Nine UBC Faculty of Medicine researchers are among the 2025 cohort of Michael Smith Health Research BC scholars and health professional-investigators awarded new funding to advance transformational health research.
The funding, announced today by Health Research BC, helps scientists and health professionals study pressing health challenges, develop innovative treatments and translate their findings into practice to benefit people across B.C.
The Faculty of Medicine recipients will address key topics including precision medicine, youth mental health services, telehealth, Parkinson’s, chronic kidney disease and more.
A total of 13 health researchers at UBC were awarded funding through the 2025 Health Research BC competitions.
The Scholar program supports early career health researchers, helping them form their own research teams, train the next generation of scientists and develop world-leading research programs. The Health Professional-Investigator (HP-I) program supports health professionals who are actively involved in patient care to build their health research programs, train the next generation of scientists and make significant contributions to their field.
Faculty of Medicine Recipients
Scholar Awards
Kirsten Marchand, School of Population and Public Health
Project: Examining the individual, community, and system-level impacts of innovative mental health and substance use services for youth in British Columbia: a multi-methods research program
Host Institution: UBC
Research Location: Foundry, UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, UBC – Vancouver Campus
Health Professional-Investigator Awards
Sara Belga, Medicine
Project: Immune Monitoring to Predict Risk of Clinically Significant CMV Events after Solid Organ Transplantation (The Predict-CMV SOT Study)
Host Institution: Vancouver Coastal Health
Research Location: Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
Jason Chan, Medicine
Project: Dynamic functional brain imaging of the motor and cognitive effects of dopaminergic medications in patients with Parkinson’s disease
Host Institution: Fraser Health Authority
Research Location: Fraser Health Authority, SFU ImageTech Lab
Mark Elliott, Medicine
Project: Integrating Genetics Care in Nephrology to Study and Empower Precision Medicine
Host Institution: UBC
Research Location: St. Paul’s Hospital
Reza Rafizadeh, Psychiatry
Project: Addressing the Crisis: Developing Evidence-Based Treatment for Individuals with Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders and Psychosis in BC
Host Institution: Provincial Health Services Authority
Research Location: BC Mental Health & Substance Use Services (BCMHSUS)
Jenna-Lynn Senger, Surgery
Project: Acute intermittent hypoxia as a treatment of diabetic-induced sensory neuropathy, wound healing deficits, and motor system decline
Host Institution: UBC
Research Location: International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD)
Patrick Tang, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Project: Clinical Genomics for Enhanced Infectious Disease Diagnosis
Host Institution: UBC
Research Location: St. Paul’s Hospital
Karen Tran, Medicine
Project: Tele health for Emergency-Community Continuity of Care Connectivity via Home Telemonitoring Blood Pressure (TEC4HOME-BP)-a Randomized Controlled Trial
Host Institution: UBC
Research Location: Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute
Michelle Wong, Medicine
Project: Interactions between nutritional status, gut microbiota, and metabolomic profiles in patients with chronic kidney disease
Host Institution: UBC
Research Location: BC Provincial Renal Agency, UBC