UBC-grown biotech companies lead global pandemic efforts
Millions of Canadians have received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, but many may not realize that a key component of the injection was developed right here at UBC. Acuitas Therapeutics, a UBC spin-off company co-founded by Dr. Pieter Cullis, developed the lipid nanoparticle technology that allows the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine to enter human cells. For the […]
A simple and safe additive could cut agrochemical pollution
Adding a simple polymer to fertilizers or pesticides (agrochemicals) could dramatically reduce agricultural pollution, suggests a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia. When agrochemicals are sprayed onto crops, a large amount typically ends up in the surrounding environment due to droplets splashing, rebounding or rolling off the target plants. This amount […]
Thirty-five Research Excellence Clusters to receive GCRC support in 2021/22
A total of 35 emerging and established research excellence clusters led by researchers on the Vancouver campus will be supported in 2021/22, including 24 awards made through the 2021/22 Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters Competition (GCRC) and eleven clusters entering the second year of their current award. Research Excellence Clusters are interdisciplinary networks of researchers […]
Championing investment in digital research infrastructure innovation
For Muhammad Abdul-Mageed, Assistant Professor, School of Information and Department of Linguistics, Sockeye has been a dream come true. As a member of the original UBC Digital Research and Compute Infrastructure committee, he has championed investment into digital research infrastructure, resulting in a high-performance computing platform with nearly 16,000 CPU cores and 200 GPUs, available […]
Embodied carbon pilot helps building industry address climate change
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the built environment are a significant contributor to climate change. As policies to reduce operational energy consumption and related GHG emissions from buildings start to take effect, the embodied emissions associated with building material choices are becoming proportionally more significant. But in order to reduce embodied carbon in future buildings, […]
Speeding up COVID-19 testing with artificial intelligence
A University of British Columbia-led study has identified a computer technique that health facilities can use to screen, diagnose and monitor COVID-19 pneumonia more efficiently. The researchers found that a pre-trained neural network called DarkNet-19 can rapidly and reliably detect COVID-19 on chest X-rays. The network recognized the disease’s imaging patterns on nearly 6,000 chest X-rays with […]
Call for Open Educational Resource grant applications
The Office of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver is pleased to invite the UBC community to apply for the Open Educational Resources (OER) Rapid Innovation and Implementation Grants. The UBC Vancouver OER Fund, established through the UBC Academic Excellence Fund in 2019, aims to support affordable and inclusive access to learning materials through […]
UBC research cluster promotes traditional Indigenous knowledge and science collaboration
A group of researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus are working to find sustainable ways of managing the Okanagan landscape in collaboration with Syilx traditional knowledge holders, with support from UBC research cluster funding. Enhancing Ecosystem Sustainability: A Syilx/Settler Science Collaboration is an interdisciplinary research cluster that aims to contribute solutions to issues of importance to […]
UBC doctoral student wins Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship
UBC PhD student Jennifer Lavalley has been named a 2020 Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation Scholar. Ms. Lavalley is pursuing her doctorate in Interdisciplinary Studies, exploring the experiences of Indigenous people who use drugs, in order to optimize and ensure the cultural relevance of overdose-focused harm reduction and substance use treatment. Prior to her current position as […]
UBC researchers develop biodegradable medical mask for COVID-19
The response to COVID-19 and the demands on medical-grade personal protective equipment, including medical masks, has turned a spotlight on the need for improved supply lines and the manufacture of masks locally. Researchers in the BioProducts Institute at the University of British Columbia have responded to the challenge, designing a fully compostable and biodegradable N95 […]