Biomedical

Chow H. Lee, PhD Dr. Chow Lee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Science and Management, at the University of Northern British Columbia. His RNA Cancer Research Group focuses on discovering and studying new mammalian enzymes that can destroy messenger RNAs and non-coding RNAs implicated in cancer. Dr. Lee is also a Research Scientist with the National Cancer Institute of Canada, and an Affiliate Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of British Columbia. He obtained his PhD from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.

Torsten Nielsen, PhD, MD, FRCPC Dr. Torsten Nielsen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and an Associate Member of the Department of Orthopedics at the University of British Columbia. Based at Vancouver General Hospital (Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute) and BC Cancer Agency, he is a Principal Investigator with the Genetic Pathology Evaluation Centre and an Associate Member of the Prostate Centre at VGH. Dr. Nielsen has led tissue microarray projects focusing on the confirmation and clinical correlation of results from gene expression profiling of breast cancer and sarcomas. He also directs a research program to develop systemic treatments for sarcomas, particularly synovial sarcoma, a malignancy most commonly occurring in the limbs of young adults. Dr. Nielsen is a graduate of the combined MD/PhD program at McGill University.

Dipankar Sen, PhD Dr. Dipankar Sen is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and the Department of Chemistry at Simon Fraser University. His research is in the areas of chemistry and biochemistry of DNA and RNA, with special regard to novel structural and functional properties for these nucleic acids. Two major areas of interest are: new catalytic activities for DNA and RNA, and control of ribozyme activity; and DNA nanotechnology and sensor development. Dr. Sen received his PhD from Yale University.

Bruce Verchere, PhD Dr. Bruce Verchere is a Professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia and an Investigator at the Child & Family Research Institute at Children's & Women's Health Centre of BC. His research focuses on understanding how pancreatic beta cells normally function, and why they are dysfunctional and die in type 1 and type 2 diabetes and following islet transplantation. The long-term goal of his research is to develop new therapeutics for enhancing beta cell survival and function in diabetes. Dr. Verchere received his PhD in Physiology from the University of British Columbia.

E. Paul Zehr, PhD RAC Chair Dr. E. Paul Zehr is an Associate Professor in the School of Physical Education at the University of Victoria. His main research focus is the neural control of human movement, with an emphasis on the role reflexes play in functional coordination of the limbs. The methodologies applied in Dr. Zehr’s research cross many boundaries, making use of techniques from neurophysiology, biomechanics, motor behavior and exercise physiology. Two major themes emerge from his research: interlimb coordination during movement and neuromuscular plasticity and motor recovery. Dr. Zehr obtained his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Alberta.

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Clinical

Samuel Aparicio, BM, BCh, MA, PhD

Michael Krausz, MD, PhD, FRCP Dr. Michael Krausz is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and LEEF Chair in Addiction Research at the University of British Columbia, cross-appointed to the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. His main research interests the field of addiction and concurrent disorders, e.g. psychosis and trauma and the use of psychotropic substances, severe physical illnesses and drug addiction and the effective treatment of such conditions. As clinical researcher he is especially interested to help to improve the situation of patients and their families. He was the founding Director of the Centre of Interdisciplinary Addiction Research at the University of Hamburg. In this position he was responsible for the German heroin trial and other European research projects such as the European Cocaine Project. He Editor-in-Chief of European Addiction Research and Suchttherapie, two well-established scientific journals. He is involved in numerous international research activities and organizations like the World Psychiatric Association (WPA).

Harvey Lui, MD, FRCPC Dr. Harvey Lui is the Head of the recently formed Department of Dermatology & Skin Science at the University of British Columbia. Since 1994, Dr. Lui has been the Medical Director of The Skin Care Centre, the Lions Laser Skin Centre and the Psoriasis & Phototherapy Clinic at Vancouver General Hospital. He is also the Director of the Canadian Institute of Health Research Skin Research Training Centre at UBC and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. His clinical and research activities include the BC Cancer Agency. Dr. Lui's research expertise is in photomedicine, lasers, tissue optics, pigmentary disorders, and psoriasis. He was a Clinical Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School. His teaching extends globally as a visiting Professor in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Massachusetts, Michigan, the Philippines, Colombia, Brazil, Singapore, China and South Korea.

Darlene Reid, PhD Darlene Reid is a Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of British Columbia. She is also the Coordinator of Research Graduate Programs in the School of Rehabilitation Sciences and Director of the Muscle Biophysics Laboratory at Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. Dr. Reid’s areas of research include exercise training, and skeletal muscle and respiratory physiology. A central theme of much of her research is exertion-induced skeletal muscle injury in animal and human models of physiologic and pathologic loading. Other aspects of her research have examined the benefit of different interventions in pulmonary rehabilitation, systematic reviews, and participation in knowledge translation. Dr. Reid obtained her PhD in Pathology from UBC.

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Health Services

Elliot Goldner, MD Dr. Elliot Goldner is a Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. His research focuses on the evaluation and improvement of quality in the Canadian healthcare system, with a focus on interventions for preventing and treating illness and disability in individuals with mental health problems and addictions. Dr. Goldner has led the development of performance measurement activities in addictions and mental health services in BC, and was selected by the Advisory Network on Mental Health and Health Canada to develop national resources for accountability and performance monitoring in mental health reform. Dr. Goldner received his MD from the University of Calgary. He completed specialty training in psychiatry at the University of British Columbia, where he also obtained a M.H.Sc. in Health Care and Epidemiology.

Jean-François Kozak, PhD Dr. Jean-François Kozak is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Care and Epidemiology at the University of British Columbia and Director of Research at the Centre for Healthy Aging at Providence Health Care. His research spans health care service evaluation and benchmarking, the evaluation of chronic disease management, and the development of adverse events surveillance systems. Dr. Kozak has taken a leading role in conducting research on aging, for which he received the Canadian Association on Gerontology award for Contribution to Canadian Gerontology in recognition of his work. Dr. Kozak received his PhD in Psychology from the University of British Columbia.

Stuart Peacock, MSc, PhD Dr. Peacock is a Senior Scientist and Director of the Centre for Health Economics in Cancer at the British Columbia Cancer Agency. He holds a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award and is a Faculty member of the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. His research interests include the economics of cancer and cancer genetics, priority setting methods, health-related quality of life, and health econometrics. He has published over 100 journal articles, book chapters and reports on health economics, and has co-authored a book titled Efficiency Measurement in Health and Health Care. Previously he held positions at Monash University (Australia) and the University of York (UK), where he obtained his doctorate. Stuart is a member the Standing Scientific Committee of the International Health Economics Association and is a consultant for the World Health Organization.

Pamela Ratner, PhD, RN, FCAHS Dr. Pamela Ratner is a Professor with the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia. She is also Co-Director of NEXUS: Researching the Social Contexts of Health Behaviour, and Co-Chair of the MSFHR BC Nursing Research Initiative. Her research focuses on a range of health promotion issues, particularly related to social and behavioural determinants of health. Dr. Ratner is noted for her expertise in latent variable modelling, and has applied the technique to tests of various health behaviour theories and measurement issues. She collaborates with many health scientists at UBC and across Canada, and has improved understanding of cardiovascular risk perception and reduction, treatment seeking for acute coronary syndromes, smoking cessation, and tobacco control. Dr. Ratner, who is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, received her PhD from the University of Alberta.

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Population Health