Join UBC’s Privacy Matters team for a series of virtual events focusing on privacy and information security during Data Privacy Week 2025 (January 28–30).
Through these sessions, faculty and staff are invited to gain valuable insights into critical privacy issues affecting UBC’s research and academic community, including:
Jan. 28 | Enhancing Privacy Compliance for Researchers: Learn practical tips to conduct research with integrity and meet compliance standards.
Jan. 29 | What Does “Public Data” Really Mean?: Explore the ethical and legal implications of data scraping and its impact on research and AI development.
Jan. 30 | What’s New in Privacy at UBC?: Discover the latest advancements in UBC’s privacy initiatives and connect with privacy experts.
The Work Learn & Work Study programs subsidize meaningful work experiences for current UBC students.
UBC Vancouver Work Learn
UBC Vancouver faculty and staff are invited to submit a proposal to hire temporary student employees through the UBC Work Learn program.
The Work Learn program funds approximately 3,500 part-time hourly appointments each year, subsidizing meaningful work experiences for current UBC Vancouver students. Submit a proposal for the Summer 2025 session (May 1–August 31, 2025) by Monday, January 27, 2025.
UBC Okanagan faculty and staff, learn more about the UBC Okanagan Work Study program and submit a proposal for the Summer 2025 session by Monday, January 20.
The Faculty of Medicine Summer Student Research Program provides funding for undergraduate students to explore a summer health research project supervised by a Faculty of Medicine researcher.
Applications are submitted by student-supervisor teams. The competition is open to UBC MD (years 1 and 3) and non-MD undergraduate students, partnered with a supervisor with a current faculty appointment in the UBC Faculty of Medicine (instructor or higher, including clinical and affiliate Faculty of Medicine appointments).
Funding of up to $3200 is provided in the form of a student stipend; supervisors are responsible for all other expenses. The deadline to submit supervisor-student applications is February 17, 2025at 4 pm.
If you are a supervisor with an eligible project but do not yet have a student partner, you may submit your project to be shared with students via the program webpage by January 24.
Do you know how to ensure your UBC office or workstation is safe?
Find out by completing a short survey and be entered into a draw to win one of two Emergency Preparedness Kits.
All Faculty of Medicine faculty and staff who work onsite in office/administrative spaces are asked to answer 10 short questions about their UBC office or workstation by Friday, January 31, 2025.
This annual survey is part of the Faculty of Medicine Health & Safety team’s Worksite Safety Inspection Initiative. In 2024, input from almost 600 completed surveys from 60 different buildings allowed the team to make our worksites safer for everyone. This year, the team aims to reach even more.
You do not need to complete the survey for laboratory locations or home offices. If you work at multiple locations, you only need to complete the survey once.
All UBC workers must complete and document a check-in procedure with their supervisors before working alone or in isolation.
The Faculty of Medicine Health & Safety Team has created an easy-to-use tool to help create and complete such a document. Find the Working Alone Program document on the Health & Safety Policies & Programs page, along with resources on First Aid, emergency preparedness and more.
The survey consists of 10 quick questions and only takes a few minutes to complete.
Questions include checking that aisles and doorways by your workspace are free of obstructions, that power outlets are not overloaded, and confirming that you are aware of the evacuation muster station for your office.
Does everyone need to complete the survey?
All workers (including faculty, staff and paid students) who have a worksite on UBC Vancouver campus or any UBC site, institute or centre are asked to complete the survey.
I work in multiple locations. Do I have to fill the survey in for all the places I work? Do I need to complete the survey for my home office?
You do not need to complete the survey for your home office and you only need to complete the survey once. If you work at multiple locations on UBC premises, or work at a shared or communal workstation, choose one office/workstation to complete.
I completed the survey last year. Do I need to complete it again?
Inspecting worksites regularly is a WorkSafeBC requirement. You are encouraged to complete the survey every year.
What happens if I don’t complete the survey?
Inspecting worksites regularly is a WorkSafeBC requirement. The Local Safety Team in your area will follow up with respective supervisors to ensure all locations have been inspected.
When do I have to complete the survey by?
The survey link will be open until Friday, January 31, 2025.
What happens if I find a hazard in my workplace?
For some issues, resolution is simple and instructions are provided within the survey. For other issues, the Local Safety Team in your area will connect with you to ensure the hazard is resolved.
What if I have a question?
All questions can be directed to the Health & Safety team at fom.safety@ubc.ca.
Register to attend the 7th AnnualGlobal Health Conference (GHC25) on April 10, hosted by the Institute for Global Health at BC Children’s Hospital and the BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre.
The Global Health Conference is an annual event bringing together a community of students, trainees, clinicians, researchers and faculty from across health professions and disciplines to share knowledge.
This year’s topic is “Creativity Through Crisis: Lessons from Global Mental Health”, providing a platform to discuss the intensifying impact of global crises — conflict, climate change and COVID-19 — on mental health disparities worldwide. The conference will delve into the far-reaching effects of these global stressors while spotlighting innovative responses that are reshaping mental health care.
When: Thursday, April 10, 2024 from 8:30 am–1:30 pm
Where: Hybrid event:
In-person at BC Children’s Hospital’s Chan Centre for Family Health Education
Are you conducting research in global health? The Global Health Conference is accepting submissions to share your work through a two-minute video to showcase at the conference.
The Faculty of Medicine Multidisciplinary Research Program in Medicine aims to facilitate and fund interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research at UBC, by providing undergraduate students with an opportunity to undertake a summer research project supervised by a cross-faculty pair of researchers.
Research teams interested in submitting a project can apply by 4 pm on February 6, 2025.
The application process has changed for the 2025 program round — students and supervisors must submit one application together as a research team. Research projects require one Faculty of Medicine supervisor and one co-supervisor from another faculty, one postgraduate student advisor, and two non-MD undergraduate students in year 2+ (optionally, a year 1 MD student can also take part). If you are a supervisor with an eligible project but do not yet have students attached, you may submit your project to be shared with students via the program webpage.
Deadline extended: Apply for the Sherrold Haddad Excellence in Medicine Award Program — submit an expression of intent by March 3.
The award offers funding to support research in one of the identified priority areas for a faculty member who performs clinical duties at Surrey Memorial Hospital, Czorny Alzheimer Centre or Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre.
The award totals $120,000, distributed over two years, and may be used to cover clinical buy-out time as well as research expenses.
Submit an Expression of Intent (EOI) by 12 pm on Monday, March 3, 2025. Full applications are due by April 5, 2025.
A message from Dermot Kelleher, Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Vice-President, Health.
Dear friends and colleagues,
This time of year is mysterious in many ways. The traditions date back millennia, of a break in the bleak mid-winter when we can take time to pause in what we do, enjoy the company of family and friends, celebrate the passing of that mysterious entity of time, through the winter solstice and the ending of our year, and feel a little warmer about everything that surrounds us as the clocks tick more slowly and we re-establish our equilibrium. These last few years, as we have emerged from a difficult and complex pandemic, seem to have warped time in some ways, speeding it up and slowing it down. But the holiday season still retains its ability to renew our spirits and to recharge us for the coming New Year.
In our Faculty, many colleagues continue to serve in frontline care delivery at this time, bringing hope and healing to so many people who do not have the good fortune to be in good health during this period, and who depend on the kindness and skill of our health practitioners and on all of our health services to bring them through their difficult times.
Looking back on 2024 throughout our Faculty, I am astonished by the extraordinary spirit of collegiality and compassion shown across our complex and diverse domains, and by what we have achieved through this spirit of togetherness in what was a challenging year for us and the university as a whole. A few highlights among many:
This year, I had the privilege of travelling to Victoria to visit the new facility serving the Island Medical Program’s newly expanded Master of Physical Therapy and Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology programs. It was heartwarming to see not just a building space but a warm and welcoming campus. And it’s exciting to think that — now with even more opportunities to train in diverse communities across the province — our leaners will go on to make a difference in the lives of more British Columbians than ever before.
This year also marked the creation of more family medicine residency seats in the Interior, a new Internal Medicine residency program in the Fraser, as well as the launch of the Rural Immersion Residency Program — one of the first in Canada — which allows newly graduated medical students to immerse themselves in a single rural community for two years as an essential part of their family medicine training. All of this is made possible by the dedication of our clinical faculty.
Meanwhile, the Faculty hit a new research milestone in 2024, attracting almost $500 million in new funding from government, industry and partners. This, along with our many breakthrough scientific discoveries over the past year, is a testament not only to the qualities of talent, innovation and collaboration that define us as a Faculty, but also to the real-life impact of our research.
I am reminded here of Road to Recovery, an innovative, compassionate and evidence-informed initiative recently launched at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver to provide seamless treatment and recovery care for people with addiction challenges. UBC researchers played an essential role in its creation and will continue to support its ongoing development and evaluation.
As I reflect on these and the many other defining achievements of 2024, I’m struck by our determination and resilience as individuals and as a community, united by a profound, ongoing commitment to training the next generation of health professionals, increasing health equity and access, and bringing lifesaving treatments to patients sooner than ever.
I am sincerely grateful to you, our incredible staff, faculty, learners, partners and supporters, for your hard work, your spirit of collaboration and the hope for the future that you embody every day.
