The LSI welcomes new member, Dr. Govind Kaigala, a new recruit from the UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) to his new lab within the Life Sciences Institute.
Dr. Kaigala will lead and encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration between scientists and research initiatives housed in these two integral pillars of the BC Life Sciences Community.
“We’re really excited for Dr. Kaigala’s arrival,” says SBME Director, Dr. Peter Zandstra, “both for the wonderful new insights and technologies he brings, and for his leadership and international perspective, which will only broaden SBME’s approach to transformative healthcare for all.”
“We are happy to welcome Dr. Kaigala to the Life Sciences Institute, where his interdisciplinary expertise in engineering and cell biology will fit perfectly with our vision to be an institute that transcends traditional disciplines to answer grand challenges in life science,” adds LSI Deputy Director Dr. James Johnson.
Dr. Kaigala joins UBC after spending the past 11 years as a scientist at IBM Research in Zurich, and leading a research team as principal investigator. His team’s research is focused on the development and enabling of technologies for healthcare and the life sciences and has led to the development of new concepts and devices like liquid scanning probes for manipulating biointerfaces such as cell surfaces and tissues.
Like many Biomedical Engineers, Dr. Kaigala came to the discipline from another specialization—Electrical Engineering. It was in his PhD at the University of Alberta that he began pursuing problems at the interface of engineering and medicine. Over the years, he made a steady transition from technology-centric device work to microscale assays and is now moving towards the creation of workflows for biomedical and clinical research that include data and image analysis.
“I am passionate about developing and translating medical technology for use in the real-world and hope to actively peruse these topics at UBC.”
– Dr. Govind Kaigala
“With my research team, colleagues, and collaborators, I intend to develop a problem-oriented research agenda on quantitative technologies for biology and medicine,” says Dr. Kaigala. “I am passionate about developing and translating medical technology for use in the real-world and hope to actively peruse these topics at UBC.”
For Dr. Kaigala, joining UBC feels a bit like a homecoming. “My training and first exposure to research was in Canada, and I fondly consider Canada as my home country. There’s also the pull of the UBC ecosystem. With its comprehensive vision for integrated health, SBME’s dynamic growth trajectory, the excellent research facilities, and many hospital and clinical partners, it’s the kind of environment in which great things occur. I’m keen to be a part of that and contribute to its growth.”
Dr. Kaigala concurrently joins the Vancouver Prostate Centre (VPC) as a Senior Research Scientist and at that site will run a laboratory on technology translation for multi-omic interrogation of tumors. This translational work will be supported by him also being appointed as an associated scientist to the Terry Fox Laboratory based in the BC Cancer Research Institute.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Govind Kaigala.
A version of this story by Miguel Eichelberger originally appeared on the SBME website.