Province announces support for research infrastructure through BCKDF

Today, the Government of BC announced new funding through the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund to support research infrastructure and foster innovation in our province. 

Featured in the announcement, at the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Advanced Therapeutics Manufacturing Facility at UBC, are projects associated with Canada’s Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub (CIEBH), a UBC-led national research hub with more than 60 academic, industry, not-for-profit and health sector partners that aims to accelerate drug development through advanced research, talent development, biomanufacturing for clinical trials and commercialization of treatments in Canada.

Three of the four projects associated with CIEBH are being led by UBC researchers and were awarded more than $32 million:

• Canada’s Immuno-Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub Advanced Therapeutics Manufacturing Facility (ATMF) 
  Lead Researcher: Megan Levings (Surgery; School of Biomedical Engineering, UBCV)
• PROGENITER: Pathogen Response Optimization by GENeratIng ThErapeutics Rationally
  Lead Researcher: Sriram Subramaniam (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Gobind Khorana Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Precision Cancer Drug Design, UBCV)
• AVENGER: Advanced LNP RNA Vaccines Engineered with Next-Generation designs to Enhance Pandemic Readiness
  Lead Researchers: Pieter Cullis (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UBCV) and Anna Blakney (Michael Smith Laboratories; School of Biomedical Engineering, UBCV)

A further 71 UBC-led projects, in areas including life sciences, clean tech, natural resources and agrifoods, are being supported through BCKDF and receiving an investment of $15.4 million.

This funding is part of the Province’s Look West plan for jobs and industry, which outlines B.C.’s vision to deliver jobs and opportunities by strengthening the workforce to develop a more independent economy that can stand on its own. This includes delivering major projects quicker, diversifying markets and growing targeted sectors, such as technology, aerospace, marine, AI and quantum, life sciences, agriculture and construction innovation.

Read the Government of BC announcement

UBC Links and Features

UBC-led projects

• Abdelrahman, Khaled (Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, & Therapeutics, UBCV)
  The role of GPCRs in Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology 
   
• Alaica, Aleksa (Anthropology, UBCV)
  Multispecies Archaeology Laboratory (MSAL)
   
• Amini, Kiana (Materials Engineering, UBCV)
  Advancing Redox Flow Battery Technology and Electrochemical Carbon Capture: A Parallel Development Approach 
   
• Beck, Sara (Civil Engineering, UBCV)
  Microbial and Chemical Contaminant Removal in Decentralised Water Treatment Systems 
   
• Bouchard, Katrina (Obstetrics & Gynaecology, UBCV)
  Psychology, Health, and Sexuality Laboratory (PHaSe Lab) 
   
• Bradbury, Hal (Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, UBCV)
  Stable isotope laboratory for carbon cycle and climate research  
   
• Cardinal-McTeague, Warren (Forest and Conservation Sciences, UBCV)
  Indigenous Relationships with Land and Ecosystem Health 
   
• Chen, Carol (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UBCV)
  Identifying Disease Drivers of Lethal Brain Cancer 
   
• Chen, Qian (School of Engineering, UBCO)
  Digital Integration for Robotic Fabrication in Construction (DIRFIC to facilitate rapid affordable housing in Canada 
   
• Cheng, Miffy Hok Yan (Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBCV)
  The Lipid Nanoparticle-Enabled Gene Delivery (LEGenD lab: A frontier for next generation nanomedicine 
   
• Danielle Ongchoco, Joan (Psychology, UBCV)
  An Integrative Approach towards Understanding Intelligence: Bridging the ‘Seeing’ versus ‘Thinking’ Divide 
   
• Desjardins, Adrien (Mechanical Engineering; Electrical & Computer Engineering, UBCV)
  Foundational Infrastructure for Marine Robotics 
   
• Ding, Jiarui (Computer Science, UBCV)
  A platform for integrative analysis of single-cell genomics data to study tissue biology and diseases 
   
• Dubosq, Renelle (Earth and Environmental Sciences, UBCO)
  From nano to tectonic: A center for nanogeology research 
   
• Feng, Haibo (Wood Science, UBCV)
  Infrastructure for innovative building materials and systems toward zero carbon buildings 
   
