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Every day across British Columbia, trainees and researchers at the UBC Faculty of Medicine are turning skills into jobs, investments into discoveries, and discoveries into solutions that are transforming health for everyone.

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.

 

Research Facilities

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.

Research Highlights

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.

Graduate Degree Programs

Research Supervisors in Faculty

or browse the list of faculty members in various academic units. You may click each unit to view faculty members appointed in that unit. View the full faculty member directory for more search and filter options.
Name Academic Unit(s) Research Interests
Kalia, Sunil Department of Dermatology & Skin Science Skin Cancer; Optics and Photonics; Skin Disorders; Epidemiology; optics; photobiology; dermatoepidemiology; Cancer
Kalua, Khumbo School of Population and Public Health Population health interventions; Infectious diseases; Global health; Epidemiology (except nutritional and veterinary epidemiology); Neglected Tropical Eye Diseases; Global Eye Health; Cluster Randomized Trials; Implementation Science; International Global Health; Community Based Research; Clinical trials
Karim, Ehsan School of Population and Public Health Biostatistical methods; Survey methodology and analysis; Statistical learning; Epidemiology (except nutritional and veterinary epidemiology); Public and population health, n.e.c.; Causal inference; Biostatistics; Statistics; Machine Learning; data science; Survey data analysis; multiple sclerosis
Karsan, Aly Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Hematological tumours; Cancer molecular targets; Leukemia; Hematopoiesis; Genomics and epigenomics; Noncoding RNAs; Aging
Kassam, Rosemin School of Population and Public Health Medical, health and life sciences; Child Health, Malnutrition, Adult Chronic Disease, Geriatrics
Kastrukoff, Lorne Division of Neurology MS; human immunology and multiple sclerosis particularly T-cell responses and most recently NK or natural killer cell responses
Kazanjian, Arminee School of Population and Public Health Medical biotechnology; Health systems and policy, equitable access to healthcare; cancer survivorship, psychosocial care
Kealy, David Department of Psychiatry Consciousness, Subjectivity and Personal Identity; Mental Health and Society; Affective and Emotional Development; Psychotherapy; mental health; Personality; Emotional functioning
Kelleher, Dermot Division of Gastroenterology immune response to many of the leading causes of gastrointestinal infectious disease worldwide
Keown, Paul Anthony Division of Nephrology immune response in transplantation and autoimmune disease, and ranges from molecular genetics to healthcare economics
Keramatian, Kamyar Department of Psychiatry early intervention in bipolar disorder, Mental Health & Addictions
Kerr, Thomas Division of Social Medicine harm reduction, injection drug users, HIV / AIDS, safe injection site, addiction, HIV/AIDS, injection drug use, health policy and service evaluation, and community-based research methods
Kershaw, Paul child care, parental leave, work-life balance, social policy, social citizenship, responsibilities and rights, gender and politics, income assistance, child benefit package, social inclusion, neighbourhood effects on child development, Canadian federalism, Citizenship, detrimants of Health, social care
Khan, Nadia Ahmed Division of General Internal Medicine Ethnic and gender differences in chronic disease incidence and outcomes; Chronic disease prevention and management of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular disease; Hypertension outcomes research
Khan, Rabia Department of Pediatrics
Kieffer, Tim Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences, School of Biomedical Engineering Diabetes
Kissoon, Niranjan Department of Pediatrics Sepsis and critical care
Kitson, Clifford Neil Department of Dermatology & Skin Science biological membranes that form the permeability barrier of the skin, and in how these properties may be altered in common and uncommon disorders of the skin
Kizhakkedathu, Jayachandran Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Medical and biomedical engineering; Pathology (except oral pathology); Biomaterials; Blood Coagulation; Cell-surface Engineering; Implants and Medical Devices; Iron Chelators; Macromolecular Therapeutics; Polymers; Proteomics Tools; Thrombosis
Klein Geltink, Ramon Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Pathology (except oral pathology); Metabolism; Immunotherapy; Cell Signaling and Infectious and Immune Diseases; Auto-Immune Diseases; Cell Therapy of Cancer; Adoptive cellular therapy; Immunometabolism; T cell function
Knight, Darryl Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics Airway Disease; Lung and airway remodelling; Respiratory diseases
Kobor, Michael Department of Medical Genetics Biochemistry; Bioinformatics; Genetic medicine; Genomics; Chromatin Biology; Epigenetics; molecular biology; Social Epigenetics
Koehoorn, Mieke School of Population and Public Health Occupational health, injury, compensation policies, Worksafe BC, Gender Work and Health
Kolind, Shannon Division of Neurology Medical physics; Neurosciences, biological and chemical aspects; Neurosciences, medical and physiological and health aspects; brain; Imaging; MRI; medical physics; multiple sclerosis; myelin; Neurological Disease; spinal cord
Kopp, Janel Department of Cellular & Physiological Sciences Genomics; Modeling cancer; Pancreas; Pancreatic cancer; Pancreatic development

