Francois Benard, Professor at The University of British Columbia and Senior Advisor, Life Sciences and Health Research to the Vice-President, Research and Innovation, shared on LinkedIn:
“I am excited to start a new role as Senior Advisor, Life Sciences and Health Research to the Vice President, Research and Innovation, at The University of British Columbia, after serving for 10 years as Associate Dean, Research and Senior Executive Director for the BC Cancer Research Institute.
My lab and clinical practice will continue to be hosted at BC Cancer.
I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the outstanding work of BC Cancer over the past decade.
Over a period in which total research funding increased from $68.5M in 2016/17 to $173M in 2025/26, a strong push for renewal also resulted in a net increase of 20 new labs/core investigators, 12 new Canada Research Chairs and 4 new endowed research chairs.
Some highlights include the formal designation of the BC Cancer Research Institute as a UBC Senate-approved research institute and the creation of a Department of Clinical Research, which opens up major growth opportunities in clinical research and investigator-initiated trials.
This would not have been possible without the generous and outstanding support of the BC Cancer Foundation and its donors, an amazing research administration team led by Karen Lemmen, and the hard work of all cancer researchers affiliated with BC Cancer.
The BCCRI is in good hands with Christian Steidl as interim Senior Executive Director and Associate Dean, Research pro tem.”
Read more articles about Clinical Research on OncoDaily.