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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Diabetic patients die from heart attack or stroke due to dysfunction of blood vessels. Dr. Farzad found that exercise in diabetic mice, equivalent to fast walking or jogging in human, completely reverses the vascular dysfunction by increasing the natural body antioxidants. The study also showed that exercise does not have to decrease body weight, blood sugar or lipids to prevent vascular dysfunction in diabetes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2008 | Dr. Heran evaluated the blood pressure lowering of two drug classes widely prescribed for hypertension. He found the classes lower blood pressure similarly and at low doses. He argues that, since the drugs and classes do not differ in their effect, the choice should be based on cost. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2008 | Dr Cheang developed a clinically practical panel of six biomarkers that classifies breast cancer patients into genetically distinct types. This assay is now being applied onto clinical trials to predict patient response to chemotherapy, and parts of her work have already been adapted for hospital testing both locally and worldwide. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2008 | Dr.Huang found the first enzyme that regulates an important acylation process called palmitoylation in mammals. She then examined how this enzyme controls the trafficking and folding of huntingtin, the protein that is mutated in Huntington disease. Her finding illuminates a novel mechanism that contributes to the pathogenesis of Huntington disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2008 | Dr. Tan has made significant breakthroughs in the field of blood stem-cell research. She identified Podocalyxin as a key cell-surface protein which plays a major role in stem-cell migration - a process which is required for successful bone marrow transplants. This discovery may lead to better lives for cancer patients. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2008 | Dr. Graves studied how normal and cancerous cells in the breast are organized. She showed that high levels of the molecule podocalyxin, which correlates with poor outcome in cancer patients, alters breast tumor cell shape, and aids their growth and motility. Thus, podocalyxin may act at a critical stage when breast tumors become metastatic. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2008 | Dr. Liu investigated some unconventional forms of synaptic plasticity that are critical for our memory formation and other brain functions. These studies will provide guidance to some therapeutic solutions for memory-related neurological disorders. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2008 | Dr Park's research focused on the role of estrogen in ovarian cancer progression. He concluded that estrogen can promote ovarian tumor metastasis and may therefore increase the cancer risk. This study provides a better understanding of the etiology of ovarian cancer and helps establishing therapeutic and prevention strategies against the disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences (PhD) |
| 2008 | Dr Karst examined protein expression patterns in melanoma skin cancer in order to identify novel therapeutic targets. She then validated these targets by using gene therapy and pharmacological inhibitors to treat melanoma in a mouse model. This work makes an important contribution to the field of targeted cancer therapy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2008 | Dr Song examined the biochemistry of coagulation factor V (=five), a vital clotting protein in our blood. The increased knowledge about its biochemistry allows us to develop novel therapeutics and diagnostics to help, treat, and prevent heart disease, haemorrhage and stroke. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |