UBC Nursing - Research Matters

$40M gift to UBC is the largest ever to a Canadian school of nursing

Historic $40M donation from UBC alumni Matthew and Natalie MacIsaac will strengthen nursing education, research and clinical learning to help prepare the next generation of nurses and healthcare leaders.

Marion Woodward Lecture & Panel Dialogue

Who is Healthcare Designed for?
Closing Gaps in Health Inequity Through Nursing Leadership

The MacIsaac School of Nursing at UBC is pleased to announce the 58th annual Marion Woodward Lecture on Thursday, October 8, 2026 @ 7pm PST.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Bukola Salami, Professor & Canada Research Chair in Black and Racialized Peoples' Health
PANELISTS: Dr. Bukola Salami, Dr. Colleen Varcoe, Dr. Lydia Wytenbroek, Dr. Scott Ramsay with moderator Dr. Sandra Lauck

REGISTRATION is open.

Discovery Research Program Fellowships

Congratulations to Dr. John Oliffe on being appointed as Movember’s Discovery Program Professorial Fellow for Canada.

He will provide supervision for three Discovery Program Postdoctoral Fellows at UBC, which is one of four universities to partner globally with Movember on the Discovery Research Program.

CFI JELF award

Congratulations to Dr. Scott Ramsay on receiving Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) funding for his project, Childhood Research on Overcoming Obstacles with Neurotrauma Van ($117,000). The research van is equipped with portable technology to track recovery following pediatric concussion - bringing specialized assessments to communities across BC.

WXN Canada's Most Powerful Women

Congratulations to Dr. Rachel Ollivier, nurse practitioner and adjunct professor in the MacIsaac School of Nursing at UBC, on receiving the WXN Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award in the professionals category.

Dr. Ollivier specializes in complex gynecology, women’s cardiovascular health, and menopause care. She is a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner and has helped develop the Menopause & Midlife Health Program at BC Women’s Hospital.

2026 MSHRBC Research Trainee

Congratulations to the Michael Smith Health Research BC Trainee awardees:

• Dr. Erika Ono (Supervisor: Dr. Jennifer Baumbusch) - Co-creating mental health care from the ground up with autistic, AuDHD, and ADHD women ($193,500)

• Dr. Jamie Forrest (Supervisor: Dr. Meaghan Thumath) - Institutional Readiness for AI Deployment in BC Clinical Trials: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Trust, Adoption, and Oversight Capacity

Through Their Lens: The Impact of Climate Change On Older Adults’ Mental Health

Join Dr. Jennifer Baumbusch’s team on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026 for the launch of this travelling exhibition, featuring photographs by older adults in British Columbia exploring how climate change impacts their mental health.

Registration is open.

Walking alongside Australian Aboriginal youth on Dunghutti Country

Join visiting scholar Teneale Lavender on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2026 who will share her work describing culturally grounded ‘ways of caring’ used to engage Aboriginal young people in alcohol and other drug prevention, harm minimisation and treatment. This visit is hosted by Dr. Trevor Goodyear.

Registration is open.

Rethinking Prevention

Join Dr. Emily Jenkins and postdoctoral fellow Dr. Tonje Molyneux in-person or online on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026 for their talk on Rethinking Prevention: A New Approach to Substance Use in Canadian Schools.

Registration is open.

Why might nursing need anarchism?

Join Dr. Helen Brown and graduate students Zoë Esseiva and Sarah Sutanto in-person or online on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026 for their Nursing Rounds talk on Why might nursing need anarchism?

Registration is open.

The Rockefeller Foundation’s global nursing intervention

Hosted by the UBC Consortium for Nursing History Inquiry on September 16th, the recording of visiting scholar Dr. Sioban Nelson’s fascinating lecture exploring Miss Chen’s trunk and the Rockefeller Foundation’s global influence on twentieth-century nursing education and public health is now available online.

Watch Recording

2026 Wellbeing Strategic Initiative Fund

Congratulations to Dr. Leanne Currie and team on securing a UBC Wellbeing Strategic Initiative Grant for the project, Indigenous Nursing Collective - Relational Wellness and Cultural Connection Series. The project includes student-led monthly gatherings such as Elder-led circles, cultural workshops, and land-based wellness activities. Students will be guided by Indigenous Elders, faculty, and alumni.