• Finbloom, Joel (Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBCV)
  Microscopy Suite for High-Throughput and High-Resolution Analysis of Microbe-Interfacing Nanomaterials 
   
• Fischer, Monika (Botany, UBCV)
  Fire Fungi Ecology & Genetics Lab 
   
• Gao, Zu-hua (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBCV)
  Hydrogel-based adhesive artificial mucosa (HAAM: a novel versatile platform for cancer therapy and prevention 
   
• Gaynor, Kaitlyn (Zoology, UBCV)
  Facility for the study of People-Predator-Prey Interactions (P3I) 
   
• Graf, Daniel (Dentistry, UBCV)
  High-resolution, low-irradiation in vivo micro-CT scanner 
   
• Grenz, Jennifer (Forest Resources Management, UBCV)
  Relational Restoration After Climate Event Unit 
   
• Grieneisen, Laura (Biology, UBCO)
  Wild Animal Microbiomes & Stress (WAMS) 
   
• Hariri, Amani (Chemistry, UBCV)
  Advancing DNA-based Nanoswitches Using Single Molecule Fluorescence Methods: Towards Precision Detection and Delivery 
   
• Hein, Jason (Chemistry, UBCV)
  An Autonomous Robotic Platform for Process Chemical Manufacturing and Development 
   
• Hilton, Brett (Cellular & Physiological Sciences, UBCV)
  Development of the spinal cord injury connectomics laboratory 
   
• Hoiland, Ryan (Cellular & Physiological Sciences; Southern Medical Program, UBCO)
  The Translational Acute Brain Injury Laboratory 
   
• Hudson, Zachary (Chemistry, UBCV)
  Preparation and Characterization of Advanced Materials for Optoelectronics 
   
• Ielpi, Alessandro (Earth and Environmental Sciences, UBCO)
  Development of river survey capability for assessment of fluxes of sediment and organic-carbon across watersheds 
   
• Islam, Muhammad Hashim (School of Health and Exercise Sciences, UBCO)
  Real time assessment of metabolism in distinct human cell types across the health-disease continuum 
   
• John Peter, Arun (Cellular & Physiological Sciences, UBCV)
  Deciphering the mechanisms of organelle-specific lipid homeostasis 
   
• Joshi, Jaya (Wood Science, UBCV)
  Enzyme Evolution for Food, Fuel, and Feedstock 
   
• Kaigala, Govind (School of Biomedical Engineering, UBCV)
  Tissue microprocessing platform: Technologies to unravel heterogeneous interactions in Cancer 
   
• Karsan, Aly (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBCV)
  Overcoming Therapy Resistance in Leukemia 
   
• Kim, Hyosub (School of Kinesiology, UBCV)
  Computational Sensorimotor Learning (CSL Lab) 
   
• King, Kayla (Zoology; Microbiology and Immunology, UBCV)
  Laboratory for Experimental Evolution of Pathogens (LEEP) 
   
• Kontogiorgos, Vassilis (Food, Nutrition and Health, UBCV)
  Functional Food Colloids Laboratory 
   
• Krentz, Nicole (Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBCV)
  Functional Impact of Variants in Diabetes 
   
• Kuhn, McKenzie (Geography, UBCV)
  Advanced infrastructure for studying greenhouse gas cycling in under-represented Arctic-boreal ecosystems 
   
• Kunimoto, Michelle (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV)
  High-Performance Computing Infrastructure for Exoplanet Discovery and Demographics 
   
• Lees, Eric (Chemical and Biological Engineering, UBCV)
  Electrification of chemical manufacturing and separations 
   
• Li, Xiaoxiao (Electrical and Computer Engineering, UBCV)
  Building a Decentralized Future with Foundation Models: Continual Learning and Monitoring at the Edge 
   
• Li, Minghao (Wood Science, UBCV)
  Developing laminated engineered wood products using recycled wood 
   
• Liao-McPherson, Dominic (Mechanical Engineering, UBCV)
  Safe cooperation and co-existence for multi-agent robotic systems 
   
• Lim, Emilia (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UBCV)
  Environmental Oncogenomics  
   
