Reframing conversations around earthquakes
When earthquakes shake buildings to the ground anywhere in the world, Dr. Lisa Tobber can’t look away. As a structural engineering researcher at UBC Okanagan who specializes in disaster resiliency, Dr. Tobber instead leans into the chaos. There is too much to learn, she says, and there is much to do to prevent the next […]
Pushing the boundaries of spinal cord research
An estimated 85,000 Canadians live with a spinal cord injury (SCI), and approximately half of those injuries are sustained because of a traumatic event like a motor vehicle crash or fall. UBC Okanagan’s Dr. Christopher West first became involved in SCI research during his Master of Science at Brunel University London, where he worked with […]
Living drugs could be a game changer in fighting immune-based diseases
Dr. Megan Levings and her team at UBC are engineering cell-based therapies that could transform the way we treat everything from Type 1 diabetes to multiple sclerosis We often treat immune-based diseases with drugs that help alleviate symptoms. But what if we could target the root cause of these diseases by modifying our body’s cells […]
UBCO team examines the roots of great wine tourism
Establishing a sense of place—letting visitors dig right into the soil and smell the earth where the grapes are grown for their wine—is one strategy wineries can use to revive lagging tourism numbers coming out of the pandemic, new research from UBC Okanagan reveals. Research Associate Darcen Esau and supervisor Dr. Donna Senese, an Associate […]
Honing the immune cell production pipeline
Please visit https://www.msl.ubc.ca/honing-the-immune-cell-production-pipeline-how-zandstra-lab-researchers-are-advancing-cellular-therapy/ to read the story.
Next-generation batteries power a more sustainable future
UBC’s Dr. Jian Liu and his team are developing safer, more powerful batteries for electric cars, solar panels and more—and building a western Canadian supply chain to ensure renewable energy security Many of us are feeling the pinch of rising gas prices. But few of us ever think about the price of lithium, which helps […]
UBC scientist sending yeast and algae to space on Artemis 1
When NASA’s Artemis 1 lunar mission takes off in September, on board will be four science experiments—including one from Canada. UBC pharmaceutical sciences professor Dr. Corey Nislow is sending yeast and algae cultures into space, in a pod not much bigger than a shoebox, to study the effects of cosmic rays and near zero gravity […]
Researchers discover ‘weak spot’ across major COVID-19 variants
Researchers at the University of British Columbia have discovered a key vulnerability across all major variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including the recently emerged BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron subvariants. The weakness can be targeted by neutralizing antibodies, potentially paving the way for treatments that would be universally effective across variants. The findings, published this month […]
UBCO looks at smart technology to safeguard drinking water
Delivery of safe and high-quality drinking water is an essential public service, but it’s not easy to monitor water quality in real-time close to customers’ homes. Thanks to a new research partnership with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, TELUS and the Regional District of North Okanagan, researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus […]
UBC Engineers develop nano-copper to quickly kill superbugs
A new copper coating that kills bacteria quicker and in greater amounts than current formulations could soon be available for hospitals and other high-traffic facilities. Although current formulations made of pure copper are antibacterial and self-sanitizing, they kill certain types of bacteria with a thicker cell wall (Gram-positive bacteria), more slowly than bacteria with a […]