Dr. Cox awarded the 2021 UBC Killam Teaching Prize
We are delighted to announce that Dr. Michael Cox is the recipient of a 2021 UBC Killam Teaching Prize. The Killam Teaching Prize is awarded annually to faculty nominated by students, colleagues and alumni in recognition of excellence in teaching. The Killam Teaching Prize is adjudicated within each Faculty, and within the Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic.
Dr.Cox is a renowned member of the UBC Faculty of Medicine’s graduate teaching community. He is an associate professor in the Department of Urologic Sciences. Dr.Cox was one of the earliest recruits to the Vancouver Prostate Centre, coming from the University of Virginia as a rising star in prostate cancer research, with expertise in molecular biology and signal transduction.
Dr.Cox is the Head of Graduate Training in the Dept. of Urologic Sciences serving to provide mentorship to students and faculty alike. He has lead several nationally funded training grants that have helped grow an interdisciplinary program of over 100 undergraduate, Master’s and Doctoral students. He has overseen the weekly Vancouver Prostate Centre’s Terry Fox Research Rounds since inception.
Dr. Cox served for 15 years on the Executive Committee for the Experimental Medicine program and has directed and taught MEDI 501 and 502 continuously since joining the program. He has also taught in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Interdisciplinary Oncology, Surgery and Genetics courses. In parallel to this extensive teaching service, Dr.Cox has directly supervised 25 postdoctoral, clinical fellows, Masters’ and Doctoral Students through his affiliations UBC, Simon Fraser University, and the University of Virginia, all of whom have gone on to pursue notable clinical, academia, and the private sector careers.
In recognition of his excellence in teaching, below are quotes from Dr. Cox’s colleagues and students.
“We have both worked closely with Dr. Cox over the past 20 years and have seen how he has dedicated his life to the field of discovery science, with a devotion to education of new scientists interested in a career in cancer research.”
– Dr Martin Gleave, Director, Vancouver Prostate Centre, and Dr. Vince Duronio, Director of Experimental Medicine 2008-2018
“Dr.Cox continuously demonstrates the importance of being open minded and critical thinkings. He is sought after as the most enthusiastic and inspiring PI at the VPC.”
– Dr. YZ Wang, Professor, Department of Urological Sciences, UBC
“The organization of course like this with sometimes over 40 students doing multiple lab rotations across the university and tracking their progress in those host laboratories is no small task.Mikewas able to make it a smooth process for all the trainees so they can focus on expanding their experimental repertoire. To this day (7 years later), I still use the technique I learned during my rotation and I have been able to teach it to many of my colleagues since then.”
– Dr. Daksh Thaper, first year graduate student in MEDI 502
“Mike’s passion for “training thinkers” is infectious and his enthusiastic engagement with students and trainees at all levels is unparalleled.”
– Dr. Laura Sly, Associate Dean, Academic, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, UBC
Not only is Dr.Cox committed to education for scientists, but he is also a major advocate for patients and patient support groups. He is the Vancouver Prostate Centre representative as an outreach into various support groups across British Columbia and the nation, helping to interact with patients and lay community regarding the importance of research in furthering the development of new knowledge and treatments for cancer.
Dr.Cox’s passion, devotion and commitment to scientific research and education is unparalleled. He is most worthy of this UBC Killam Teaching Prize. The list of previous Killam, teaching + service winners can be found here. UBC's May 14, 2021 announcement of awardees is here.