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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Dr. Tian developed an in vivo skin microscopy imaging method to study the behaviour of human skin cells, including damage and repair after solar radiation. This interdisciplinary and translational study helps us to solve biological problems by imaging human skin non-invasively. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Mahmoud used preclinical models to examine how ovarian hormones impact risk or resilience to depression. Her work revealed novel insights into neuroimmune and neuroplastic mechanisms through which ovarian hormones may influence mental health outcomes. These findings contribute to the understudied field of women's mental health. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Thompson studied how the delayed rectifier potassium current (IKs) responds to phosphorylation at high heart rates. She shows that phosphorylation allows these channels to open more quickly, enabling the heart to relax faster, and protects against arrhythmia. This research provides important insight into the mechanism behind this response. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Sacheli used fMRI and PET brain imaging techniques to show that exercise can increase dopamine release in people with Parkinson's disease. This shows why exercise is specifically beneficial for people with Parkinson's disease, and supports the use of exercise as an adjunction therapy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Wong studied the properties of flexible proteins that are not folded prior to binding. These proteins play critical roles in signaling and regulation by interacting with other proteins. He created a computational predictor for protein sites that bind to these flexible proteins and explored their relationship with disease-causing mutations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Leung studied the role of proline isomerase Pin1 in prostate cancer. His research describes the interaction of Pin1 with the androgen receptor N-terminal domain and how targeting both of these proteins could reduce tumour growth. These findings enhance our understanding of the androgen receptor and aid in the development of novel therapies. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Button investigated the role of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), particles in the blood made of fats and proteins, in protecting brain blood vessels in Alzheimer's disease. Her work shows that raising the levels of functional HDL through drugs or lifestyle changes may protect against brain blood vessel changes and prevent Alzheimer's disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Tam studied proteins that cut, paste, and re-assemble the messages encoded by DNA for protein assembly called splicing factors, which are frequently mutated in cancers. Using budding yeast and leukemic cell line models, she showed that mutations in these proteins lead to an accumulation of DNA damage, which may contribute to cancer progression. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Booth investigated the development of small airways disease in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He showed that patients in the early stages of COPD already have chronically inflamed airways and tissue destruction. His work increases our knowledge of small airways disease in COPD and provides new avenues for treatment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Stewart studied lung cancer genetics, and discovered how recently-discovered genes called non-coding RNAs are altered in order to drive this deadly disease, and may be promising clinical targets. But the most important thing he learned during his PhD...was how to love. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |