Canada

Learn about the projects that our Advisory Committee and Faculty members are involved in across Canada.

 

Current Projects

Project Leaders: Jane Lea and Brian Westerberg 

With the support of the Hearing Foundation of Canada this project addresses the rising incidence of noise-induced hearing loss in young people. Sound Sense educates children about the dangers of noise exposure allows us to reduce the risk of noise-induced hearing loss for children in the First Nations communities of Bella Bella, Tofino, Kitkatla, and Hartley Bay, and other Northern B.C. communities.

 

Dr. Jane Lea is an Otolaryngologist specializing in Otology and Neurotology at St. Paul’s Hospital. She obtained her MD in 2005, and completed residency in Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto in 2010. She has completed subspecialty fellowship training in two disciplines: Otology and Neurotology, and Pediatric Otolaryngology, both at the University of British Columbia. Post-fellowship training abroad at Johns Hopkins University and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital was also undertaken in the field of vestibular disorders. Her current clinical practice and research endeavours are focused on disorders of hearing and balance.

 

 

Dr. Brian Westerberg is a Clinical Professor at the University of British Columbia and a practicing Otolaryngology (Neurotology) surgeon at St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver. For the past 15 years he has been involved in service missions to Zimbabwe, Uganda and Ethiopia. In Uganda, supported by Rotary International, he has led the Hearing Health Care projects which have studied hearing loss and provided temporal bone courses and clinical officers lecture series focusing on issues of capacity building, sustainability, and the role of medical missions. Currently, Dr. Westerberg serves as the Director of the Branch for Global Surgical Care at the University of British Columbia.

 

 

 

 

 

Silent Genomes will address the genomic divide by reducing access barriers to diagnosis of genetic disease in Indigenous children.

Activity 1: First Nations, Inuit and Métis Engagement, Governance and Capacity Building

Activity 1 Team Lead: Nadine R. Caron 

 

Dr. Caron is an associate professor in UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, Department of Sugery and is teaching in the Northern Medical Program.  She has served on numerous committees including the Province of British Columbia, Ministry of  Health – Advisory Committee on Provincial Health Goals; British Columbia Medical Association – Committee on Health Promotion; Native Physicians Association of Canada; and is currently Chair of the BC Medical Association’s Committee on Aboriginal Health. Her work involves a variety of audiences and knowledge users including governments, provincial health authorities, national medical organizations, health research funding bodies, and several universities to achieve identified and overlapping objectives.

For more details on the Silent Genomes Project, please visit BC Children's Hospital Research Institute.

The Northern Biobank Initiative Phase 2 is the first biobank of its kind in British Columbia. It will enable Northern B.C. to better contribute to large-scale provincial and national research by helping to understand the demographic and genetic makeup of different populations throughout the province.

Project Leaders: Nadine R. Caron, Cathy Ulrich, Richard Jock, Sam Aparicio

 

Dr. Caron is an associate professor in UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, Department of Sugery and is teaching in the Northern Medical Program.  She has served on numerous committees including the Province of British Columbia, Ministry of  Health – Advisory Committee on Provincial Health Goals; British Columbia Medical Association – Committee on Health Promotion; Native Physicians Association of Canada; and is currently Chair of the BC Medical Association’s Committee on Aboriginal Health. Her work involves a variety of audiences and knowledge users including governments, provincial health authorities, national medical organizations, health research funding bodies, and several universities to achieve identified and overlapping objectives.

Nadine Caron and her team are leading this project into its second phase. The Northern Biobank Initiative Phase 2 will make it easier for local patients to choose to participate in research that is taking place across B.C. and Canada. Initial areas of focus will likely include colorectal, breast and thyroid cancer with the capability to add other complex diseases.  The Northern Biobank initiative will be able to work together with other large-scale biospecimen collections in B.C. and across Canada.

For more details on the Northern Biobank Initiative Phase 2, please visit Genome BC.

Indigenous Lead for Clinical Pathways Team of Surgery and Anesthesia for the Shared Health Provincial Health planning for Manitoba: Dr. Melanie Morris

Dr. Morris is on the provincial team to develop and lead strategies on Manitoba health as the indigenous lead for the surgery and anesthesia Clinical Pathways Team to moved from regional health authorities to a provincial shared health authority and restructuring health care in the province.

 

Dr. Melanie Morris is an Indigenous surgeon at the Children’s Hospital at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. Melanie is metis and is a pediatric surgeon and urologist with a specialty in minimally invasive surgery. She is the first Indigenous pediatric surgeon in Canada.   Dr. Morris is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She is the founder and medical director of the University of Manitoba Global Surgery Office and has done extensive work and teaching in Kenya and Uganda. She has recently developed initiatives and outreach clinics in Northern Manitoba and Nunavut. She has founded the Pediatric Surgery of the North program and is being funded by the Winnipeg Foundation and the Children’s Hospital Foundation to create indigenous initiatives in the Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg.  Dr. Morris holds various teaching positions within the University of Manitoba including being a faculty in the curriculum for indigenous teaching for medical students. Melanie is a standing member of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada since 2016, prior to this was a member of the Canadian Aboriginal Leaders in Medicine (2000-2004). Dr. Morris has a medical degree from the University of Alberta and a B.Sc. from the University of Winnipeg.