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Graduate Student Stories

Recent Publications

This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Medicine.

 

Publication: Journal of Neuroscience
UBC Author(s): Orson Moritz (Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 02706474
Volume: 44
Publication Date: 4 September 2024

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Publication: Clinical science (London, England : 1979)
UBC Author(s): Tillie-Louise Hackett (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 138
Page Range: 1055-1070
Publication Date: 4 September 2024

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Publication: JAMA network open
UBC Author(s): Cheryl Lea Wellington (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 7
Page Range: e2431959
Publication Date: 3 September 2024

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Publication: JAMA Pediatrics
UBC Author(s): Quynh Doan (Pediatrics / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 21686203
Volume: 178
Page Range: 879-887
Publication Date: 3 September 2024

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Publication: American journal of audiology
UBC Author(s): Lorienne Jenstad (Audiology & Speech Sciences / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 33
Page Range: 648-673
Publication Date: 3 September 2024

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Publication: American journal of audiology
UBC Author(s): Douglas Sladen (Audiology & Speech Sciences / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 33
Page Range: 981-990
Publication Date: 3 September 2024

View Publication
Publication: Journal of the American Heart Association
UBC Author(s): Thalia Field (Division of Neurology / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 13
Page Range: e037076
Publication Date: 3 September 2024

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Publication: JAMA network open
UBC Author(s): Kasmintan Schrader (Medical Genetics / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 7
Page Range: e2432725
Publication Date: 3 September 2024

View Publication
Publication: Journal of Neuromuscular Diseases
UBC Author(s): Filip Van Petegem (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 22143599
Volume: 11
Page Range: 1067-1083
Publication Date: 3 September 2024

View Publication
Publication: Medical Journal of Australia
UBC Author(s): Peter Munk (Radiology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 0025729X
Volume: 221
Page Range: 248-250
Publication Date: 2 September 2024

View Publication
Publication: Lung Cancer
UBC Author(s): Stephen Yip (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 01695002
Volume: 195
Publication Date: September 2024

View Publication
Publication: The Lancet Haematology
UBC Author(s): Kerry Savage (Division of Medical Oncology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 24519960
Volume: 11
Page Range: e671-e681
Publication Date: September 2024

View Publication
Publication: Chest
UBC Author(s): Christopher Ryerson (Division of Respiratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00123692
Volume: 166
Page Range: 517-527
Publication Date: September 2024

View Publication
Publication: Journal of Cystic Fibrosis
UBC Author(s): Bradley Quon (Division of Respiratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 15691993
Volume: 23
Page Range: 823-830
Publication Date: September 2024

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Publication: Journal of Cancer Policy
UBC Author(s): Stephen Yip (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine), Stirling Bryan (School of Population and Public Health / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 41
Publication Date: September 2024

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Publication: Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
UBC Author(s): Trisha Chakrabarty (Psychiatry / Faculty of Medicine), Raymond Lam (Psychiatry / Faculty of Medicine), Lakshmi Yatham (Psychiatry / Faculty of Medicine), Erin Michalak (Psychiatry / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 07067437
Volume: 69
Page Range: 641-687
Publication Date: September 2024

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Publication: Pathologie
UBC Author(s): Andrew Churg (Pathology & Laboratory Medicine / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 27317188
Volume: 45
Page Range: 309-315
Publication Date: September 2024

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Publication: Materials Today Sustainability
UBC Author(s): Karim Miran-Khan (Family Practice / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 27
Publication Date: September 2024

