UBC Pharmaceutical Sciences Building

The new $133.3-million UBC Pharmaceutical Sciences Building, scheduled to open in 2012, will significantly expand the UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences’ capacity for learning and discovery. View the B.C. Government’s announcement here.

The new building space will allow the professional pharmacy degree program to expand 47 per cent in enrolment. An additional 72 students will be able to start the program by 2011 for a total of up to 224 new pharmacists by 2015. The faculty’s Masters, Doctoral and Pharm.D. graduate programs will also expand during the same period and the building will provide space for 896 professional practice degree students.

The 22,871-square-metre building will be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification and feature five acres of floor space that will house research and teaching spaces, as well as the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD). The Faculty and CDRD’s proximity will enable students to participate in pharmaceutical research and learn in an environment of innovation and discovery.

Download illustrations of the building here.

About the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, established in 1946, is internationally recognized for excellence and innovation in education. Researchers are among the world’s leading minds in the pharmaceutical sciences, engaging in multidisciplinary and collaborative projects that contribute to improving the health of British Columbians and the world.

UBC’s Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy program currently produces more than 600 pharmacists each year for community and hospital pharmacies throughout B.C. The UBC Doctor of Pharmacy program, a two-year post-graduate program, prepares advanced clinical pharmacy specialists to join patient-care teams throughout B.C. and beyond.

In 1981, the Faculty created Canada’s first Community Pharmacy Residency Program, which enables graduates to spend a year of community-based pharmaceutical care in such areas as palliative care, diabetes, asthma and other chronic diseases. Past residents are now medication management pharmacists in pain clinics, pharmacy instructors at colleges and universities and as specialists in geriatric pharmacy with B.C. health authorities.

Faculty highlights:

  • More than 4,000 alumni
  • Nearly 40 full-time academic faculty and more than 100 clinical instructors
  • First in Canada last year for external research funding
  • Undergraduate enrolment is one of the highest among Canada’s 10 pharmacy faculties
  • UBC’s Doctor of Pharmacy program was Canada’s first to produce more than 100 graduates

Recent research highlights:

Amphotericin B: A new oral formulation of a drug developed by Prof. Kishor Wasan could positively impact the more than 1.5 million people worldwide affected by visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a parasitic disease typically transmitted by sand flies in areas with poor sanitation conditions.

Amphotericin B is the first drug licensed under UBC’s Global Access Initiative, which works with industry to provide the drug at subsidized costs to developing countries. An estimated 60,000 people die from VL each year.

Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Collaboration (CORE): This multidisciplinary collaboration of epidemiologists, health economists, clinical pharmacists and health promotion and services researchers addresses the need for clinical and economic research and education in pharmaceutical outcomes.
Led by Profs. Carlo Marra and Larry Lynd, CORE researchers have completed clinical and policy relevant research in rheumatology, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases, diabetes, diagnostic testing and screening to achieve the overall mission of improving health-related outcomes associated with drug therapy.

About the Centre for Drug Research and Development

The Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) provides drug-development expertise and facilities to enable researchers from B.C.’s research universities and associated institutions to bridge the commercialization gap between academic discoveries in the life sciences and the development of new medicines.

Since its launch in 2007, CDRD’s unique academic-industry model has attracted over $70 million in funding from government and industry partners, which has enabled the creation of research facilities equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation operated by highly qualified personnel at based at UBC, SFU and the B.C. Cancer Agency.

Contact

Brian Lin
UBC Public Affairs
Tel: 604.822.2234
Cell: 604.818.5685
E-mail: brian.lin@ubc.ca