Submit Nominations for the Faculty of Medicine Killam Teaching Prize

Submit Nominations for the Faculty of Medicine Killam Teaching Prize

Submit Nominations for the Faculty of Medicine Killam Teaching Prize

UBC Killam Teaching Prizes are UBC’s most prestigious teaching awards. The UBC Killam Teaching Prizes recognize excellence in teaching in the medical and science undergraduate programs, residency programs, school and graduate programs within the Faculty of Medicine. The Prizes are awarded annually, and are supported by the UBC Killam Endowment Fund.

Details

FoM Internal Nomination Deadline: 1 February 2024 by 12:00pm

FoM Internal Nomination Form can be found here

Details, guidelines, and criteria can be found here

Criteria

  • Nominee has demonstrated sustained teaching excellence over a period of at least 10 years.
  • Nominee has been highly rated as a teacher by peer and/or student evaluations.
  • Nominee has positively influenced student acquisition of knowledge through teaching, educational
  • development or other activities.
  • Nominee has been an inspiration to students and has provided motivation.

Key Guidelines

  • Open to all full-time, part-time, or clinical faculty members who have demonstrated sustained teaching excellence over a period of at least 10 years.
  • Awards will be made in recognition of sustained scholarly achievement in teaching within the full range of instructional activities (classroom teaching, clinical teaching, supervision of graduate students, laboratory teaching etc.).
  • Nominations will be made by any two faculty members in the Faculty of Medicine.
  • Nominations will stand for two consecutive years.
  • The number of Killam Teaching Prizes may vary each year depending on the Faculty of Medicine allotment from UBC.
  • The identities of the nominees will not be made public unless they win one of the Prizes.
  • Nominators should not expect members of the Adjudication Committee staff to assist with the preparation of a nomination beyond general advice concerning the regulations and proper forms to use, nor will they offer opinions as to a nomination’s chances of success.

3 Calls for Proposals: NRC Disruptive Technology Solutions for Cell and Gene Therapy Challenge Program

The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) has announced three separate calls of proposals within the Disruptive Technology Solutions for Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) Challenge program.

The program’s vision is to transform health outcomes for Canadians with cancer and genetic diseases. Our researchers use synthetic biology-driven innovations in engineered cell and gene therapies to bring this vision to life. The program’s mission is to develop technologies, platforms, cell lines and collaborative models that will speed up development and enable the delivery of safe, accessible and affordable cell and gene therapies in Canada.

Call 1: Establishment of a good manufacturing practice human amniotic fluid cell seed bank

The primary objective for this funding opportunity within the Disruptive Technology Solutions for Cell and Gene Therapy Challenge program is to harness the potential of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as a renewable and scalable cell source to develop cell-based therapeutic products for regenerative medicine and immunotherapy applications.

Human amniotic fluid derived cells (hAFCs) provide a unique opportunity to access fetal derived cells with potential unique properties and stem-cell like attributes, making these cells more responsive to reprogramming into iPSCs compared to adult donor sources. The NRC is interested in leveraging this unique fetal donor cell source, acquired during routine amniocentesis, to establish good manufacturing practices (GMP)-compliant seed stock biobanks for future use in the development and commercialization of regulatory compliant hAFC and hAFC-iPSC based therapeutics.

The NRC has a long history and expertise in working with hAFCs and hAFC-derived iPSCs, demonstrating their robust differentiation capabilities into a number of clinically relevant cell types (i.e. neurons, natural killer cells, endothelial cells, cardiomyocytes). They will work collaboratively with the successful applicant to establish a good practices compliant hAFC seed stocks as a source of donor cells for the future development of high-quality human iPSCs for use in research development, clinical and commercial applications. Providing the Canadian and international life science research ecosystem with access to such a hAFC seed stock biobank will help overcome the prohibitive accessibility and affordability barriers that limit translational research and promote the development of made-in-Canada stem-cell based therapeutics.

