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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Is exercise good for us? Undoubtedly it is, however, Dr. Morrison found that physically active older individuals can have heart disease and should undergo a cardiac assessment if engaging in vigorous exercise. This research increases heart health awareness in older physically active individuals to prevent adverse heart events during exercise. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Some chemotherapy drugs can severely damage the heart, leading to lifelong heart complications. Dr. Christidi generated heart cells from patients' stem cells to identify ways to predict and prevent chemotherapy induced side effects. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Babaeijandaghi dissected the role of the immune system in muscle regeneration. His work unveiled the therapeutic potential of a new class of immune-modulatory drugs to treat a debilitating genetic muscular disorder called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Basham studied tuberculosis (TB) survivor health, including post-TB mortality, airway disease, cardiovascular disease, and depression. These studies contributed to our understanding of the long-term health outcomes of TB survivors, and the need for person-centred models of TB care. | Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Hammond examined changes in the functional properties of human blood stem cells with advancing age. Among his findings was an aging-associated change in the growth-signal requirements and the amount of time required for blood stem cells to divide. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Awad examined sex differences in survival from out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Results showed important variations between men and women in OHCA intervention and outcomes. The findings provided evidence to inform current clinical practice and generate an evidence-based approach to treatment of OHCA, which will lead to saving more lives. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Mitigating the risk of cardiovascular (CV) events in individuals with spinal cord injury is a vital goal of employing rehabilitation strategies. Dr. Alrashidi investigated the effect of two different exercise modalities on various CV parameters. Active arm exercise improved fitness compared to passive leg exercise in this population. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Nastaran developed a new type of cancer immunotherapy and a candidate diagnostic tool for solid tumors by using a protein from the malaria parasite that only targets tumor cells. This research has credentialized a cancer-specific glycosaminoglycan modification for utilization as a target in both cancer therapeutic and diagnostic applications. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Kabeer studied the evolutionary history of triple negative breast cancer which is the deadliest of all sub types. Her research used new single-cell sequencing techniques and has altered our fundamental understanding of how cancer subpopulations evolve to create drug resistance under chemotherapies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Park developed a master protocol for an innovative trial design called for an adaptive platform trial that can answer multiple questions for child linear growth research in sub-Saharan Africa. His research established a way to improve the efficiency and long-term sustainability of clinical trial research for global health. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |