Meet faculty and staff members from across the Faculty of Medicine.
Meet Dr. Taru Manyanga, Affiliate Assistant Professor, MPT-North.
Meet Dr. Chris Morrow, Executive Medical Director, Continuing Professional Development.
Meet Dr. James Lee, Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics & Director of the Pediatric Neurology Residency Program.
Move UBC is an annual university-wide initiative in February to encourage faculty, staff and the wider university community to reduce time spent being inactive. During Move UBC this month, find out about:
Finding ways to break up sedentary or stationary behaviour throughout the day can help you move more and feel better. Try these five easy ways to get moving during Move UBC:
Join Public Safety Canada’s Research Security Centre for a series of safeguarding science webinars. Research support staff, faculty, postdocs and grad students are invited to register for one of ten dates in February 2024.
The webinars aim to assist participants:
Climate Emergency Week at UBC, February 12–16 2024, brings together communities of climate action at UBC.
Join events, workshops and activities, and take collective action for justice, people and the planet.
In fall 2023, the Integrated Renewal Program – Student (IRP Student) began rolling out Workday Student, a renewed, reliable, and secure student information system to support UBC’s academic mission. Workday Student will replace UBC’s current student information system, connecting UBC’s HR, Finance, and Student systems in a single, configurable, and easy-to-use application.
As part of the ongoing phased launch of the new system, starting from February 26, 2024 Workday Student will launch capabilities that support students to study, advance and graduate from UBC. This launch phase will impact all UBC student information system users, including staff, faculty and current students.
Workday Student will be used for the 2024 Winter session onward, running in parallel with the current student information system, which will remain in use for activities related to 2023 Winter and 2024 Summer sessions. Learn more about the coexistence period.
The system will launch in a phased approach:
Register for the Launch 2 preparation call-in session to learn more about the upcoming changes.
Faculty and staff can learn more about using Workday Student through the training hub. Start with one of the foundational Canvas courses, then find training materials specific to tasks relevant to your role.
Teaching faculty and instructors will have access to Workday Student based on individual assignment to 2024 Winter course sections.
No action is required in Workday Student by teaching faculty and instructors until after student registration for 2024/25 course sections begins in June 2024. Find more information and resources for teaching faculty & instructors.
Explore resources on the Integrated Renewal Program – Student website:
If you have questions about the rollout, please contact the Faculty of Medicine IRP Student Team at med.IRPStudent@ubc.ca.
A message from Dermot Kelleher, Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Vice-President, Health.
I am pleased to announce that Dr. Jörg Gsponer has been appointed interim Head, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, effective to June 30, 2024.
Dr. Gsponer is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. Using advanced computational methods to explore genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data, his research aims to better understand cellular processes in cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. He has made significant contributions to the field of computational biochemistry, and was awarded a Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award for Overall Excellence in recognition of his work.
As interim Head, Dr. Gsponer will provide strategic leadership to the department, helping foster excellence and innovation in education, research and service.
Dr. Gsponer’s appointment follows the leadership of Dr. Leonard Foster, who was appointed Head in 2018 following interim leadership from 2016. During his time as Head, Dr. Foster recruited nine new faculty to the Department and established new partnerships with BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and the Edwin S. H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging. He also led and supported a variety of equity, diversity and inclusivity initiatives, including the establishment of one of the first departmental EDI committees in the Faculty. I would like to thank Dr. Foster, who was recently appointed Director, Life Sciences Institute, for his leadership and outstanding contributions while in this role.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Gsponer on his interim appointment.
A message from Robert McMaster, Vice Dean, Research and Mark MacLachlan, Dean, pro tem, Faculty of Science.
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Leonard Foster has been appointed Director, Life Sciences Institute (LSI) in the Faculties of Medicine and Science, effective from February 1, 2024 to June 30, 2029.
Dr. Leonard Foster is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, where he has also served as Head since 2018 following interim leadership from 2016. Dr. Foster’s research focuses on developing and applying quantitative proteomic and other systems biology methods to study how pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, cause disease.
His research has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Genome British Columbia Award for Science Excellence and the Tony Pawson Proteomics Award from the Canadian National Proteomics Network. Dr. Foster has also received the UBC Killam Prize for Research and the UBC Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring, recognizing his outstanding contributions as a mentor to graduate students.
As Director, LSI, Dr. Foster will guide the development of innovative, interdisciplinary life sciences research at UBC in alignment with the institute’s broader mission. Working with the LSI Executive, he will establish and implement strategic goals for the LSI. Dr. Foster will support the research of LSI investigators and research scientists, and play a key role in developing and strengthening partnerships to advance scholarly activities and translate new discoveries.
Dr. Foster’s appointment follows the interim leadership of Dr. James Johnson. We would like to thank Dr. Johnson for his leadership during this period, and for his many contributions in his former role as the LSI’s Deputy Director. During his time as Deputy Director followed by Interim Director, the LSI became a designated Global Research Excellence Institute, which is helping advance global excellence in collaborative and interdisciplinary research at UBC. We wish to thank Dr. Johnson for the instrumental role he has played bringing diverse teams together, increasing the institute’s revenue, and advocating for the LSI and its many people.
Please join us in thanking Dr. Johnson for his contributions and congratulating Dr. Foster on his appointment.
Do you have a colleague who inspires you to be your best, or know a staff member who made innovative contributions to shape the future of teaching, research or work at UBC?
To recognize and celebrate those who demonstrate outstanding achievement and excellence within the UBC community, faculty, staff and students are invited to nominate staff for the below award categories by 4 pm, Friday, March 22.
Visit the UBC Focus on People website to read past recipient profiles and their contributions to making UBC a great place to work, learn and research.
The President’s Service Awards for Excellence are the premier staff award at UBC, and honour staff with sustained exceptional contribution. All staff with five or more years of continuous service are eligible for this award.
The President’s Staff Awards honour exceptional contribution from staff in specific areas that are important to UBC. All staff at UBC Vancouver with two or more years of continuous service are eligible.
The six categories of the President’s Staff Awards include:
The call for nominations for the UBC Okanagan Staff Awards of Excellence will be announced in the spring.
This call for nominations was shared by UBC Broadcast on February 12.