Each year, the Faculty of Medicine recognizes faculty members who have made exceptional contributions in education, research or service—honouring those whose work is improving lives, advancing knowledge and making a meaningful difference to communities here and around the world.
Congratulations to the DMCBH members who received Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Awards for 2026.
Excellence in Clinical or Applied Research
Recognizes outstanding clinical or applied research and scholarly contributions.
Dr. Cembrowski is recognized for his pioneering contributions to neuroscience research, advancing our understanding of how the brain forms, stores and retrieves memories. He has developed and applied a transcriptomics-derived cell-type framework to functionally investigate and manipulate cell types in the brain. One key example of the power and insight of his approach is his lab’s discovery of “ovoid cells,” a previously unknown type of excitatory hippocampal neuron that plays a key role in non-spatial memory formation. Dr. Cembrowski has also demonstrated exceptional leadership in building innovative research infrastructure, including the UBC Genes, Cells and Circuits (UBC-GC2) platform, which is expanding researchers’ ability to study brain function across multiple scales.
Advancement of Equity, Diversity and Inclusiveness
Recognizes outstanding contributions in the area of equity, diversity and inclusion through research, teaching or service.
Dr. Laule is recognized for her contributions in advancing EDI, in particular for her leadership of seed2STEM, an innovative program that transforms reconciliation principles into action by creating culturally safe pathways for Indigenous youth to engage in STEM research. Together with ICORD communications and administrative manager Cheryl Niamath, she co-founded the program in 2018, providing Indigenous high school students with paid research internships in university and hospital laboratories, alongside comprehensive supports designed to remove barriers to participation, including transit, meals, technology access, mentorship and travel assistance. Through seed2STEM, Dr. Laule has helped create meaningful opportunities for Indigenous students to explore careers in science while fostering a more inclusive and representative research community.
Overall Excellence — Early Career
Recognizes outstanding contributions in the areas of research, education and service.
Dr. Selvanathan is recognized as an emerging leader in pediatric neuroscience. Her innovative research combines advanced neuroimaging and brain monitoring technologies to understand how early-life brain injury, clinical illness and social determinants of health shape neurodevelopment in infants and children at high risk for developmental disabilities. Through studies of conditions such as congenital heart disease and neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, Dr. Selvanathan is uncovering the biological and social factors that influence brain development from infancy through adolescence, with the goal of improving early diagnosis, prognostication and intervention.
Overall Excellence — Mid-Career
Recognizes outstanding contributions in the areas of research, education and service.
Dr. Pouladi is recognized as an outstanding leader in the field of neurogenetics and stem cell biology. His research harnesses cutting-edge stem cell, genome engineering and genomic technologies to better understand the cellular mechanisms underlying neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders, with a particular focus on fragile X syndrome and Huntington disease. By developing human stem cell-derived models of disease, Dr. Pouladi has created powerful new tools for studying how these conditions arise in the human brain and for identifying potential therapeutic targets. His work is helping to bridge the gap between fundamental discoveries and future treatments for some of the most challenging neurological disorders.
