatry / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 5
Publication Date: 11 April 2024

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Publication: Cancer Letters
UBC Author(s): Yuzhuo Wang (Urologic Sciences / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 03043835
Volume: 587
Publication Date: 10 April 2024

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Publication: JAMA
UBC Author(s): Maria Socias (Division of Social Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00987484
Volume: 331
Page Range: 1215-1224
Publication Date: 9 April 2024

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Publication: Cancer Cell
UBC Author(s): David Scott (Division of Medical Oncology / Faculty of Medicine), Christian Steidl (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 15356108
Volume: 42
Page Range: 583-604.e11
Publication Date: 8 April 2024

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Publication: Developmental Cell
UBC Author(s): Calvin Roskelley (Cellular & Physiological Sciences / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 15345807
Volume: 59
Page Range: 853-868.e7
Publication Date: 8 April 2024

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Publication: JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions
UBC Author(s): John Webb (Divisions of Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 19368798
Volume: 17
Page Range: 859-870
Publication Date: 8 April 2024

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Publication: American Journal of Human Genetics
UBC Author(s): Jehannine Austin (Psychiatry / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00029297
Volume: 111
Page Range: 621-623
Publication Date: 4 April 2024

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Publication: Journal of Neuroscience
UBC Author(s): Ann Marie Craig (Psychiatry / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 02706474
Volume: 44
Publication Date: 3 April 2024

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Publication: G3 (Bethesda, Md.)
UBC Author(s): Stefan Taubert (Medical Genetics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 14
Publication Date: 3 April 2024

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Publication: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
UBC Author(s): Jayachandran Kizhakkedathu (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 19448244
Volume: 16
Page Range: 15893-15906
Publication Date: 3 April 2024

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Publication: Chemistry - A European Journal
UBC Author(s): Francois Benard (Radiology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 09476539
Volume: 30
Publication Date: 2 April 2024

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Publication: Vaccine
UBC Author(s): Manish Sadarangani (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 0264410X
Volume: 42
Page Range: 2138-2143
Publication Date: 2 April 2024

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Publication: Vaccine
UBC Author(s): Monika Naus (School of Population and Public Health / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 0264410X
Volume: 42
Page Range: 2200-2211
Publication Date: 2 April 2024

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Publication: JAMA
UBC Author(s): Torsten Nielsen (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00987484
Volume: 331
Page Range: 1135-1144
Publication Date: 2 April 2024

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Publication: Journal of the American College of Cardiology
UBC Author(s): Steven Miller (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine), Thiviya Selvanathan (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 07351097
Volume: 83
Page Range: 1225-1239
Publication Date: 2 April 2024

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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
2023 Millions of undiscovered viruses circulate in wildlife and many of them threaten to spillover into humans and livestock, causing outbreaks and pandemics. Dr. Kuchinski developed new genome sequencing techniques for discovering these threats and monitoring their spread. These tools will help protect our health and livelihoods from these viruses. Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD)
2023 Dr. Carlaw's research helped improve the efficacy of therapeutic CRISPR Cas9 base editing for the treatment of previously incurable childhood genetic diseases. Her research helped establish some of the first reporter models for studying base editors and paved the way for the next generation of lipid nanoparticle delivered gene editors. Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Cyrus' work focused on the Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 syndromes, where she expanded the clinical phenotype of the most recently described syndrome: SUZ-12 Related Overgrowth. She further used Drosophila melanogaster to develop assays that can tell us if human genetic variants of interest can cause these syndromes or not. Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Lu studied the function of a major autism risk gene neurexin-1, showing that losing one copy of this molecule leads to significant synaptic deficits. He subsequently used gene-editing technology to rescue these impairments by altering how neurexin-1 RNA is processed, identifying a potential therapeutic strategy for neuropsychiatric patients. Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD)
2023 Dr. Lorentzian examined the persistence of therapeutic targets through disease progression in pediatric leukemia using a genomic and proteomic approach. Her research revealed that therapeutic targets are often persistent to relapse and supports the early characterization of drug targets to prepare treatment options in case the child relapses. Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Horvath worked on host cell factors that regulate HIV-1 replication. By using small molecules to target these factors, he identified novel classes of potential HIV-1 chemotherapies. Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Forgrave conducted biomarker discovery and verification efforts for frontotemporal dementia with TDP-43 pathology. She revealed the need for improved classification and improved biomarkers for diagnosis are needed. Moreover, She identified disease-specific TDP-43 proteoforms and potential biomarkers for TDP-43 pathology. Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD)
2023 Dr. Nesbit characterized the prefrontal cortex mechanisms of the novel cognitive enhancer d-govadine. Dr. Nesbit's work advances the clinical application of this compound for the treatment of cognitive symptoms in psychiatric and neurological disorders. Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD)
2023 Dr. Gibson identified genetic variants and circulating biomarkers associated with pediatric primary systemic vasculitis, a rare and potentially life-threatening disease caused by blood vessel inflammation. These findings will assist in clinical classification and inform treatment decisions for children suffering from the disease. Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Nisingizwe investigated access to Hepatitis C testing and treatment in Rwanda and internationally. Her dissertation described HCV cascade of care, and patients' barriers to HCV care in Rwanda. Globally, she highlighted countries and regions with high and low access to HCV medicines and the effect of COVID-19 on HCV drug utilization. Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD)

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