On July 11, 2023, the annual Life Sciences BC Awards were announced, celebrating numerous accomplishments and health innovation advancement. Open to individuals, companies and organizations involved in the human life sciences sector, recipients are peer-nominated, and selected by a committee of senior leaders from across the sector.
This year's recipients include the following UBC researchers and spinoff companies.
Companies of the Year
- Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc — UBC spinoff
Companies to Watch
- Gandeeva Therapeutics — UBC spinoff; founder: Dr. Sriram Subramaniam (Faculty of Medicine)
- ScopeSys — entrepreneurship@UBC venture; founder: Dr. Sabrina Leslie (Michael Smith Laboratories; Department of Physics and Astronomy)
- Sonic Incytes Medical Corp — UBC spinoff; member of HATCH Venture Builder; co-founders: Drs. Tim Salcudean and Robert Rohling (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering)
Individuals
- Milton Wong Community Leadership — Dr. Haig Farris (former UBC Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Applied Science)
- Scientific Entrepreneurship — Dr. Peter Zandstra (Michael Smith Laboratories, School of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Medical Genetics)
- Genome BC Scientific Excellence — Dr. Laura Arbour (Department of Medical Genetics, Island Medical Program)
The awarding institution, Life Sciences British Columbia, is a non-for-profit, non-government industry association that supports and represents the life science community of BC locally, nationally and internationally.
Recipients will be celebrated at the 25 Annual Life Sciences BC Awards Gala on September 14 at the Vancouver Convention Centre West.