2018 UBC Health Award Recipients
Congratulations to the outstanding students, faculty, community partners, health educators and professionals receiving the 2018 UBC Health Awards. All award recipients will be honoured and formally presented with their awards at the annual UBC Health Awards Reception in May 2019.
Established in 2016 through an endowment by ImpactBC, these scholarships recognize outstanding students in a UBC health discipline who have completed a research or development project focusing on patient/client involvement in health care decision-making or in health professional education.
Five outstanding students are the proud recipients of the ImpactBC Scholarships in 2018.
Natasha Benson, third year student in the MD undergraduate program (UBC Faculty of Medicine) receives the ImpactBC Scholarship in Health Care Research and Development for her research on the evaluation of sickle cell disease education for mothers in the indigenous Tharu population of Nepal.
Kuljinder (Keesha) Khehra, second year student in the MD undergraduate program (UBC Faculty of Medicine) receives the ImpactBC Scholarship in Health Care Research and Development for her research on kidney transplant donors and recipients at the Department of Urologic Sciences at the Vancouver General Hospital.
Shahrzad Salmasi, first year student in the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Pharmacy program (UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences) receives the ImpactBC Scholarship in Health Care Research and Development for her research and development project focused on improving the educational components of atrial fibrillation decision aids.
Vivian Tsang, second year student in the MD undergraduate program (UBC Faculty of Medicine) receives the ImpactBC Scholarship in Health Care Research and Development for her research involving the KidsCan development project at the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute.
Enav Zusman, second year student in the Entry-to-Practice PharmD program (UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences) receives the ImpactBC Scholarship in Health Care Research and Development for her research involving the EmPhAsIS (Empowering Pharmacists in Asthma Management through Interactive SMS) research study.
Established through an endowment in memory of the late Jessie Gordon MacCarthy, long-term contributor to the development of the Health Sciences at UBC, this scholarship recognizes an outstanding student in the final year of any pre-licensure health science program who best combines academic excellence, demonstrated interest and leadership in the field of community health.
Ashley Vicente, fourth year student in the Bachelor of Dental Science (Dental Hygiene) program in the UBC Faculty of Dentistry, receives the 2018 Professor Jessie Gordon MacCarthy Memorial Scholarship for her outstanding commitment and leadership in community projects assisting the elderly and people with disabilities, including providing clinical dental hygiene care and education to elders living in a long-term care facility and for adults living with mental illness in a community-based organization.
This prestigious award, in honour of Dean Emeritus John McNeill who joined the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1971, recognizes faculty members at any stage in their academic career, in any of UBC’s health-related disciplines, who have formally been identified as mentors and who exemplify a deep commitment to fostering the professional and personal development of faculty colleagues, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows, in the early stages of their academic career.
Dr. Marcel Bally, Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the UBC Faculty of Medicine, is the proud winner of the 2018 John McNeill Excellence in Health Research Mentorship Award for his stellar accomplishments in health research mentorship and the influential impact on his mentees.
Dr. Bally is a prolific scientist whose academic interests in translational research have led to a number of patents and the formation of several biotechnology companies. His research ideas have translated into a number of clinical products that are improving the care of patients with cancer. Over the years, Dr. Bally has demonstrated outstanding mentorship as judged by the successes and achievements of his more than 50 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Bally’s mentorship skills were recognized in 2003 when he was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.
Named after long-time community educator, R. Paul Kerston, this annual award was established in 2014 to honour outstanding community educators who have made a difference to student learning at UBC.
Three outstanding community members are being recognized with this award for their invaluable contributions to health education and learning at UBC.
Marge Johnson and Eric Johnson jointly receive the 2018 R. Paul Kerston Community Educator Award for their extensive involvement and dedication to advancing health education from a caregiver-and-patient’s perspective. Their openness about their personal experiences and passion for promoting student learning regarding mental health have made Marge and Eric an inspiration to the many students they have jointly mentored in the UBC Health Mentors program.
Ramon Montecillo receives the 2018 R. Paul Kerston Community Educator Award for his outstanding efforts and passion in helping new generations of healthcare providers through his mentorship of students in the UBC Health Mentors program. As an active volunteer in the community, Ramon uses his own lived experiences in the healthcare system to foster a better understanding of the patient's perspective and promote dialogues of interprofessional collaboration amongst his student mentees.
This award honours an outstanding individual or health care team that promotes professional development in the areas of collaborative teaching among different health care professionals and/or collaborative patient-centred practice to support excellence in the delivery of patient-centred care.
The G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre Speech-Language Pathology Practice Group receives the 2018 Award for Outstanding Leadership in Advancing Interprofessional Professional Development for the team's development and implementation of the Communication Access Training Program, an innovative method of collaborative learning for all staff and students at G.F. Strong. This program provides an avenue for the exchange of education and expertise amongst all group members regardless of their professional or vocational position, and helps enhance knowledge translation and opportunities to practice communication strategies in a safe environment.