Increasing the Impact of Biomedical Research at Universities on Global Health

Saturday, March 7, 2009 at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at UBC Main Campus

10:00-10:20am, in Room 461.

An oral presentation to discuss the role of publicly funded research universities in making lifesaving medicines affordable and accessible to people living in the developing world.

Featuring UBC-UAEM members Goldis Chami and Sonja Babovic, sponsored by Dr. Kishor Wasan from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Abstract:

Worldwide, 2 billion people lack access to existing essential medicines (1). As a result, over 10 million people die every year from treatable illnesses (2).

Publicly-funded research at universities plays a crucial role in developing essential pharmaceuticals. In the US, 15 of the 21 most important drugs introduced between 1965 and 1992 were developed using science derived from federally-funded research (3). There is therefore enormous potential for research conducted at universities to improve global health.

UBC’s University-Industry Liaison Office, in collaboration with Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, has adopted a set of principles for global access to UBC technologies (4), in accordance with the Trek 2010 Vision of conducting research to serve the people of BC, Canada, and the world (5). These principles aim to provide underprivileged populations affordable access to products of research carried out at UBC.

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1. Habiyambere V. Progress of WHO Member States in developing national drug policies and in revising essential drugs lists (WHO/DAP/98.7). World Health Organization: Geneva, 1998.

2. Equitable access to essential medicines: A framework for collective action. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2004. Available online at http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2004/WHO_EDM_2004.4.pdf

3. The benefits of medical research and the role of the NIH. United States Joint Economic Committee, 2000.

4. UBC University-Industry Liaison Office. Principles for global access to UBC technologies. Available at: http://www.uilo.ubc.ca/global.asp.

5. University of British Columbia. TREK 2010: UBC’s Vision. Available at: http://www.trek2000.ubc.ca/.

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Registration is encouraged but not mandatory: http://www.road.ubc.ca/index.php/main_site/submit2/

More Information: http://www.road.ubc.ca/index.php/main_site/share/C125/
Contact: info@ubc‐uaem.org