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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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Dr. Cotton explored the field of epigenetics, which studies how genes are silenced without direct DNA changes. Her research used the naturally silenced female X chromosome to understand normal patterns of gene silencing. Epigenetic research provides insight into diseases resulting from incorrect gene expression without DNA mutations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Leung discovered novel epigenetic pathways employed by mouse embryonic stem cells to silence endogenous retroviruses. His findings have elucidated how stem cells repress parasitic elements in the genome and have significant implications in potential cancer treatments. | Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Genetics (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Sallam investigated why certain blood vessels are more prone than others to develop diabetic complications, which reslut in higher morbidity and mortality rates. Understanding vascular heterogeneity will open new venues for developing therapies that target specific vascular beds with minimal systemic side effects. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmacology (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Mickleborough studied visual attention in people who get migraine headaches. She found that migraine sufferers are less able to ignore distracting visual information. Her work suggests the abnormality arises due to heightened sensitivity in the visual cortex. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Ming-Lum investigated how the anti-inflammatory protein, Interleukin-10, inhibits the activity of immune cells. His research led to the development of a novel class of therapeutics, potentially applicable for treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, such as sepsis and inflammatory bowel disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Dobie examined how nerve cells make connections with each other by using microscopy to observe synapse formation in real time. He also studied how synapse development is affected by proteins implicated in the presence of autism. His findings provide insight into how the brain forms neural connections,which can possibly lead to novel therapeutics for neurodevelopmental disorders. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Eade used the fruit fly as a model in order to develop a method of disrupting the function of genes in the adult brain. He discovered a distinct mechanism that regulates genes and maintains the function and identity of brain cells throughout life. This work has implications for the treatment of age-related degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Velapatino examined the proteins of persistent bacteria from patients with the tropical disease, melioidosis, and the interaction of two related species of bacteria, with immune cells. His research explored bacterial persistence in chronic diseases and contributes to understanding mechanisms of evasion of people's immune defenses by these bacteria. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Johns investigated the incidence and prevalence of cardiovascular complications arising from HIV and its treatment. His research helped to determine the best possible therapeutic avenues for patients at risk for cardiovascular disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Eadie investigated brain plasticity in a model of Fragile-X syndrome, the most common form of inherited intellectual disability. He discovered abnormalities in neuronal morphology and physiology in a brain region associated with learning and emotion, thereby identifying a novel therapeutic target. | Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy (MDPhD) |