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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Dr. Yang studied a group of proteins that are modified with palmitate, a common saturated lipid in animals. He investigated the functions of these proteins in neural development and pathological brain disease. By identifying a new mechanism controlling brain cell death, he developed therapeutic drugs targeting a palmitate-modified protein to protect the brain during stroke. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. David studied T-type calcium channel proteins which are present in the developing heart. These proteins are absent in normal adult hearts, but re-appear in diseased hearts. Dr. David found they have distinct properties, and his research has the potential to explain their role in the development of the heart and the progression of heart disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Wong investigated the role of a protein called Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in the thickening of blood vessels, particularly in heart transplants. His research highlighted the abnormal presence of VEGF in human disease, showed its effect on cholesterol accumulation, and explored potential treatments targeting this protein. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Bessette investigated the role of a protein tyrosine phosphatase in regulating cell signaling and prostate cancer. He found that expression of this protein promoted prostate cancer and may be a valuable biomarker for prostate cancer aggressiveness. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr Poon delineated the molecular regulation of gonadotropin-releasing hormone in ovarian cancer and verified the role of this peptide hormone in this disease. Her study provides insights into the progression of ovarian cancer and the development of new therapeutic strategies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Jensen identified the mutated gene responsible for causing olfactory and developmental disorder in a strain of C. elegans. This gene is required for proper signaling in sensory neurons, and may be disrupted in human diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Raedschelders investigated the influence of general anesthetics on oxidative injury during heart surgery. This research provides insight into the damage that the heart sustains during the course of these operations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Ghaffari identified CD13 as a novel surface receptor in skin cells, which upon activation increases protein degradation in wounds. These findings advance our understanding of the wound healing process and provide a new therapeutic target in treatment of post-injury scarring. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. MacLean used noninvasive recordings of human brain activity to study the processing of auditory information in the cerebral cortex. She showed that sensory and executive cortical regions cooperate during the detection of changes to ongoing acoustic patterns. Her work furthers our understanding of the network nature of human brain function. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Crome examined the development, function and regulation of a novel immune cell population that directs immune responses in health and disease. She provided new research tools and identified novel targets for therapies aimed at preventing harmful immune responses such as transplant rejection and autoimmunity. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |