Seven members of the UBC Faculty of Medicine are among 48 new Fellows elected into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) for 2023. Election to Fellowship in the Academy is considered one of the highest honours for individuals in the Canadian health sciences community. “I would like to personally congratulate all the applicants that were elected as a Fellow…
BC Cancer scientist Dr. Ly Vu was named one of Canada’s new Research Chairs in RNA biology in Hematological Malignancies. The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, on behalf of the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced an investment of $134 million to support 157 new and renewed Canada Research Chairs…
Read the Publication This week we profile a recent publication in Science Advances from the Sorensen Lab. First author Hai-feng Zhang (pictured, left) and senior author Poul Sorensen (right) share more details about what went into this publication, why these research questions excite them, and the future direction of their work and the lab. Can you provide a brief overview…
We extend our congratulations to this year’s 2023-2024 William and Dorothy Gilbert Scholarship recipients Kate Donald and Laura Stankiewicz. This award, established in 1995 by Professor Terrance Snutch in honour of William and Dorothy Gilbert, recognizes the accomplishments of outstanding doctoral students at the Michael Smith Laboratories. Both of these exceptional researchers are contributing to impactful human health and immunology…
Health researchers say B.C. could help alleviate the province’s family doctor shortage by following the lead of an Ontario university that has launched the country’s first dedicated program for family medicine. This month, 20 medical students will start in the MD family medicine program at Lakeridge Health, a satellite campus of Queen’s University, and all of them have committed to…
Health research enables discovery breakthroughs in the mysteries of health, disease, and sickness, that ultimately lead to effective prevention, diagnosis, and treatments. Michael Smith Health Research BC is providing funding to 41 early career researchers through our Research Trainee Program to enrich BC’s health research talent. The Research Trainee Program supports the best and brightest health researchers in training to…
As the primary innate immune cells of the brain, microglia respond to damage and disease through pro-inflammatory release of cytokines and neuroinflammatory molecules. Histone acetylation is an activating transcriptional mark that regulates inflammatory gene expression. Inhibition of histone deacetylase 3 (Hdac3) has been utilized in pre-clinical models of depression, stroke, and spinal cord injury to improve recovery following injury, but…
Dr. Brett Hilton is one of 28 neuroscientists in Canada who have been awarded $100,000 each in research funding, as part of Brain Canada’s 2022 Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research Program. The Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research program aims to accelerate novel and transformative research that will fundamentally change our understanding of nervous system function and dysfunction and…
With great sadness, we share the announcement of the passing of Professor Dr. Ulrich auf dem Keller. Ulrich was a world leader in the fields of wound healing and proteinase biology and a pioneer in mass spectrometry-based proteomics technologies. Raised in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany, Ulrich spoke Latin and Ancient Greek. Following his passion for science, he received his…
The Stem Cell Network (SCN) announced $1 million in funding to support research trainees across Canada who are actively engaged in SCN’s 56 ongoing projects and clinical trials. This additional funding will be provided as a one-time stipend top-up and will benefit over 100 trainees at the Master’s, PhD and post-doctoral levels who are receiving hands-on experience in academic research…