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BCBusiness + UBC Peter Zandstra was attracted to British Columbia from Ontario by a unique opportunity at the University of British Columbia—the opportunity to achieve the vision of a world where biology and technology work seamlessly to transform health and healthcare for everyone. When Zandstra joined UBC in 2017, he founded BC's first and...
Peter Zandstra was attracted to British Columbia from Ontario by a unique opportunity at the University of British Columbia—the opportunity to achieve the vision of a world where biology and technology work seamlessly to transform health and healthcare for everyone.
When Zandstra joined UBC in 2017, he founded BC’s first and only School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME@UBC) and set to work building a world-leading hub for cutting-edge biomedical engineering education, innovation and research to help bring new treatments to patients faster.
“British Columbia’s burgeoning biotech sector has leaped onto the world stage,” says Zandstra, director of SBME@UBC. “It’s an ecosystem where people, technologies, facilities and stakeholders from hospitals, universities and industry are coming together like never before. SBME@UBC is becoming the community home for this ecosystem and the place where the next generation of talent and technologies will emerge.”
Among the top stem cell researchers in Canada, Zandstra and his team pioneered the field of stem cell bioengineering, the scientific foundation to many emerging cellular therapies. By applying engineering principles to stem cell biology, Zandstra’s team develops cell-based therapies for leukemia and other blood diseases.
In less than five years at UBC, Zandstra has successfully brought together more than 80 faculty to form a talented and diverse community of teaching, research and clinical expertise to develop new ways to manage and treat long-standing medical challenges such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and spinal cord injury. These bioengineers work across biological scales—from molecular and cellular engineering to human systems physiology—to build interdisciplinary, tailor-made solutions to medical problems that previously could not be addressed using conventional approaches.
Zandstra’s next priority: to build a state-of-theart, purpose-designed home for SBME@UBC.
“Innovation only happens when we collaborate,” says Zandstra. “It requires bringing together the full breadth of our knowledge, technology and talent under one roof. Imagine a living lab—a fully creative environment without technological, scientific or academic boundary.”
With construction scheduled to start next year and the grand opening only two years away, philanthropic support is urgently needed to make this building a reality.
Community leaders like you have the opportunity to name spaces ranging from the building itself to the atrium, lecture theatres, teaching labs, design studios and core research facilities in the new building.
Your donation to UBC will directly support the construction of the new building for SBME@UBC—a launchpad for medical innovation that will transform healthcare and the economy of the future.
This is your chance to put your name on the future of medical innovation in British Columbia.
? PLEASE MAKE A GIFT TODAY.To help change the future of medicine, please contact Violetta Yan, associate director of development, at 604-822-8079 or violetta.yan@ubc.ca. ?
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