Full information can be found here

Call 2: Next-generation solid tumour cell therapies

Gene editing technologies have the potential to transform adoptive cellular therapies. Although engineered immune cell therapies have been highly successful for some hematological cancers, there are still significant challenges in translating these clinical successes to solid tumour cell therapies.To overcome the challenges of cell therapy treatments for solid tumours, a number of new gene manipulation strategies could be used to engineer immune cells with additional capabilities to extend their utility and reduce their cost. The NRC envisions that the new approaches for gene manipulation of immune cells, combined with their potent solid tumour targeting chimeric antigen receptors molecules, could offer disruptive potential for the development of a safe, effective and affordable treatment for solid tumour cancers. They are also open to projects that propose to use transient expression technologies such as mRNA or other technologies for manipulating a cell product in combination with genomic modification.Full information can be found here

Call 3: RNA-based therapeutics for neurological disorders

To address specific challenges in the cost-effective development and clinical delivery of gene therapies for disorders of the central nervous system, the program is seeking a collaborative partner to support the preclinical translation of a made-in-Canada RNA-based therapeutic for the treatment of neurological disorders.

The NRC owns key technologies for the successful brain delivery of RNA therapeutics, including brain-targeting antibodies and proprietary lipid-based nanoparticles. They has extensive knowledge and expertise in formulation and bioconjugation technologies. For example, using receptor-mediated transcytosis with brain-targeting antibodies allows them to efficiently transport lipid-based nanoparticles containing nucleic acid cargoes across the blood-brain barrier. Leveraging these technologies, they have developed a panel of blood-brain barrier-transmigrating antibodies, allowing the delivery of RNA therapeutics to the brain for gene expression, silencing and editing of central nervous system targets. The proposed collaboration aims to encapsulate therapeutics in their proprietary brain-optimized lipid-based nanoparticles for detailed preclinical studies, laying the foundation for future clinical trial applications.

Full information can be found here


Key Dates & Deadlines

  • Full proposal application deadline: 22 January 2024
  • Notification of Results: February 2024
  • Funding disbursed and project starts: 1 April 2024

 

Good Read: “Ask an expert: How can I help protect my respiratory health during flu season?” with ATM Member Dr. Emily Brigham

A Year in Review: 2023 with Dr. Poul Sorensen, Director of the ATM


As Director of the Academy of Translational Medicine (ATM), Dr. Poul Sorensen continues to lead by example. In 2023, Dr. Sorensen made ground-breaking contributions to pediatric oncology research, amongst his many accomplishments.

The advancements made by Dr. Sorensen and his colleagues have been instrumental in accelerating pediatric cancer therapeutics through the pipeline from bench to bedside. Due to the low survival rates associated with childhood cancers that have relapsed or are metastatic, this is an area of urgent need. In a feature for Science in Vancouver, Dr. Sorensen and his colleagues addressed the relevance of the discoveries presented in the publication A MYCN-independent mechanism mediating secretome reprogramming and metastasis in MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma, for which Dr. Sorensen is the senior author.

“A major roadblock is the paucity of known tumor-associated surface proteins that could potentially serve as targets for immunotherapy in these diseases. We have therefore developed a world-class pipeline for the discovery of such targets in childhood malignancies, using plasma membrane enrichment linked to mass spectrometry based proteomics to identify novel surface targets.”Read the article here

For the project “Harnessing the osteosarcoma surfaceome for immunotherapy targets to block metastatic capacity”, the Osteosarcoma Institute awarded $500,000 USD to Dr. Poul Sorensen, Dr. Gregg Morin, and Dr. Wei Li. The summary of the project includes the following background on the importance of this research:

“Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer of children, adolescents, and young adults. When osteosarcoma tumor cells spread to other parts of the body, known as metastasis, survival is drastically reduced from ~75% to ~25%. Since metastatic disease has remained largely incurable for decades, there is a critical need to identify new treatments for patients with metastatic osteosarcoma.” – Find the full summary and announcements on the BC Cancer website and on the Faculty of Medicine’s website

Dr. Sorensen’s involvement with innovative initiatives also includes leading one of three targeted projects within The Spatial Metabolome Hubble Project to Decipher Tumour Driven Immunosuppression (Metabohub), with ATM Member Dr. Seth Parker. Dr. Sorensen and Dr. Parker’s project will “examine how tumour cells cope with metabolic stress in specific types of cancer, like pancreatic cancer and Ewing sarcoma, and how this can prevent CAR-T cells from being effective.”  The Spatial Metabolomics Hub is funded from 2023 to 2027 with a total of $2.4 million by the Terry Fox Foundation and the Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation. Inspired by the James Web telescope, advanced imaging technology will be used to examine metabolic profiles in various areas of tumour tissues, to better understand the activity of certain immune cells in different parts of a tumour. More detailed information regarding the Hub can be found here.

