UBC Department of Medicine GCRC 2023/2024 Funding Recipients

Thirty-eight research excellence clusters led by researchers on the Vancouver campus will be funded through the Research Excellence Clusters initiative in 2023/24. These clusters are inter-departmental networks of researchers at UBC who collectively represent leaders in a particular field of study.

The 38 Research Excellence Clusters funded in 2023/24 includes 15 clusters in the second year of their current award. Funding is awarded through Grants for Catalyzing Research Clusters (GCRC) competitions. Clusters are recognized as either established or emerging depending on multiple factors relating to their developmental stage and funding requirements.

Congratulations to the following UBC Department of Medicine members:

Established Clusters

Dr. Anita Palepu (General Internal Medicine), UBC Department Head and Cluster Lead for the Data Science and Health (DASH) Cluster, is bridging the gap between health system data and UBC’s data science and research infrastructure, embedding analytics and innovation within clinical medicine to improve health outcomes.

Emerging Clusters

Dr. Mypinder Sekhon (Critical Care Medicine) is the Cluster Lead for the CEREBRI Cluster. The Collaborative Entity for ceREBrovasculaR Ischemia (CEREBRI) is an emerging cluster comprised of multidisciplinary health professionals, clinician-scientists, health policy-makers, neuroscientists, UBC academic Faculty of Medicine Departments / Divisions as well as patient & family partners who are collectively focused on improving the clinical outcomes of British Columbians with diseases emanating from cerebral ischemia. The cluster will focus its main research themes on creating new and novel projects that are based upon forging breakthroughs in the diagnosis, management and understanding the pathophysiology of cerebral ischemia based diseases in humans.

Dr. Christopher Carlsten (Respiratory Medicine) is the Cluster Lead for the HEAL Cluster. The Climate Change Health Effects, Adaptation, and resiLience (HEAL) cluster is an interdisciplinary research excellence group that aims to understand the health effects of extreme weather events caused by climate change and develop adaptive solutions through an integrated knowledge translation lens.