Alvin Qiu

I was interested in the MD/PhD program because I wished to integrate a career in both clinical medicine and scientific discovery. Pursuing medicine allows me to make an immediate positive impact in the day-to-day lives of patients. Pursuing scientific research allows me to push the boundaries of knowledge and potentially change the way we treat diseases in the future. In the future, I aspire to conduct research that is driven by the patients I see in clinic, and hopefully improve health outcomes for them.

I was attracted to the cutting-edge research that is being conducted at UBC and BC Cancer. In addition, I remember that the upper-year MD/PhD students were so friendly and welcoming when I was an applicant interviewing at UBC. Finally, having grown up in Toronto and having previously studied in Montreal, this was a great way to experience life in another beautiful Canadian city – one surrounded by mountains and the ocean.

My PhD thesis focused on epigenetic changes in synovial sarcoma — an aggressive cancer that lacks targeted treatment and thus has a poor survival rate. Epigenetic changes are alterations to genetic material that do not alter the genetic code itself, but can change how genes are expressed; these genes can then drive cancer growth. I hope that my research will one day guide the use of emerging epigenetic therapeutic agents to treat this deadly disease.

Whistler! For the past several winters, I have been heading up to Whistler almost every week for the unbelievable skiing. In the summers, I have done a lot of hiking and camping in the region. Last year, I even got to do a month-long rotation in rural family medicine in Whistler. Altogether, it holds a special and magical place in my heart. I am always looking for more reasons to spend time there.