Collaborative efforts are a prominent theme in Dr. Sorensen’s success. In November of 2024, Derm-Biome Pharmaceuticals Inc., for whom Dr. Sorensen is CSO, announced its collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital. In addition, Dr. Sorensen has been working with other high-profile researchers on initiatives targeted for Canada’s Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub.

Dr. Sorensen was also made a 2023 Ambassador to Technical University Munich, and a Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies at Technical University Munich.  This honour is given to renowned international scientists that, through their work with Technical University Munich investigators, carry out impactful research with global outreach.

In his role as Director for the Academy of Translational Medicine, Dr. Sorensen demonstrates excellence in the translation of such discoveries into applications with clinical impact. The ATM congratulates Dr. Sorensen for his contributions to translational medicine in 2023!


Read Dr. Poul Sorensen’s bio on the ATM website here

Did you know that Dr. Poul Sorensen and the ATM were featured in an award-winning edition of Pathways Magazine? Learn about it here

The Precision Health Spotlight is on Dr. Catrina Loucks

ATM Member Dr. Catrina Loucks has recently been featured in a Precision Health Spotlight. In particular, with Dr. Colin Ross, Dr. Loucks received a 2021/2022 Precision Health Catalyst Grant award, and are researching “Why are some children unable to get pain relief from morphine while others experience excessive sedation or toxicity.”

This is not the first time Dr. Loucks has been interviewed about her research. The ATM encourages its community to read two such examples where she has generously taken the time to discuss her research on children’s pain. Dr. Loucks was featured in the Academy of Translational Medicine (ATM) Member Spotlight Series (formerly ECR Spotlight Series). She was also interviewed by the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHRI), in an article titled Genes, pain and medication: Q&A with Dr. Catrina Loucks.

The ATM encourages its community to read these features, and congratulates Dr. Loucks’ on her accomplishments!

Read Dr. Loucks’ Precision Health Spotlight here

Read Dr. Loucks’ ATM Member Spotlight here

Read about Dr. Loucks’ BCCHRI interview here

 

Improvements to Operational Approval application process for research studies

Presentation by the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes provides valuable information for the ATM Community

On Monday 27 November 2023, the ATM welcomed Erin Cherban from the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes to speak to the ATM Community.

The presentation provided an overview of the clinical research services, faculty members and programs available at the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes (formerly known as CHÉOS), as well as details about free clinical trial education resources and certifications available to BC researchers and their staff. Thank you to Ms. Cherban for highlighting the comprehensive support that the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes can provide to those navigating the pipeline of biomedical innovation, as well as to Dr. Dean Regier (Associate Director, Academy of Translational Medicine) for moderating the presentation. The presentation was recorded for those who could not attend, which the ATM encourages its Members to watch.

Click here to access the associated Resources page, as well as the recording.

Click here to explore all Resources pages associated with recent ATM-hosted presentations.

Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes

Academy of Translational Medicine Event – 27 November 2023

Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes*: Bridging the Gap Between Data, Research, and Care

*Formerly known as the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHÉOS) 

Watch the Recording here (Password: zu1ce@3i)

Speaker: Erin Cherban

Position/Affiliations: Chief Clinical Research Officer, Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes/CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network, Network of Networks (N2) Board of Directors

Summary: Are you looking for clinical research support services and expert faculty for collaborations?  This presentation will provide an overview of the clinical research services, faculty members and programs available at the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes (formerly the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences, CHÉOS).  Additionally, the speaker will provide details about free clinical trial education resources and certifications available to BC researchers and their staff.


Introduction

Established in 1998, the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes is a group of experienced health outcomes researchers and support staff based at St. Paul’s Hospital. Advancing Health evaluates the effectiveness of health interventions in populations to understand how to improve health and transform health systems for the future.

Mandate

Advancing Health is proud to be recognized as one of Canada’s foremost health outcomes research organizations. Bridging the gap between data, research, and care, Advancing Health is a collaboration between cross-disciplinary scientists and expert research staff. The Centre influences change and improves patient care and health systems by empowering decision-makers to find positive, evidence-based solutions.

