On December 29, 2021, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, named Acuitas co-founder, Dr. Pieter Cullis, an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to the advancement of biomedical research and drug development, and for his mentorship of the next generation of scientists and entrepreneurs. An additional 134 Canadians were also appointed to…
We are pleased to announce the launch of the Alliance International grants, a new funding stream to support Canadian university researchers working with leading international academic researchers to establish and grow international research collaborations and projects of global importance that will generate benefits to Canada. NSERC recognizes the need to support engagement with international collaborators to further develop areas of Canadian…
We extend our congratulations to 2021 Zymeworks Fellowship in Immunotherapeutics recipients Ashina Nagra and Cindy Shaheen, both PhD candidates at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Created partly in recognition of the Noble laureate Dr. Michael Smith, this is the most prestigious internal award offered to graduate students of UBC’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Michael Smith Laboratories. With the…
Researchers at the UBC Faculty of Medicine are the first in the world to conduct a molecular-level structural analysis of the Omicron variant spike protein. The analysis—done at near atomic resolution using a cryo-electron microscope—reveals how the heavily mutated variant infects human cells and is highly evasive of immunity. The findings shed new light on why Omicron is highly transmissible…
Gene deletion, also referred to as gene “knockout”, is a classical way to determine the function of the encoded protein. With the advent of CRISPR-Cas9 technology, knocking out genetic elements in cell lines has never been easier or cheaper to do in the laboratory. Characterizing knockout cell lines to see how they differ compared to normal or “wild-type” cell lines…
The Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon, announced today the appointment of Dr. Connie Eaves as an Officer of the Order of Canada. Dr. Eaves is a distinguished scientist at BC Cancer’s Terry Fox Laboratory and professor in the Department of Medical Genetics and the School of Biomedical Engineering at UBC. She is recognized for her development of robust functional methods to quantify and characterize…
The holiday season is here, and as research begins to slow towards the end of the year, we too will be taking a short break to prepare for the year ahead. The Science in Vancouver website will be dark for the remainder of the holiday season, but will return as your source for local life science publications, news, and awards…
This week, Dr. Edmond Kwan received the 2021 Amgen-PCF Young Investigator Award, and Dr. Kwan and Dr. Michael Cox were both recipients of UBC Killam awards. Dr. Kwan’s Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award (mentors: Dr. Alexander Wyatt, Dr. Gerhardt Attard) is for a project titled Integrated Tissue and Circulating Tumour DNA Profiling to Risk Stratify De Novo Metastatic Hormone-Sensitive Prostate Cancer Prior to…
We spoke to several DMCBH researchers about the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had with respect to our brains, our understanding of sex and gender analysis in science and ethical considerations. This story was part of our 2020/2021 annual report, which can be found here. Dr. Teresa Liu Ambrose on how the pandemic has impacted our brain: The pandemic has affected our…
After beginning undergrad at the Art Institute of Chicago, Cristen Molzahn didn’t expected her path would lead to a career in biochemistry and molecular biology. The recipient of this year’s William and Dorothy Gilbert Scholarship, Molzahn thinks fondly of the science class that became a turning point in her life. Seeking a new direction after art school, Molzahn enrolled in a…