MEDIA COVERAGE

Two UBC alumni donate historic $40 million to university's nursing school
Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, director of the MacIsaac School of Nursing at UBC, says “this kind of philanthropy is complementary to what the government provides, and can help leverage innovation.”
Vancouver Sun

B.C. nurse helps families in Ebola-stricken Congo bury loved-ones with dignity
The CBC's Lien Yeung spoke with Canadian Red Cross public health delegate Dr. Meaghan Thumath who was in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
CBC News

Fastest-growing Ebola outbreak through the eyes of Canadian aid workers
When a person infected with Ebola dies, their body is still highly infectious, so a big part of Dr. Meaghan Thumath’s role with the Canadian Red Cross was to coordinate the logistics and training for safe and dignified burials done by local volunteers.
CP, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star

New UBC clinic to provide team-based care for up to 4,450 B.C. patients
Celebration of the newly named MacIsaac Health Building recognizes the MacIsaac family’s historic $40-million gift and showcases B.C.’s first team-based teaching clinic.
UBC News

PUBLICATIONS
* denotes UBC Nursing trainees & alumni

Canadian news media reporting on involuntary substance use treatment and its evidence, 2020-2025: "At the cutting edge of debate, science and policy"
International Journal of Drug Policy
Trevor Goodyear, Muhammad Mneina*, Jennifer Schlissel*, Viseth Long, B. Shaffer, Angela Russolillo, Emily Jenkins, A. Slemon, M. Gagnon, A. Greer

Mapping the evidence on racialized mothers’ postpartum mental health in Canada: A scoping review protocol
PLOS One
Saima Hirani, S. Balachandran, Rubee Dev, Kayoung Lee*, Michelle Carter*

Development of an ethical resolution process and education resources: supporting equity-focused public health ethics education through community-engaged research
BMC Medical Ethics
Drew B. A. Clark, Celeste Macevicius, Y. Gellert & A. Virani

Individualizing Care and Setting Realistic Expectations: How Clinicians Support Lactation Induction in Transgender, Two-Spirit, and Non-Binary People
Journal of Human Lactation
Caitlin Botkin*, Drew B. A. Clark, Helen Brown

Health Disparities, Inequalities and Inequities in Stroke Care: A Global Critical Integrative Review (1991–2024)
Journal of the American Heart Association
Ismália De Sousa*, Sally Thorne, Sandra Lauck, T.S. Field

Southern Dakelh youth experiences of wellness: Building strength across three First Nations communities in Canada
First Nations Health and Wellbeing - the Lowitja Journal
Veena Mudaliar*, June Baptiste, Sabrina T. Wong

HIV medication adherence in the migration and settlement journey: Experiences and perspectives of migrant women living with HIV
Social Science & Medicine
N. Maldonado-Rodriguez, P. Magagula, Kerry Marshall*, E. Bennett, Vicky Bungay, E. Puterman

Temporal aspects of walking in the neighbourhood for people living with dementia
Social Science & Medicine
H. Chaudhury, S. Hopper, Joey Oi Yee Wong*, K. Seetharaman, Lillian Hung, C. Randa-Beaulieu, J.Y. Cho

Nurses’ Perspectives on Cancer Care for People Who Experience Incarceration in British Columbia, Canada: Challenges and Opportunities
Canadian Journal of Nursing Research
M. Fisher, Leah K. Lambert, O. Petrovskaya, Helen Brown, & K. Stajduhar

Characteristics of youth reporting suicidal ideation in an integrated youth services initiative in British Columbia, Canada (2018-2023): a retrospective cohort study
BMC Pediatrics
K. Hastings, G. Liu, K. Marchand, A. Gadermann, J. Sutherland, Emily Jenkins, S. Barbic

How to cultivate equity-oriented health care at an organizational level: lessons from a process evaluation of EQUIP emergency
BMC Health Services Research
Colleen Varcoe, Annette J Browne, Vicky Bungay, N. Wathen, E. Wilson, David Byres, C. Stones, S. Dolan, A. Slemon, Aggie Black, Caitlyn Cater*, S. Comber, V. Smye, Elder Roberta Price