In addition to undertaking their own research, Advancing Health is dedicated to providing research support services for both health outcomes research and clinical trials.

The Centre is committed to creating an inclusive, dynamic, and cooperative work environment in which younger researchers are mentored, established researchers are supported, and all participants are encouraged to pursue personal and professional challenges.


Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes Resources for UBC Researchers

Services

Visit the Advancing Health website to learn about navigating the clinical research process and step-wide guides for project development, project set-up, and project execution.

Service Types

Data Management: A dedicated team of data management experts provide a diverse range of data services, including case report form generation, database management, randomization and drug management systems creation, and data entry.

Grant Facilitation: Advancing Health offers a number of services in this area, including budget and methodological consults to help you with preparing your grant submissions.

Health Economics: A team of economists brings a broad range of expertise to support health research including work in the areas of personalized medicine, health technology assessment, pharmacoeconomics, cost-effectiveness analyses, decision analysis, patient preferences, and determining the impact of lost productivity.

KT & Evaluation: They understand the importance of engaging with stakeholders at all levels to enable, promote, and disseminate evidence-based treatment, practice, and policy. The knowledge translation and program evaluation experts will facilitate the uptake of new knowledge and help to ensure the most efficient pathways to your goals and outcomes. Click here for more about communications and KT services.

Project Management: Seasoned research coordinators and project managers can provide study management, monitoring, and recruitment services to ensure the seamless operation of your clinical trial.

Qualitative Research: Advancing Health provides qualitative support at any or all stages of research. Specifically, they provide support services related to study design, confidentiality and privacy, development of data collection tools, data collection & analysis, and manuscript preparation. The staff can also provide support on mixed-methods research that involves techniques to interpret qualitative and quantitative data together, or in succession.

Regulatory Affairs: Advancing Health houses regulatory and QA/QC specialists that can assist with your research start-up and application process. Our experts can deliver guidance on your ethics application, support you with understanding and applying the various regulations from governing authorities, and work to ensure that your research process meets industry standards.

Study Methodology & Statistics: Advancing Health methodologists and statisticians can work with you to support study design and methodological planning, randomization schemes, and data analysis (including developing and carrying out a statistical analysis plan).

Trial Monitoring & Auditing: Advancing Health has certified monitoring personnel on staff who can provide monitoring and auditing services, including the development of monitoring plans, monitoring sites for data quality, and GCP and protocol compliance. We can provide support in the event of a regulatory or sponsor inspection of your clinical trial.

Request Services

Research Services FAQ

Research Programs

Areas of Interest

The areas of interest within Advancing Health are wide in breadth. Learn about the full spectrum of subject areas and disciplines here. The research areas currently highlighted at the time of this presentation include:

Biostatistics: Involves the development and application of statistical principles to the design, analysis, and execution of health research

Cardiovascular Health (ICVHealth): seeks to understand the impact of health care practices and interventions on patient outcomes

Clinical Trials: Advancing Health has a long history of implementing and supporting clinical trials across a range of disciplines

Decision Sciences: Study how people make choices and how they can make better choices using current knowledge, recognizing the presence of uncertainty, complexity, and competing values and trade-offs

Emergency Medicine: Involves the study of services, innovations, and clinical management to prevent emergencies, optimize emergency care, and result in safe transitions to the community

Evaluation: The systematic investigation of the quality or usefulness of a program, project, system, or organization to ensure accountability and/or learning and improvement

Health Economics: An integration of economic theories and methods with health policies, services, and practices

Health Services & Outcomes: The study of the relationships between people and their health care systems and health care providers, and the consequences of those interactions on their health

Knowledge Translation: Facilitates the diffusion of evidence-based innovations into policy and practice

Patient-reported Outcomes: Provide health care providers and researchers with important information about patients’ perspectives on the effectiveness of health care interventions and services

Psychiatry: Focused on examining diagnoses, treatment, and prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioural disorders to advance the understanding of mental illness and influence best clinical practices

Psychosocial Epidemiology: Considers the complex ways in which social factors interact with the psychological and biological determinants of health, particularly in the areas of mental health and substance use

Research in Action: Learn about highlighted projects, access features and research resources, learn about the Works in Progress Seminar Series, and more

Research Resources: Advancing Health has a library of free comprehensive research resources which are constantly being updated, spanning a variety of topics.