Indigenous Lead for Clinical Pathways Team of Surgery and Anesthesia for the Shared Health Provincial Health planning for Manitoba: Dr. Melanie Morris

Dr. Morris provides outreach pediatric surgery in Nunavut. She has set up up outreach clinics in Nunavut, and sees patients and networks with community and stakeholders, working with Nunavut Sivuniksavut and the University of Manitoba, Children's Hospital, Health Sciences Centre through the Pediatric Surgery in the North Program.

 

Dr. Melanie Morris is an Indigenous surgeon at the Children’s Hospital at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. Melanie is metis and is a pediatric surgeon and urologist with a specialty in minimally invasive surgery. She is the first Indigenous pediatric surgeon in Canada.   Dr. Morris is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. She is the founder and medical director of the University of Manitoba Global Surgery Office and has done extensive work and teaching in Kenya and Uganda. She has recently developed initiatives and outreach clinics in Northern Manitoba and Nunavut. She has founded the Pediatric Surgery of the North program and is being funded by the Winnipeg Foundation and the Children’s Hospital Foundation to create indigenous initiatives in the Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg.  Dr. Morris holds various teaching positions within the University of Manitoba including being a faculty in the curriculum for indigenous teaching for medical students. Melanie is a standing member of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada since 2016, prior to this was a member of the Canadian Aboriginal Leaders in Medicine (2000-2004). Dr. Morris has a medical degree from the University of Alberta and a B.Sc. from the University of Winnipeg.

Executive Director of the Office of Pediatric Surgical Evaluation and Innovation (OPSEI) at BC Children’s Hospital: Damian Duffy

Damian is the Program Facilitator for Brighter Smiles which provides community-centred and culturally-responsive care for children and families in partnership with the Gitga’at, Gitxaala and Lax Kw’alaams First Nations.

Brighter Smiles is an innovative service-learning initiative which allows for Pediatric Residents, Pediatric Dental Residents, and Surgical Residents under the supervision of faculty, to partner with remote First Nations communities in support of advancing child health. The Brighter Smiles partnership began between the Gitga’at First Nation and the University of British Columbia and will now expand to include the Gitxaala and Lax Kw’alaams First Nations. This program is funded by the First Nations Health Authority. Learn more about the recent funding renewal here.

 

Mr. Damian Duffy is the Executive Director of the Office of Pediatric Surgical Evaluation and Innovation at BC Children’s Hospital and has been with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia since 1994. With a passion for health equity, Damian is a member of Surgery and Society which aims to understand socioeconomic factors which influence access to surgical care for children and their families.  Damian is the Program Facilitator for Brighter Smiles which provides community-centred and culturally-responsive care for children and families in partnership with the Gitga’at, Gitxaala and Lax Kw’alaams First Nations.  He is a Global Impact Fellow with Unite for Sight, which aims to eliminate preventable blindness in Ghana through social entrepreneurship and service learning.  In collaboration with our Ugandan colleagues, Damian facilitates the Soroti Children’s Project where Ugandan and Canadian summer medical students and interns work together on identified community health priorities.  He is the Primary Care Leader and a member of Board Member of Directors of Health for Humanity.

 


Past Projects

A research team of junior and senior residents of the UBC Postgraduate Program in General Surgery and staff at Vancouver General Hospital Trauma and Emergency General Surgery have been undertaking a systematic review to comprehensively quantify collaboration in global surgery initiatives (GSIs) between North American and low/middle-income countries since 2000. A total of 3299 published articles on GSIs have been reviewed and included GSIs descriptively analyzed based on publication demographics, surgical subspecialty involvement, and partnership descriptions. An expert consensus has developed a novel model for sustainability criteria of GSIs based on six pillars: multidisciplinary collaboration, bilateral authorship, effective training, broad community engagement, funding/resources, and outcomes reporting. We have identified 134 unique GSIs and counting with ongoing descriptive analysis of collaborations and sustainability criteria met by GSIs. Results have been presented at the CAGS Canadian Surgery Forum 2017 and UBC Chung Research Day 2017 and 2019.

Project leaders: Morad Hameed and Emilie Joos

Team: Nicole Jedrzejko, Joseph Margolick, Morad Hameed, Emilie Joos

Dr. Morad Hameed is an Associate Professor of Surgery and Head of the Division of General Surgery at UBC. He is a trauma surgeon and intensivist at the Vancouver General Hospital. He also serves as the Chief of the Divisions of General Surgery, Vancouver Acute and University of British Columbia. Dr. Hameed is past President of the Canadian Association of General Surgeons.  His clinical and research interests are in trauma and acute care surgery, with a focus on trauma systems, social determinants of health and health information technology.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Emilie Joos is a practicing general surgeon and trauma surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital. At the completion of her surgical critical care training, she was appointed as a clinical instructor in trauma at University of Southern California. Dr. Joos participated in a volunteer mission to Haiti with the Medishare project, where she taught basic trauma care to local healthcare providers. She is an instructor for the Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma and an Advanced Trauma Life Support course director.