Three UBC Applied Science experts announced as Canada Research Chairs
Three researchers from the UBC Faculty of Applied Science have been named or reappointed as Canada Research Chairs. They are among the fourteen chairholders from UBC announced on October 22, 2025.
The Canada Research Chairs program awards up to $311 million annually to support research excellence in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities and social sciences. UBC received an investment of $11.1 million in this round of appointments.
Dr. Purang Abolmaesumi, professor in the Department of Computer and Electrical Engineering, was named a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Biomedical Engineering. His research investigates medical image analysis, image-guided diagnosis and interventions and machine learning. Dr. Abolmaesumi also received funding through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) for his work in AI-driven ultrasound for cardiovascular and cancer diagnostics.
School of Biomedical Engineering Professor and Director of Research Dr. Nozomu Yachie renewed his Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Synthetic Biology. His lab is developing technologies that enable high-resolution molecular and cellular information from multicellular organisms to be progressively stored in cell-embedded “DNA tapes”, allowing for the readout of historical information through DNA sequencing.
Dr. Martino Tran, associate professor in the School of Community and Regional Planning, also renewed his Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Computational Urban Science and Planning. Through his Urban Predictive Analytics Lab, Dr. Tran combines computational methods, data science and theory to model, analyze and simulate the connections between infrastructure, people and the environment.
Tier 1 Chairs are tenable for seven years and receive $200,000 annually. Tier 2 Chairs, given to emerging researchers, are for five years and receive $100,000 annually. This round of appointments named 259 chairholders at 51 institutions across the country.