Work in Progress Seminar Series: From webinars and virtual events to large symposia and conferences, Advancing Health Scientists and staff play an active role in the local, national, and international scientific community.

People

Scientists: Advancing Health investigators are at the forefront of major areas of health research. They cross-collaborate to generate a body of evidence that leads to improvements in health and health systems at the local, national, and international levels.

Program Heads: The leaders of the Research Programs are well-renowned experts in their fields. As Program Heads, these researchers foster collaborations with external groups and facilitate research within and between our Programs.

Research Associates: The Research Associates are embedded within the health care system and conduct quality improvement, practise change, and research studies to inform clinical practice and programs.

Leadership: With decades of collective experience working in the health research arena, the Advancing Health leadership group guides the activities and development of the staff departments and the Centre as a whole.

Staff: Staff are the foundation of the Centre’s success. As experts in a wide range of specialties throughout the health research value chain, these dedicated individuals lead the Centre’s research services.

Committees: Advancing Health values the diversity of input from both internal and external stakeholders. Their committees help ensure that the Centre is staying true to its strategic objectives and addressing our organizational priorities.

Contact Information

Health Research BC Launches 2024 Research Trainee Award Competition

Michael Smith Health Research BC has launched the 2024 Research Trainee Award competition.

The Michael Smith Health Research BC Research Trainee Program is designed to attract, recognize, and support outstanding early career researchers who have recently completed a PhD, or are a health professional eligible for a fellowship (or equivalent) program by providing funding that helps protect time for health research activities.

Program Details

  • Award amount
    • $60,000 per year + allowance of $4,500 per year for research and travel
  • Award term
    • Up to 3 years
  • This program is designed to:
    • Provide salary support for talented post-doctoral or health professional researchers and develops their health research careers.
    • Help post-doctoral researchers increase their, and their labs’, research productivity.
    • Prepare post-doctoral researchers for successful careers in research, biotech, health policy and more.
  • Eligibility:
    • Have PhD and commit to a minimum of 75% of their time conducting research, or, be a health professional in active clinical service and commit to a minimum of 50% of time conducting research.
    • Hold or be eligible to hold a post-doctoral fellowship position by the award start date, and for the duration of the award, at a BC institution that holds a memorandum of understanding with Health Research BC.
    • Be within 6 years of achieving PhD, or, have been a health professional in active clinical service for 11 years or less, for the duration of the Health Research BC award.
    • Not have held a previous Health Research BC post-doctoral fellowship award
  • Evaluation Weighting Criteria:
    • 20% Environment and Support
    • 30% Applicant expertise and experience
    • 50% Research Project

Key Dates

  • LOI Deadline
    • 12 December 2023 | 4:30pm PT
  • Internal FoM Application Deadline
    • 19 February 2024
  • ApplyNet Application Deadline
    • 23 February 2024 | 4:30pm
  • Anticipated Start of Funding
    • 1 September 2024

UBC Faculty of Medicine application process information can be found here

Full information including competition guidelines, instructions, slides from the webinar, and 2023 recipients, is available through Health Research BC here

The ATM Completes Workshop on Medical Devices for the Introduction to Regulatory Affairs course

We are thrilled to announce the successful completion of the workshop on medical devices, a key component of our Introduction to Regulatory Affairs course, on November 18th and 19th, 2023.

Designed as an immersive extension of our course curriculum, the workshop allowed learners to apply their theoretical knowledge in practical, real-world scenarios, enhancing their understanding of Medical Device Regulations and Digital Health and Emerging Technologies.

The workshop brought together industry experts such as Nicole Taylor Smith and Nancy Shadeed, which sparked insightful discussions and shared learning. A huge thank you to our dedicated students for their active participation and enthusiastic engagement, our esteemed speakers for their invaluable insights, and Dr. Dean Regier for his support in making this event a success.

Stay connected with us for more insights and future events. We are excited to continue offering more courses and events and fostering a learning and innovation community in the biotech industry. This course is one of two courses in the UBC Micro-certificate in Regulatory Affairs in the Life Sciences. The second course, Regulatory Sciences and Health Economics, will commence January 2024.