The UBC graduate program in Pharmacology is offered by the Faculty of Medicine, within the department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics. The department is an academic and clinical unit committed to excellence in research in pharmacology and therapeutics in a variety of areas including cardiovascular, respiratory, anesthesia, biochemical, molecular and neuropharmacology. The department offers degree programs at both the Master’s and PhD levels.
Graduate students’ research is highlighted each year at the weekly student seminar series, international symposia and conference, as well as, at the annual Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics research day in the spring, which includes oral and poster presentations. Participating in the research day is an excellent opportunity for students to see the full scope of research that is taking place in the department at both the basic science and clinical levels.
Laboratories from the department of Pharmacology are represented all over the UBC campus and across the city of Vancouver. That being said, the graduate students are a very close group with students often taking the time to have fun at social events such as pub or movie nights, departmental BBQs and hiking trips.
For further information, students interested in applying to the department, please contact Wynne Leung at (604) 827-3289 or by email wynne.leung@ubc.ca. Please also see the department’s website www.apt.ubc.ca.
Selected Recent Publications
Thompson JT, Borgland SL. Presynaptic Leptin Action Suppresses Excitatory Synaptic Transmission onto Ventral Tegmental Area Dopamine Neurons. Biological Psychiatry. 2013
Boyda HN, Procyshyn RM, Pang CC, Hawkes E, Wong D, Jin CH, Honer WG, Barr AM. Metabolic side-effects of the novel second-generation antipsychotic drugs asenapine and iloperidone: a comparison with olanzapine. PLoS One. 2013;8(1):e53459
Whitehead RA, Puil E, Ries CR, Schwarz SK, Wall RA, Cooke JE, Putrenko I, Sallam NA, MacLeod BA. GABA(B) receptor-mediated selective peripheral analgesia by the non-proteinogenic amino acid, isovaline. Neuroscience. 2012. 2012 Jun 28;213:154-60
Rivera-Acevedo RE, Pless SA, Schwarz SK, Ahern CA. Extracellular quaternary ammonium blockade of transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 channels expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Molecular Pharmacology. 2012 Dec;82(6):1129-35.
Leung C, Shaheen F, Bernatchez P, Hackett TL. Expression of myoferlin in human airway epithelium and its role in cell adhesion and zonula occludens-1 expression. PLoS One. 2012;7(7):e40478.
Student Profiles
Heidi Noel Boyda is currently finishing her doctoral degree under the supervision of Dr. Alasdair Barr. Since joining the Barr laboratory in 2008, her primary research interests have focused on the adverse side effects associated with different antipsychotic medications. In particular, her thesis examined preclinical models of both acute and chronic effects of antipsychotic drugs on glucose homeostasis, and importantly, identified peripheral catecholamines as potential mediators of antipsychotic drug-induced glucose dysregulation. She received a B.Sc. with distinction in Pharmacology at the University of Alberta. Heidi holds numerous provincial and federal research awards including the Dr. Lionel McLeod Health Research Scholarship and the Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canadian Institute of Health Research doctoral award. Outside the lab, Heidi actively volunteers for a number of organizations including the Vancouver Street Soccer initiative, where she assists the organizers during practices, tournaments and collecting clinical research. She has a keen interest in the field of psychiatry and hopes to become more involved in this area in the future.
Corey Baimel is a doctoral candidate in his 3rd year of study with Dr. Stephanie Borgland. His primary research interests are focused on the effects of addictive drugs on reward related brain areas. His most recent project examines the role of the neuropeptide orexin in morphine-induced synaptic plasticity of dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area. To complete his thesis, he will use optogenetic techniques to look at the effects of endogenous orexin release in the ventral tegmental area. Corey graduated with a B.Sc. with great distinction in Physiology from McGill University. He has received a number of research awards including a Frederick Banting and Charles Best CIHR Master’s Award and a Brain Canada Mental Health Research Training Award. Outside of the laboratory, Corey enjoys travelling and is an avid skier, hockey player and cyclist.
Stephanie Sellers is a 2nd year PhD student working with Dr. Pascal Bernatchez at the James Hogg Research Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital. Stephanie’s research project centers on Marfan syndrome, a cardiovascular disease with pulmonary complications resulting from a mutation in the Fibrillin-1 gene. She aims to confirm the mechanism of action of Losartan, a selective blocker of angiotensin receptor type 1, and the current drug of choice for the treatment of Marfan syndrome. This work will allow for a greater understanding of Marfan syndrome and will reveal the full therapeutic potential of complete angiotensin receptor type 1 blockade in Marfan syndrome. Stephanie completed her B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and her M.Sc. in Vascular Biology and Immunology from the University of Northern BC. She has received numerous awards and scholarships including a CIHR Doctoral Fellowship and a Jean Francois Bowden Cardiovascular Research Award. Aside from the laboratory, Stephanie volunteers with a number of organizations and is a co-organizer for the 2013 Hoedown for Hearts, an annual fundraiser hosted by the James Hogg Research Center to raise funds for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.