New School of Biomedical Engineering to spark health innovation, partnership

At the heart of UBC’s Vancouver campus, construction crews are nearing completion of a new flagship facility that promises to ignite B.C.’s life sciences sector through discovery, innovation, learning and partnership.

The five-storey building is the purpose-built home of UBC’s School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) — UBC’s first inter-faculty school, and the first of its kind in Canada, established through a unique partnership between the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Applied Science.

Since its creation in 2017, SBME has been bridging the fields of medical science, biology and engineering to transform patient health and healthcare outcomes. From the development of next-generation therapeutics to point-of-care medical devices and implants, SBME students and researchers are driving lifesaving innovations in health care and fuelling the growth of B.C.’s burgeoning biotech sector.

“This building will be a cornerstone of B.C.’s life sciences sector, educating much needed biomedical engineering graduates to lead in biomedical research, innovation and translation with the goal of improving patient health in Canada and around the world,” says SBME director Dr. Peter Zandstra.

With the new facility, SBME’s fast-growing community — which includes more than 550 graduate and undergraduate students annually, 36 core faculty members and 45 industry partners — will have a central place to learn and innovate. The building consolidates classroom and lab spaces currently hosted in 24 buildings across campus and hospital partner sites.

The facility will feature classrooms and learning areas on the lower floors, with advanced research labs and shared infrastructure on the upper floors. Collaborative spaces will create opportunities for students, researchers, industry and hospital partners to solve health care challenges together. The new building will open up more incubator space in the Biomedical Research Centre for new UBC spinoff ventures that will accelerate the translation of biomedical research into real-world health applications.

Supported by a $25 million investment from the Government of B.C., the new SBME represents a leap forward in interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation in health care. By blurring the lines between traditional academic silos, industry and clinical teams, SBME is fostering strong collaborations that are making important advances in health care research — building a more innovative, equitable and inclusive health care system.

Located at the junction of University Boulevard and Health Sciences Boulevard, the building is strategically situated at the nexus point of the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Applied Science precincts, and in close proximity to the Biomedical Research Centre and other health sciences research facilities.

Construction began in Summer 2022 and the facility is expected to open its doors to students in early 2025.