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Publication: Artificial Intelligence Surgery
UBC Author(s): David Liu (Radiology / Faculty of Medicine)
Volume: 4
Page Range: 149-169
Publication Date: September 2024

View Publication
Publication: Spine Journal
UBC Author(s): Marcel F S Dvorak (Orthopaedics / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 15299430
Volume: 24
Page Range: S36-S37
Publication Date: September 2024

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Publication: Anaesthesia
UBC Author(s): Aslam Anis (School of Population and Public Health / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00032409
Volume: 79
Page Range: 945-956
Publication Date: September 2024

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Publication: International Journal of Drug Policy
UBC Author(s): Mark Gilbert (School of Population and Public Health / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 09553959
Volume: 131
Publication Date: September 2024

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Publication: Journal of Arthroplasty
UBC Author(s): Bassam Masri (Orthopaedics / Faculty of Medicine), Donald Garbuz (Orthopaedics / Faculty of Medicine), Paul Anthony Keown (Division of Nephrology / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 08835403
Volume: 39
Page Range: S17-S23.e4
Publication Date: September 2024

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Publication: American Journal of Surgery
UBC Author(s): Sam Michael Wiseman (Surgery / Faculty of Medicine)
ISSN: 00029610
Volume: 235
Publication Date: September 2024

View Publication

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Recent Thesis Submissions

Doctoral Citations

A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
Year Citation Program
2023 Dr. Cui delved into the escalating drug overdose epidemic involving opioid and methamphetamine use. Her research emphasizes the crucial need for comprehensive and integrated treatment and harm reduction strategies to address both opioid and methamphetamine use. Doctor of Philosophy in Population and Public Health (PhD)
2023 Dr. Shortill explored mechanisms of intracellular protein sorting using a budding yeast model. His work led to the identification of the VINE complex, a previously unknown endosomal assembly with similarity to the neurodegeneration-linked retromer complex. These results pave the way for a more complete understanding of endosomal function. Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Mohanna worked towards developing a CRISPR gene therapy for the childhood blindness aniridia. She created a mouse model for this disease and subsequently tested two delivery systems. She showed that a non-pathogenic virus successfully targets the affected cells in the eye and can be used for developing a gene therapy for aniridia in the future. Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD)
2023 Dr. Farivar has designed a laser device that can deploy the heat to the tumor precisely, kill cancer cells and activate immune system minimizing damage to the surrounding tissue.She tested the device in a bladder cancer model in mouse and showed that the heat combined with immune stimulating drugs can decrease tumor growth and increase survival. Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD)
2023 Dr. Akinlaja adapted proteomics methods towards understanding the infectious processes of a pathogen of the honey bee midgut. Her work provides new insight into how host protein expression and interactions are altered by pathogen infection, and identifies candidate proteins that could be potential therapeutic targets in the resulting disease. Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD)
2023 Using lipid nanoparticle technology, Dr. Leung uncovered novel methods to genetically modify platelets and discovered strategies to improve the efficacy of nanoparticles. His research brings us one step closer to better transfusion products while advancing our understanding of lipid nanoparticles. Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Liang studied how harmful bacteria in the gut exploit our body's natural defenses to reproduce and cause infections. Her work informs future therapeutics beyond antibiotics to treat bacterial infections by targeting pathogen metabolism. Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD)
2023 Dr. Caballero Silva studied and characterized the molecular structures of bacterial nano-machineries involved in the life cycle of the bacterium responsible for Tuberculosis. This research provides the groundwork into the development of novel therapeutics which can target key steps stopping bacterial infection. Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD)
2023 Dr. Truong's research demonstrated the important role of social support on exercise adherence after traumatic sport-related knee injuries. These studies assist us in understanding the best ways to facilitate exercise behaviours to prevent inactivity, weight gain and early-onset osteoarthritis in this at-risk group. Doctor of Philosophy in Rehabilitation Sciences (PhD)
2023 Dr. Ash studied adult neurogenesis, the birth of new brain cells in adulthood, in rodent models to examine how new brain cells integrate into neural circuitry. She also studied neurogenesis and memory in a rodent model of Alzheimer's Disease, characterizing structural changes and plasticity of brain cells during early stages of disease pathology. Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD)

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