About
Brian Rodrigues is a Professor in the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia (UBC), serving on major grant review panels including the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Canadian Diabetes Foundation, CIHR, and Pfizer Cardiovascular Awards.
Dr. Rodrigues obtained his academic foundation at UBC after arriving in Canada in 1983:
- Master's in Pharmacology, University of British Columbia
- PhD in Pharmacology, University of British Columbia
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Calgary
His research centers on diabetic cardiomyopathy and cardiac metabolism, investigating how diabetes forces the heart to exclusively use fats for energy and how this metabolic shift causes cardiac dysfunction. The lab employs multidisciplinary approaches spanning physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, and molecular biology across in vivo to in vitro diabetes models.
Dr. Rodrigues' teaching excellence has been recognized with:
- Award for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Teaching (Bristol-Myers Squibb, 2005)
- Award for Excellence in Pharmaceutical Teaching (Bristol-Myers Squibb, 2007)
- Killiam Teaching Award (University of British Columbia, 2004)
He actively mentors graduate students, having graduated nine PhD candidates in the past five years (now at Harvard, Yale, NIH, and University of Toronto) while currently supervising three PhD students. His research is funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of BC & Yukon (HSFBC&Y), Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA), Pfizer, and CIHR.
The Rodrigues Lab at UBC focuses on identifying novel therapeutic targets to prevent diabetes-induced heart failure through metabolic pathway analysis.