If the holiday season is an opportunity to reflect on the past 12 months, the new year will be an opportunity to recognize our deeper past and think about the future. As you all know, 2025 marks the Faculty’s 75th anniversary. By now you will have received your invitation to participate in Beyond 75: Imagining the Future of Medicine at UBC, a series of special events around the province beginning in January. We look forward to seeing you there!
In the meantime, I share with you my latest holiday playlist, which I hope captures the spirit, memories and optimism of the season, not to mention the weather! I wish you all a peaceful, restful and joyous holiday break, and all the very best in the new year.
A message from Dermot Kelleher, Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Vice-President, Health.
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Anita Palepu has been reappointed as Head, Department of Medicine for a second five-year term effective to June 30, 2029.
Dr. Palepu is a professor and Eric W. Hamber Chair in the Department of Medicine, as well as a founding member of the department’s equity committee. She is also co-lead of the UBC Data Science and Health research excellence cluster and Head of the Department of Medicine at Providence Health Care.
Dr. Palepu is a general internal medicine specialist who is passionate about health advocacy and education. As a scientist with the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes, Dr. Palepu’s research is in urban health, with a particular focus on persons vulnerable to poor health outcomes. Her many contributions have been recognized both nationally and internationally. In 2021, she was inducted as a Fellow into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, one of the highest honours within Canada’s academic community.
For her work in undergraduate and postgraduate education, Dr. Palepu has received numerous awards, including the St. Paul’s Hospital Donald M. Whitelaw Award for Outstanding Grand Rounds, the Graeme Copland Clinician Teacher Award, Teacher of the Year Award, SPH Family Practice and Royal College Residents, and the Howard Stein Master Teacher Award. She was also the recipient of the inaugural Graydon Meneilly Award for Excellence in Mentoring, in recognition of her exemplary leadership as a mentor and contributions to fostering excellence in others and advancing the equity agenda of the Department of Medicine.
In her second term as Head, Department of Medicine, Dr. Palepu will continue to work collaboratively with the Department community to advance the research, education, organizational and clinical goals of the Department of Medicine’s ambitious strategic plan, Transforming Health Together, in alignment with the strategic priorities of the Faculty.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Palepu on her appointment.
A message from Gage Averill, Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver.
Further to my previous memo, dated October 15, 2024, inviting your input to help in creating a candidate profile, I am pleased to advise that the President’s Advisory Committee for the selection of a new Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Vice-President Health has been established with the following membership, consisting of elected, Board and Senate selected, and appointed members, per UBC Policy AP5 and UBC Policy AP12:
Nabil Ali-Mohamad, undergraduate student
Aslam Anis, professor and Director, School of Population and Public Health
Lara Boyd, professor, Department of Physical Therapy
Natalie Chan, Board of Governors member
Darren Dahl, Dean, Sauder School of Business
Susan Forwell, professor, Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy
Leonard Foster, professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Michael Smith Laboratories
Grant Guo, UBC Vancouver Student Senator
Sandy Hilton, Board of Governors member
Shanda Jordan Gaetz, Managing Director, Faculty of Medicine
Faisal Khosa, associate professor, Department of Radiology
Anjana Rajendran, graduate student
Manuela Reekie, UBC Okanagan senator
Eugenia Socías, assistant professor, Department of Medicine
Victoria Wood, Managing Director, UBC Health
Gage Averill, Provost and Vice-President Academic, UBC Vancouver (Chair)
Kate Carr, Executive Assistant to the Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President Faculty Planning (Secretary)
The committee’s task is to consider and advise the President on the candidates, before the President makes a recommendation to the Board of Governors for approval.
The committee has begun its task, with the development of a candidate profile, which was informed by your feedback received through consultations and the online survey. This document will be used throughout the recruitment process.
The advertisement will be posted on the Academic + Provost website and the Medicine and UBC Health websites, as well as distributed widely through web-based media nationally and internationally. The search is international in scope, and open to internal and external candidates.
Over the next few months, the search consultants at Boyden will be following up on your suggestions of individuals and using their extensive networks to source nominations and potential candidates. The Advisory Committee will then reconvene to review the candidate list and will invite a number of candidates to meet with the committee for confidential interviews. When the committee has narrowed the list to a small number of outstanding individuals, those candidates will each be invited to a second phase of interviews. We will provide information on that final stage of the search later.
In the meantime, the search consultants still welcome any suggestions of individuals to be the next Dean of Medicine and VP Health. Please send any names to ubcdeanmedicine@boyden.com.
We look forward to your continued participation in the search process. I will continue to provide updates as the search progresses. If you have any questions about this search, please contact Kate Carr at kate.carr@ubc.ca.
This message was sent to all faculty, staff and learners in the Faculty of Medicine & UBC Health.
