Committed to Research Excellence and Community Impact
Welcome to UBC’s Michael Smith Laboratories, where cutting-edge research and educational outreach converge to inspire creative ideas and experiments addressing society’s most pressing health and environmental needs.
Here at the Michael Smith Laboratories, we think and act differently. We collaborate with our diverse networks of peers, and encourage one another to overcome challenges and uncover innovative solutions to problems of societal importance. We believe that impactful research is catalyzed by a collaborative, interdisciplinary and supportive environment built around cutting-edge resources and tools. We use these approaches to bridge foundational, blue-sky research excellence with application and in so doing to drive biotechnology advances and real-world solutions to grand challenges. Together, we strive to make a difference.
Our success can be seen through the impact of our people, programs and research. With over 100 awards, countless high-impact publications, numerous biotechnology companies, outreach to thousands of elementary and high school students, and millions of dollars raised, the Michael Smith Laboratories is truly influential. Our research uncovers foundational new knowledge about the way our world works and translates these discoveries to the practical solutions and biotechnological approaches needed for our future. At the core of our work, we inspire and enable research excellence.
We are fortunate to attract some of the brightest stars in discovery oriented and applied research. Our graduate students, research fellows, and faculty have invested their time and effort to build this community into what it is today and to communicate our science to the broader world. Together, we have realized Michael Smith’s original vision by building on three guiding principles – research, education, and community relevance. Our outreach and science education efforts, centred at the Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory, connect this vision to communities throughout Canada and the world.
We are honoured to be a part of this unique organization and committed to fostering an environment that inspires the next generation of scientific leaders.
– Martin Hirst – Director
– Freda Miller – Deputy Director
– Dave Ng – Associate Director
