Our history, 1949 to today

William Boyd

Dr. William Boyd (1885–1979) was a world-famous professor of pathology and author of numerous textbooks, brought in as the first Head of the Pathology Department at UBC when the medical school started in 1951. He brought with him a collection of specimens that formed the basis of the Museum Specimen Collections — still partly on display today — and the core of the material used to teach undergraduates and residents. His textbooks were legendary and their influence reached around the globe.

Harold E. Taylor

Dr. Taylor led the department through its formative expansion. In July 1959, UBC acquired its first electron microscope under his leadership — a landmark for research capacity in the young department.

William Lawrie Dunn

William Lawrie Dunn (1927–2019) was the guiding light in re-organizing the department's teaching programs. He spent countless hours with residents and students, personally preparing them for their arduous written and final oral exams — all in spite of a demanding schedule.

David F. Hardwick

The inimitable bow-tied David Hardwick (1934–2021), a graduate of UBC's fourth medical class, joined Pathology in 1965 and led it from 1976 to 1990. He took over the MD undergraduate pathology course in 1966, restructuring it into a program that ran for more than 30 years. His research spanned pediatric pathology, pathophysiology, clinical pathology and the economics of laboratory testing. The David F. Hardwick Pathology Learning Centre in the Diamond Health Care Centre bears his name. In 2001, UBC awarded him a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.

William H. Chase

Andrew Churg

Dr. Churg, a professor of pathology at UBC and pathologist at Vancouver General Hospital, is the author of more than 500 publications spanning all aspects of thoracic pathology. His laboratory has long focused on the effects of occupational and environmental agents on the lung, with major interests in malignant mesothelioma and interstitial lung disease.

Philip E. Reid

Philip Reid (b. 1936) held many titles across three decades in the department, from Assistant Professor to Professor to Acting Head. He is best known as the coordinator of the distance-format Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science (BMLSc) degree program and a founding member of the Mucin Club. His research focused on the epithelial glycoproteins of the normal and diseased intestine.

Bruce M. McManus

Bruce McManus (Order of British Columbia, 2019) led the department through the 1990s before becoming inaugural Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health. His investigative program focused on inflammatory diseases of the heart and blood vessels. He has co-authored over 380 peer-reviewed publications, edited four books, holds several patents and co-founded several diagnostics start-ups.

James E. Dimmick

A UBC alumnus (MD 1968), Dr. Dimmick joined the Faculty of Medicine as a Professor of Pathology in 1990 and served as Director of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at BC Children's Hospital from 1992. His interests centred on the health of the fetus, infant and child.

Richard G. Hegele

Dr. Hegele completed a PhD in Experimental Pathology at UBC and rose through the ranks to Professor, serving as Head 2005–2008 (Acting Head 2003–2004). He later chaired Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto and became Vice Dean, Research and Innovation in Toronto's Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

Gillian Lockitch

Dr. Lockitch enjoyed a 25-year career as a Medical Professor and dual-certified Specialist in Paediatrics and Medical Biochemistry. Her research focused on biochemistry, nutrition and genetics; she authored 57 peer-reviewed publications and 14 book chapters, and received the 1998 YWCA Woman of Distinction Award for Science and Technology.

James Cullen

Blake Gilks

Dr. Gilks is a Professor Emeritus and consultant pathologist at Vancouver General Hospital, site of the province's largest surgical oncology program. He leads a research program on gynecological cancers, co-founded OvCaRe (the multidisciplinary ovarian cancer team) and co-founded the Genetic Pathology Evaluation Centre, pioneering tissue-microarray technology to uncover novel cancer biomarkers.

Michael Allard

Dr. Allard led the department from 2009 to 2018 and is now Vice-Dean, Health Engagement in the Faculty of Medicine. His research focused on the heart's adaptation to exercise and hypertension, and later on assessing academic workload and integrating clinical and academic activities. He is a Principal Investigator in the James Hogg Research Centre and a cardiovascular pathologist at St. Paul's Hospital.

Donald Brooks

Dr. Brooks, a physical biochemist and Professor Emeritus in Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Chemistry, served UBC in senior research-leadership roles including Associate Vice President Research & International. He was one of five faculty who founded the UBC Centre for Blood Research. With over 150 publications and four US patents, he received the David Hardwick Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

Zu-hua Gao

Dr. Gao earned his MD from Qingdao Medical College and his PhD from Peking Union Medical College, with fellowship training at Johns Hopkins and the University of Chicago. He chaired Pathology at McGill University from 2012 to 2021 and has served as President of the Canadian Chairs of Pathology since 2019. A Fellow of both the Royal Society of Medicine (London) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, he leads the department's current strategic plan aligned with the Faculty's vision.