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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. Berkhout examined the role of social identity in gender-based disparities to using antiretroviral therapy in Vancouver's inner city. Her work demonstrated how social interests, institutional authorities, relations of power, and strategies of social control are resisted and internalized by women negotiating HIV/AIDS care. Using feminist philosophy and social studies of medicine, Dr. Berkhout reframes adherence issues using agency and autonomy. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Chang showed in the developing heart and adult blood vessels that the Notch pathway regulates the production of nitric oxide. These studies provide a better understanding of how heart valves develop and how blood vessels uses the same signaling pathway for to increase blood flow to tissues. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Duncan studied the role of intracellular signaling pathways in neural development and circuit formation using live cell microscopy to image neuron growth. Her studies uncovered novel molecular mechanisms by which sensory experience can lead to long-term changes in the form, structure, and function of neurons within the developing brain. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Nakamura discovered human prostate cancer promoting effects of a soy compound. Her study suggested the need for safer clinical trial planning and tighter regulation of such compounds.She also discovered that anti-estrogen treatment significantly inhibits metastasis, suggesting its therapeutic potential for advanced disease. | Doctor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Oncology (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Lehman's integrative analysis of large-scale genomic data has identified androgen and anti-androgen regulated RNAs expressed in prostate cancer cells. The expression of the previously overlooked RNAs may be involved in the failure of androgen deprivation therapy and ultimately the death of prostate cancer patients. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Henderson developed novel antibodies to G-quadruplex nucleic acids that may play a key role in cancer. Dr. Henderson has provided the first direct evidence of the existence of G-quadruplex nucleic acids in human cells. His research has provided the tools to explore the natural biology of these unique nucleic acid secondary structures. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Wang studied the role of a protein called PTP Alpha in brain development. She found that PTP Alpha is crucial in development of a type of cells called oligodendrocyte. This research implicates the potential role of PTP Alpha as drug target for multiple sclerosis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Wang demonstrated effectiveness of a novel agent in preventing islet transplantation rejection. This strategy by using co-stimulation blockade provides proof-of-principle for clinical application in treating diabetes via beta cell replacement therapy without ongoing immuno-suppressive regimen. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Cho's study in the field of Experimental Medicine investigated neural stem cells in the brain. His research examined the effect of high-frequency electrical stimulation and he found that this stimulation regulates the fate of neural stem cells. The results of this study will contribute to treatments for brain diseases. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Vanden Hoek investigated how a vital blood clotting protein also plays a subsequent role in dissolving the clot. Her research suggests a novel target for the development of safer and more effective therapeutics for heart attack and stroke due to thrombosis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PhD) |