• Lunken, Genelle (Pediatrics, UBCV)
  Nutrition and Microbiome Precision (N&M Precision Health Lab)
   
• Marra, Marco (Medical Genetics; Michael Smith Laboratories, UBCV)
  Multi-omic Analysis of Treatment Resistance and Cancer Heterogeneity (MATCH) 
   
• Mikami, Amori (Psychology, UBCV)
  Encouraging Peers’ Social Inclusion of Children with ADHD 
   
• Moore, Alex (Forest and Conservation Sciences; Botany, UBCV)
  Coastal Wetland Ecology and Restoration 
   
• Oldani, Graziano (Surgery, UBCV)
  Immune Suppression-Free Xenotransplantation  
   
• Paradis, Gregory (Forest Resources Management, UBCV)
  Cumulative effects of Climate Change, Anthropogenic and Natural Disturbances on forest Ecosystem Services (CCCANDiES) 
   
• Rodriguez-Perez, Gema (Computer Science, UBCO)
  A core technology to improve EDI in collaborative environments 
   
• S.M. Tsang, Teresa (Medicine, UBCV)
  Transforming Heart Failure: Integrated Network Redesigned for Improved Outcomes (TOHFINO: An AI-Empowered Paradigm) 
   
• Sagan, Selena (Microbiology and Immunology, UBCV)
  Mechanisms of viral replication organelle biogenesis 
   
• Salfi, Joseph (Electrical and Computer Engineering, UBCV)
  Quantum Computation and Networks with Spins 
   
• Scholes, Rachel (Civil Engineering, UBCV)
  Stormwater infrastructure for treatment of emerging trace organic contaminants 
   
• Schummers, Laura (Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBCV)
  Enhancing Reproductive Population Health Research Through Novel Database Development: Building Big Data Infrastructure 
   
• Shahriari, Dena (Orthopaedics; School of Biomedical Engineering, UBCV)
  Implantable smart biomaterials and sensors 
   
• Shwartz, Vered (Computer Science, UBCV)
  Hardware and Storage for Natural Language Processing Research with Large Language Models 
   
• Somasekharan, Syam (Urologic Sciences, UBCV)
  Advanced RNA Translatome Profiling Facility to Identify Therapeutic Targets and Biomarkers for Prostate Cancer (ART-PC) 
   
• Stairs, Ingrid (Physics & Astronomy, UBCV)
  Pulsars and Gravitational Waves: A New Window to the Extreme Universe 
   
• Steif, Adi (Medical Genetics, UBCV)
  Single cell analysis of chromosomal instability in cancer using machine learning 
   
• Sun, Jim (Microbiology and Immunology, UBCV)
  Tackling Antibiotic Resistance Generation and Establishing Test Surveillance for TB (TARGETS for TB) 
   
• Tavasoli, Alexandra (Mechanical Engineering, UBCV)
  Engineering Solar-Driven Industrial Chemical Processes for the Net Zero Economy 
   
• Todesco, Marco (Michael Smith Laboratories; Botany, UBCV)
  Plant Diversity, Adaptation and Bioengineering (PDAB lab) 
   
• van Heusden, Klaske (School of Engineering, UBCO)
  Data-driven control for safety-critical applications 
   
• Wei, Kevin (Zoology, UBCV)
  Dissecting the genomic impact of transposable element with the High-throughput Genome Conflict Lab 
   
• Wellington, Cheryl (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, UBCV)
  Facility for Neurology Fluid Biomarker Innovation 
   
• Wen, Kefei (Mechanical Engineering, UBCV)
  Synthesis, Simulation, and Validation of an Advanced Macro-Mini Robotic System 
   
• Wiesner, Felix (Wood Science, UBCV)
  Establishing the Fire Resilience and Wood Ignition Safety Evaluation (FIREWISE Laboratory) 
   
• Yang, Tianxi (Land and Food Systems, UBCV)
  Advanced Raman and optical imaging platforms for agrifood safety and sustainability 
   
• Zhu, Jian (Linguistics, UBCV)
  Computational social science at SLIME-Lab
   
• Zou, Zhengbo (Civil Engineering, UBCV)
  Emotionally Intelligent Construction Robots