Written by Jacqueline Tung, AMS Social Media Coordinator (Canada Summer Jobs 2026)
At 22, Jasmine Kaur Rehal is back at UBC as a sixth-year biophysics student — nearly three years after her university plans took an unexpected turn.
Diagnosed with cancer at 20, Rehal spent two years away from university undergoing treatment, unsure whether she would ever return.
In 2024, Rehal was studying in the Neville Scarf Library after a physics exam when she received a call from her family doctor telling her to go to the hospital.
Her symptoms had started months earlier. Rehal said she experienced gradually worsening pain for six to nine months, along with blood in her stool and irregular periods.
An ultrasound revealed pancreatic lesions and enlarged lymph nodes. Doctors later found a tennis-ball-sized tumor in her chest and a biopsy confirmed she had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), a fast-growing blood cancer that formed tumours in her pancreatic area and chest.
Four months into chemotherapy, the cancer spread to her brain and developed into central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma.
The diagnosis forced her to put her university studies and future plans on hold.
Being away from UBC was more than a medical leave from school. For Rehal, it meant watching the life she had once been part of continue without her.
“I felt like my life was breaking apart,” Rehal said. “My life’s not going to work out.”
Rehal said she kept much of what she was going through to herself and did not tell her friends about her diagnosis and treatment.
“I felt very alone and isolated…I also got very, very depressed,” she said.
For a time, she considered giving up on university altogether.
After treatment, including a stem cell transplant, Rehal began volunteering at Vancouver General Hospital, the same hospital where she had received treatment. There, a coordinator reminded her that she was still young and encouraged her to give her dreams another try.
She said his advice stayed with her.
Returning to UBC became more than going back to the degree she had left behind. It meant another chance to build a future she once wasn’t sure she would have.
She returned to UBC with a new goal: to study biophysics, better understand cancer and use what she learned from her own experience as a cancer survivor to help others.
“Cancer allowed me to see…there are so many treatment options,” she said.
Her experience as a patient eventually led her toward cancer research. During an eight-month co-op, Rehal worked on research involving hyperspectral imaging and lung cancer that was later featured in UBC Science’s Spotlight in Undergraduate Research.
She now works with a research team under Dr. JJ Nunez to develop an AI chatbot for cancer care. The chatbot is designed to help patients, survivors, caregivers and family members navigate cancer information by directing them to resources from reputable sources, including BC Cancer.
For Rehal, the motivation is personal.
“I wish I had a resource like that in my time,” she said.
Outside the lab, Rehal volunteers with Blood for Life at UBC, helping register potential stem-cell donors, and is involved with Relay with Life through the UBC Cancer Association.
She has also founded LinkUtoBC, an initiative focused on connecting B.C. students who have experienced significant adversity and reducing financial barriers to education.
Today, Rehal is continuing her studies in biophysics while working on cancer research and supporting others facing adversity.
“The only thing that pushed me was that I had one more chance,” she said.
For Rehal, taking that chance to return to UBC has meant finding a new way forward.
“Be scared but take it,” Rehal said. “That decision could be the pinnacle moment of so many opportunities.”
Jacqueline Tung is a student journalist with BCIT News and a Broadcast and Online Journalism student at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). She is a UBC alumna with a background in International Relations and Psychology. Originally from Hong Kong and now based in Vancouver, she is passionate about multimedia storytelling and covering human-centered stories, local voices and community issues.
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