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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. Rahmani has successfully designed and completed a research project delineating a clinically relevant delivery system for Stratifin in the management of post-burn and post-surgical hypertrophic scarring. The potential clinical applicability of her research is extensive given the personal, social, and financial consequences of burn injuries. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr Xie investigated the immunology and genetic basis of preeclampsia. Translational and clinical applications include evaluation of chronic infection and immune mechanisms in the different onset disorder, and examination of genetic variations that may increase disease susceptibility. Her work has potential clinical implication and aid identification of novel therapeutic targets. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Li showed that the tumor suppressor ING4 inhibits melanoma occurrence and growth. ING4 may serve as a predictor for melanoma patient outcome, as well as a novel therapeutic target in melanoma treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Dionne's research focused on barriers to the use of formal priority-setting processes in healthcare management. The key finding was that the determination and communication of acceptable service reductions, at the outset of process implementation, can neutralize organizational incentives that are the most significant barriers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Bergstrom showed that goblet cells, the main mucus-producing cells in the intestinal tract, play a critical role protecting the intestine against pathogenic bacteria. These results highlight a new role for goblet cells in host defense in the gut, and point to them as novel targets for therapy during bacterially-induced intestinal diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Arstikaitis examined nerve cells that communicate at specialized physical contacts in the brain, called "synapses". Since synaptic deficiencies can be linked to neurological disorders such as autism, her research may lead to a better understanding of these diseases and, ultimately, to the development of effective treatments. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Chen discovered that gonadotropin-releasing hormones activate estrogen and progesterone receptors in a ligand-independent manner in mouse pituitary cells. This influences the gonadotropic hormone levels before ovulation. Dr Chen's findings may help us understand the human menstrual cycle. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr Starr studied proteins that direct the white blood cells in inflammation. By identifying and determining the functional consequences of naturally occurring modifications of these proteins, she proposed a mechanism that promotes the switch from an acute inflammatory response to a chronic response. Her work has implications on our understanding of the progression of diseases including arthritis and cancer. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Klimek investigated the association between defective hormone production in insulin-producing beta-cells of the pancreas and dysfunction of these cells when transplanted into patients with type 1 diabetes. Her research led to the discovery of two potential biomarkers of beta-cell function which may be used to predict the onset of islet transplant failure. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2010 | Dr. Chang studied the role of a protein called Notch in the development and maintenance of blood vessels. She found that Notch activation ensures vessel integrity through its involvement in the formation of the muscular wall of embryonic arteries from precursor cells and the increased survival of adult cells lining the blood vessel. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |