Meet the Team

Dermot Kelleher, MD, FRCPI, FRCP, FMedSci

Vice-President, Health
Dean, Faculty of Medicine
Professor, Department of Medicine

Professor Dermot Kelleher serves as Vice-President, Health and Dean, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. From 2012 to 2015, he was Vice President (Health) and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London and concurrently Dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore. From 2004 to 2012 he was Head of the School of Medicine and Vice-Provost for Medical Affairs at Trinity College, Dublin, where he led the development of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Molecular Medicine Ireland as well as the Wellcome Trust HRB Clinical Research Centre. Prior to this, he was a Wellcome Senior Fellow in Clinical Science at Trinity College Dublin following clinical and research training in gastroenterology in Ireland and San Diego.

Professor Kelleher’s research interests have focused on immunology of the gastrointestinal tract. He has successfully obtained funding from a wide range of sources including the Wellcome Trust, Health Research Board and Enterprise Ireland, European Union 4th and 5th Frameworks, and while in the US, from the National Institute of Health. He has been a co-founder of Opsona Therapeutics, Cellix Limited and Deerac Fluidics which merged with the US-based company Labcyte. He has been a Non-Executive Director at ICON PLC from 2008 until 2019.

Professor Kelleher is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, London and has served as President of the Federation of European Academies of Medicine.

Christie A. Newton, MD, CCFP, FCFP

Associate Vice-President, Health pro tem
Associate Professor, Associate Head, Education And Engagement, and Medical Director, UBC Health Clinic, Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine

As Associate Vice-President, Health pro tem, Christie Newton provides leadership to the UBC Health team and advances key strategic priorities on collaborative health education, interdisciplinary health research, and health systems.

Christie has been very engaged with UBC Health activities for many years. She is a co-facilitator of the TBC @ UBC Network and a member of the Health Systems Partnership Group. She has also been working closely with UBC Health on the design and implementation of a new interprofessional teaching clinic for the Gateway Building on UBC Vancouver campus aimed at modelling innovative team-based care and collaborative health education.

In addition to her appointment at UBC Health, Christie is Associate Professor and Associate Head, Education and Engagement in the Department of Family Practice in the Faculty of Medicine. In this role, she is working on a province-wide project funded by the Ministry of Health, aimed at supporting the design and evaluation of teaching within team-based models of care embedded in primary care network communities. She is also Medical Director of the UBC Health Clinic, a dedicated family practice teaching clinic which provides full service primary care to more than 6,000 patients in the community.

Ray Markham, (OBC) MB ChB, MRCGP, CCFP, FCFP

Special Advisor to the Vice-President, Health on Health Systems
Clinical Professor, Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine
Executive Director, Rural Coordination Centre of BC

Ray Markham is Special Advisor to the Vice-President, Health on Health Systems, Clinical Professor in the Department of Family Practice in the Faculty of Medicine, and Executive Director of the Rural Coordination Centre of BC.

He has worked in rural family practice for over 20 years and currently lives in Valemount, where he practices full-service rural generalist family medicine in the Robson Valley. His diverse and productive medical career has taken him across the globe, including South Africa, the United Kingdom, Antarctica, Kenya, Haiti, and Zimbabwe. He is passionate about rural medicine in BC, where he helped establish the Northern Interior Rural Division of Family Practice as one of its founding directors and led its primary care network implementation.

In his role of Special Advisor to the Vice-President, Health on Health Systems, Ray provides vision and leadership to advance UBC Health’s strategic focus on innovation in the provincial health system. He chairs the UBC Health Systems Advisory Committee, which advises the Office of the Vice-President Health | UBC Health on priority issues in the health sector to enable dialogue, activate assets, and advance policies and innovations to improve health systems at the individual and community levels. Ray is key to building and maintaining relationships between health system leaders, including academia, government, health authorities, health administrators, providers, and communities. With his experience and expertise in health systems planning, community contexts, and underserved populations, Ray plays a pivotal role in enabling effective advocacy for continuous quality improvement and knowledge translation in the health ecosystem. 

Nadine Caron, BSc, MD, MPh, FRCSC

Special Advisor on Indigenous Health to the Vice-President, Health and to the Dean, Faculty of Medicine
Co-Director, Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health, Faculty of Medicine
Professor, Northern Medical Program and Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine
First Nations Health Authority Chair in Cancer and Wellness, UBC
Senior Scientist, Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, BC Cancer

Nadine Caron is a member of the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation and a practising surgical oncologist in northern British Columbia. She is a professor in the Northern Medical Program and Department of Surgery, the sole Indigenous physician within BC Cancer, as well as a senior scientist at Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre at BC Cancer. Nadine is the inaugural First Nations Health Authority Chair in Cancer and Wellness at the University of British Columbia. She is also a founding Co-Director of the UBC Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health and consultant in development of BC’s first ever Indigenous Cancer Strategy to improve Indigenous cancer outcomes and experiences in BC.

In her role of Special Advisor on Indigenous Health, Nadine provides vision, leadership, and diplomacy in advancing both UBC Health’s and the Faculty of Medicine’s strategic focus on promoting an Indigenous lens on collaborative health education and research. She offers advice and leadership on meaningful changes to address barriers to culturally-safe and racism-free educational and healthcare systems, including expanding and promoting cultural safety and humility as fundamental to collaborative health education and research. In addition, Nadine plays a pivotal role in facilitating consistent, open channels of communication with faculty, staff, students, Indigenous communities, the senior leadership of the university, and partners involved in Indigenous health.

Donna Drynan, MEd, OT(Reg)

Director of Education, UBC Health
Associate Head, Fieldwork and Clinical Faculty Affairs, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine

Donna Drynan is Director of Education, UBC Health and Associate Head, Fieldwork and Clinical Faculty Affairs in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy in the Faculty of Medicine. She holds a Master of Education from the University of Toronto and has a certificate in Curriculum & Pedagogy in Higher Education from UBC’s International Faculty Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Leadership Program.  

She has extensive teaching experience and demonstrated excellence in leadership in practice and interprofessional education. Donna has developed numerous undergraduate and graduate courses, workshops for clinical educators and preceptors, and a guide for incorporating interprofessional experiences into practice education settings. She was involved in developing E-tips for Practice Education, an online program for preceptors as well as the ethics and professionalism curricula, as part of UBC Health's Integrated Curriculum program. In 2016, Donna received both the UBC Killam Teaching Prize and the Universitas 21 Health Sciences Teaching Excellence Award.In her role as Director of Education at UBC Health, Donna builds on existing strengths in interprofessional education activities at UBC to facilitate innovation in collaborative health education, including the development, implementation, and evaluation of collaborative curricula and practice-based education across UBC’s health and human service programs, on both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.

Kim McGrail, PhD

Director of Research, UBC Health
Scientific Director, SPOR Canadian Data Platform
Scientific Director, Population Data BC
Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health

Kim McGrail is a Professor in the School of Population and Public Health and the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research at UBC. She is Scientific Director of Population Data BC and the SPOR Canadian Data Platform. 

Her research interests are quantitative policy evaluation, aging and the use and cost of health services, and the ethical and technical aspects of the development and operation of large linked data systems. Her research is conducted in collaboration with policy and decision makers, clinicians, and the public.

Kim is a founding member of the International Population Data Linkage Network and founding Deputy Editor of the International Journal of Population Data Science. She was the 2009-10 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Associate in Health Care Policy and Practice, a 2016 recipient of the Cortlandt JG Mackenzie Prize for Excellence in Teaching, and 2017 recipient of a UBC award for Excellence in Clinical or Applied Research.  She holds a PhD in Health Care and Epidemiology from UBC, and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Michigan.

As Director of Research for UBC Health, Kim works to initiate and support collaborations among academic and clinical faculty and other stakeholders on relevant translational health research issues, and in partnership with UBC academic leaders and stakeholders, engage them in aligning the use of health data in translational research and in the application of knowledge to health systems.

Victoria Wood, MA, EdD

Assistant Director, Strategic Initiatives, UBC Health

604-822-8693
victoria.wood@ubc.ca

As Assistant Director, Strategic Initiatives, Victoria Wood works towards ensuring that UBC Health’s vision, strategy, priorities, and objectives are understood, supported, and advanced.

Victoria has been with UBC since 2007, facilitating cross-disciplinary collaborations. Working with internal and external stakeholders, Victoria plans, develops, and implements programs that meet the unit’s and university’s strategic priorities. Her roles at UBC and beyond have involved developing, delivering, and evaluating educational initiatives across the continuum of learning, including university- and practice-based education and professional development for practicing professionals. She is an experienced facilitator specializing in leadership development, team-based competencies, communication skills, and conflict management.

Victoria holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology, a Master of Arts in International Relations, and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy.

Ben Fair, MA

Assistant Director, Health Systems, UBC Health

604-822-8693
ben.fair@ubc.ca

As Assistant Director, Health Systems at UBC Health, Ben Fair provides leadership to expand UBC Health’s remit in health systems in alignment with the UBC Health strategic plan. He focuses on initiatives and objectives that involve current healthcare providers and patients. He works closely with UBC Health senior leadership to conceptualize and implement a collaborative planning approach in health systems innovations across both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses of UBC and with external partners.

Ben worked in healthcare planning, project management, and evaluation for 17 years prior to joining UBC Health. He is passionate about applying evidence to build collective purpose to improve health outcomes, equity, and patient experience. He brings expertise in cross-sector collaborations and partner engagement, health program design and evaluation, and quality improvement. His background spans many sectors of healthcare, from primary care to tertiary services, with emphasis on Indigenous health, team-based care, and mental health and substance use.

Deanna Bracewell

Curriculum Manager

deanna.bracewell@ubc.ca

As Curriculum Manager, Deanna Bracewell is responsible for the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of classroom-based and online collaborative health education initiatives across UBC Health. She works closely with health professional program leads, colleagues from across the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses, and community partners in the design and implementation of collaborative health education programs. Deanna holds a Bachelor of Human Kinetics (Exercise Science) and a Master’s of Education (Higher Education). She has a background in post-secondary curriculum design at UBC and clinical experience in orthopedic rehabilitation. 

lubna ekramoddoullah

communications & web specialist

604-827-3386
ubchealth.comms@ubc.ca

Lubna Ekramoddoullah brings extensive health communications experience to her role as Communications and Web Specialist. She develops and implements communications strategies that align with UBC Health’s strategic priorities to advance collaborative health education, interdisciplinary health research, and health systems. She works closely with senior leadership and team members to promote and showcase UBC Health’s priorities, initiatives, and achievements. Lubna has 25 years of strategic communications experience in the public and social profit sectors and expertise in planning, research, writing, and community engagement. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a Certificate in Dialogue and Civic Engagement, both from Simon Fraser University.

Seneca Forster

Communications Assistant

Seneca Forster has a content writing background in digital health and brings a range of skills to her role as Communications Assistant. She works collaboratively with UBC Health team members to implement communications plans for projects that align with UBC Health’s strategic priorities to advance collaborative health education, interdisciplinary health research, and health systems. Seneca is a second year student at UBC, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Veronica Grant

Project Coordinator

604-827-5698
veronica.grant@ubc.ca

Veronica Grant brings her past experience of collaborating with multidisciplinary teams and success with managing a broad range of projects to her role at UBC Health. As Project Coordinator, she works closely withUBC Health leadership and team members to support the implementation of projects that align with UBC Health’s strategic plan across collaborative health education, interdisciplinary research, and health systems. Veronica contributes to the development, planning, and execution of these projects and ensures objectives are achieved. She also supports the UBC Health Student Caucus and engagement with student leaders across health programs. Veronica holds a Master of Urban Planning from RMIT University in Melbourne and a Bachelor of Design (Architecture) from the University of Newcastle, Australia.  

SHelly Keidar

Project Coordinator

shelly.keidar@ubc.ca

Shelly Keidar brings a diverse background to UBC Health through her experience as a registered dietitian in an interdisciplinary team and, more recently, as a research manager at the School of Population and Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. As Project Coordinator, Shelly works closely with the UBC Health leadership and team members to support the implementation of projects that align with UBC Health’s strategic plan across collaborative health education, interdisciplinary research, and health systems. She contributes to the development, planning, and execution of these projects and ensures objectives are achieved. Shelly holds a Master of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel and a Master of Public Health from UBC.

Carrie Krekoski

Practice Education Manager

604-822-7359
carrie.krekoski@ubc.ca

As Practice Education Manager, Carrie Krekoski supports the strategic planning, development, implementation and evaluation of integrated practice education initiatives. She works in close collaboration with the UBC Health team, faculty leads from various health disciplines, and community partners internal and external to UBC. In addition to her work at UBC Health, Carrie is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the UBC Faculty of Dentistry. She teaches in content areas related to professionalism, communications, behavioural change and patient/client-centred care. Carrie brings experience in healthcare regulation and team-based practice. She holds a Masters of Education from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Dental Hygiene from UBC. She enhances her educational practice with doctoral studies in educational leadership and policy.

Susana Leon

Administrator

604-822-3737
susana.leon@ubc.ca

Susana Leon brings extensive experience in university administration to her role at UBC Health, with a particular focus on budget planning and organizational change. As the Administrator, Susana is responsible for the fiscal health and allocation of resources to sustainably support the priorities and initiatives of UBC Health. She provides leadership in the strategic direction and management of all administrative matters including budget planning, financial operations, human resources, process improvements and change initiatives. Susana has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Simon Fraser University and a Certificate in University Management from the University of Manitoba.

JENNY Li

EDUCATION PROGRAM ASSISTANT

604-827-3342
ubchealth.educassist@ubc.ca

Jenny Li supports the organization, coordination, and logistics of collaborative health education delivered by UBC Health on behalf of the health professional programs at UBC. She provides support in building capacity for collaborative health education and plays a key role in the smooth running of the interprofessional programming from an organizational standpoint. With extensive experience working in a few units across UBC, Jenny has demonstrated abilities to support the delivery of educational projects and initiatives for post-secondary students. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature and a Masters of Education in Curriculum Studies from UBC and a certificate from the Executive Assistance program at Vancouver Community College.

Samantha Wu

Project Assistant

Samantha Wu brings a solid background in communications and design to her role as Project Assistant for the Interprofessional Education (IPE) Champions Network. She works closely with the Practice Education Manager on the development, implementation, and evaluation of the IPE Champions Network. The network is a community of practice of healthcare clinicians dedicated to generating placement opportunities and fostering trainees to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for collaborative practice. Samantha is a fourth year student in the Faculty of Arts at UBC, majoring in Psychology and minoring Health and Society.

Elizabeth yue

substance use & addiction partnership manager

604-366-5883
liz.yue@ubc.ca

Elizabeth (Liz) Yue brings her passion for public health and her expertise in the area of substance use disorder research and education to her role as Substance Use and Addiction Partnership Manager. The position is a joint appointment between UBC Health and the BC Centre on Substance Use, and Liz works out of both locations, managing the initiatives shared by the two organizations that focus on improving substance use education, clinical training and research. In this innovative role, she also works to identify shared priorities and opportunities for program alignment and further partnership between BCCSU and UBC Health. Collaborating with 17 health profession programs on both UBC campuses as well as health system partners, she works to coordinate an interdisciplinary education strategy that provides students with foundational training in substance use and addiction prevention, treatment and recovery. Liz has a wealth of experience in interdisciplinary stakeholder engagement and substance addiction education and training. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Alberta and a Bachelor of Science degree from UBC.

William Godolphin

Co-Director, Patient and Community Partnership For Education
Professor Emeritus, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine

604-822-7701
wgod@mail.ubc.ca

William Godolphin has been a teacher and researcher for many years, with projects and publications ranging across lipoproteins, breast cancer prognostic factors, clinical laboratory toxicology, laboratory automation and medical education. He is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine.

Angela Towle

Co-Director, Patient and Community Partnership For Education
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
Senior Scholar, Centre for Health Education Scholarship, Faculty of Medicine

604-875-4111
angela.towle@ubc.ca

Angela Towle's expertise, especially in the management of change, builds on her past experience in health services development and change in medical education with the King's Fund, London, UK. She is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Senior Scholar in the Centre for Health Education Scholarship at UBC, and Academic Director of the UBC Learning Exchange in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Between 2002 and 2010, she was Associate Dean, MD Undergraduate Education in the Faculty of Medicine.

Cathy Kline

Research MANAGER, Patient and Community Partnership For Education

604-822-8002
cckline@mail.ubc.ca

Cathy Kline joined UBC in 2003. She manages research and development initiatives that promote patient and public involvement in health professional education and has helped to build a network of over 150 patient educators and 80 community organizations at UBC. Her work involves collaborations with faculty, students, patients, community organizations, and international scholars in research and program development to integrate patient expertise and experience into mainstream educational practice. Her current research interests are in studying the outcomes of patient engagement in health professional education, particularly the long-term impacts on professional identity, health care communication and decision making. Her background is in qualitative research, program planning and evaluation. She has a BA (Psychology) from Simon Fraser University and MA (Health Education) from Dalhousie University.

Jen Macdonald (on leave)

Assistant Coordinator, Patient and Community Partnership For Education

604-822-8002
jen.macdonald@ubc.ca

Jen MacDonald provides coordination for the UBC Interprofessional Health Mentors Program and the Patient & Community Voices workshop series through the Patient and Community Partnership for Education unit at UBC Health. She works with students and community organizations to promote patient-centered care in the education of health professionals at UBC. Jen has a Masters of Fine Arts degree and a Bachelor of Psychology degree. 

Dagoberto Vargas

Senior Program Assistant, Patient and Community Partnership For Education

604-822-8002
pcpe.isdm@ubc.ca

Dagoberto Vargas brings their motivation for learning and exploring to the role of Senior Program Assistant with Patient and Community Partnership for Education at UBC Health. In this role, they coordinate a number of projects, and their passion and tremendous desire to help and contribute are assets to PCPE. Dagoberto demonstrates love for and compassion towards developing networking with students, while focusing on delivering the best student journey.

Cathy Jiu

Research and Development Assistant, Patient and Community Partnership For Education

Cathy Jiu is a fifth-year undergraduate student in the Faculty of Arts majoring in International Relations and Psychology. As Research and Development Assistant, she contributes to an array of projects and tasks related to the UBC Interprofessional Health Mentors Program and the Patient & Community Voices Workshops Series. Learning about the lived experiences of people navigating their wellbeing and the healthcare system has been a prominent idea throughout Cathy’s undergraduate career experiences, and she brings enthusiasm and curiosity to expanding on this idea into health education through the mandate and programming at Patient and Community Partnership for Education.  

Lauren Rutherford

Research and Development Assistant, Patient and Community Partnership For Education

Lauren Rutherford is a fourth year student at UBC studying biology. She is interested in making positive health impacts in communities and is excited to be a part of Patient and Community Partnership for Education to contribute to the development of new learning resources for future health professionals.