December 15, 2022
UBC Health is pleased to announce that 12 interdisciplinary research teams have been selected to receive a Health Innovation Funding Investment (HIFI) Award.
HIFI Awards enable interdisciplinary groups of health researchers to undertake innovative activities that have the potential to create change. HIFI catalyzes cross-faculty and cross-campus collaborations across the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.
The addition of a health equity funding stream this fall is supporting nine of the teams to promote diversity and inclusion and impact health equity across individuals, communities, and societies.
Some examples of the innovative HIFI projects are a women-driven empowerment toolkit to promote mental health, a workshop to counter the negative impacts of settler-colonialism on an Indigenous community, blood screening technology for low-resource communities, and education tools to reduce substance use stigma as a barrier to cancer care.
Congratulations to all HIFI Award recipients.
HIFI Recipients Fall 2022
GENERAL STREAM
Worth its salt: Evaluating the brain using high field magnetic resonance imaging of sodium
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Rebecca Feldman, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, UBC Okanagan
- Cornelia Laule, Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Erin MacMillan, Research Associate, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
- Jason Reich, Graduate Student, Department of Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and Statistics, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, UBC Okanagan
- Alex Ensworth, Graduate Student, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science
Understanding mechanisms of respiratory impairment in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) using optical coherence tomography
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Janice Leung, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Bill Sheel, Professor, School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Education
- Stephen Lam, Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Pierre Lane, Affiliate Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science and Faculty of Medicine
- Tawimas Shaipanich, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Julio Montaner, Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Carli Peters, Post-Doctoral Fellow, School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Education
A deep-learning based automatic bladder cancer screening pipeline
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Gang Wang, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Xiaoxiao Li, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Beidi Zhao, Student, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
HEALTH EQUITY STREAM
Adapting educational tools and resources to reduce substance use stigma and promote health equity in the cancer care sector
HIFI Award: $24,983
- Annette Browne, Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science
- Leah Lambert, Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science; Executive Director and Senior Scientist, Nursing and Allied Health Research and Knowledge Translation, BC Cancer
- Scott Beck, Master’s Student, Master of Public Health, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Master of Science in Nursing Program, School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science; Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nursing and Allied Health Research and Knowledge Translation, BC Cancer
- Jacqueline Denison, Acting Director, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan
- Manda Harmon, Clinical Coordinator, Primary Care, Downtown Community Health Clinic, Vancouver Coastal Health
- Tara Horrill, Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
- Jagbir Kaur, PhD Student, School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science; Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nursing and Allied Health Research and Knowledge Translation, BC Cancer
- Michael McKenzie, Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine; Radiation Oncologist, BC Cancer
- Stacy Miller, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine; Executive Medical Director, Centre for the North, BC Cancer
- Lynne Nakashima, Senior Director, Provincial Pharmacy, BC Cancer
- David Tu, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine; Lead Primary Care Physician, Kilala Lelum Urban Indigenous Health and Healing Cooperative and Health Centre
- Colleen Varcoe, Professor Emeritus, School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science
- Leah Walker, Executive Director, Kilala Lelum Urban Indigenous Health and Healing Cooperative and Health Centre
Co-design and validation of women empowerment tool kit: A collaborative approach to promote women and their children’s mental health
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Saima Hirani, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science
- Annette Browne, Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Applied Science
- Jacqueline Denison, Associate Professor of Teaching and Acting Director, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan
- Sarah Dow-Fleisner, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work and Director, Centre for the Study of Services to Children and Families, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan
- Nilanga Aki Ediriweera Bandara, Student, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Salima Sayani, PhD Candidate, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine
Indigenous healing camp curriculum and evaluation framework development workshop
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Kimberly Huyser, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts
- Ninan Abraham, Professor, Department of Zoology and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Science
- Tabitha Robin Martens, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Biology, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
- Alannah Young Leon, xʷc̓ic̓əsəm Indigenous Health Research and Education Garden, UBC Farm, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
- Katherine Collins, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology and Health Studies, College of Arts and Science, University of Saskatchewan
- Michelle Johnson-Jennings, Professor, School of Social Work, University of Washington
- Felix Lockhart, Elder and Founder, Taché Healing Waters Society
- Maureen Dobbins, Advisory Council Member, Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network’s Indigenous Engagement, Development and Research pillar
- Sheila Blackstock, Advisory Council Member, Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network’s Indigenous Engagement, Development and Research pillar
- Renée Masching, Advisory Council Member, Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network’s Indigenous Engagement, Development and Research pillar
Etiopathogenesis of capsular contracture: Novel application of mathematical model
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Kathryn Isaac, Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine
- Peter Lennox, Clinical Professor and Head, Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine
- Leah Edelstein-Keshet, Professor, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science
- Cheryl Dyck, Research Assistant, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science
A new line of defence: Testing and implementing a novel solution for airborne disease mitigation in Kelowna General Hospital
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Sunny Li, Professor, School of Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Joshua Brinkerhoff, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Jonathan Little, Professor, School of Health and Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan
- Jared Baylis, Clinical Assistant Professor, Southern Medical Program, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine; Medical Director of Simulation, Interior Health; Emergency Physician, Kelowna General Hospital
- Deanne Taylor, Adjunct Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan; Corporate Director of Research, Interior Health
- Amir Hadzic, Clinical Instructor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine; Medical Lead, Infection Prevention and Control, Interior Health
- Mojtaba Zabihi, PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Juliette Davies, Research Assistant, School of Health and Exercise Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan
Designing and developing a cost-effective, immersive-technology based veinfinding device to solve difficult intravenous access in healthcare settings
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Abbas Milani, Professor, School of Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC Okanagan; Director, Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute
- Charlene Ronquillo, Assistant Professor and Director, of Health Informatics Equity Lab, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan
- Roger Tam, Associate Professor and Director of Engineers in Scrubs Program, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Faculty of Medicine
- Vanessa Lo, Undergraduate Student, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social Development, UBC Okanagan
- Rohith Krishnamurthy, Master’s Student, School of Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC Okanagan
- Ammar Zavahir, Undergraduate Student, School of Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC Okanagan
Development of a deep-learning model using eye-mapping of radiologists: A medical imaging educational tool
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Savvas Nicolaou, Clinical Professor, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
- Adnan Sheikh, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
- William Parker, Clinical Instructor, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
- Chen Feng, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC Okanagan
- Tim Salcudean, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Muhammad Danish Sarfraz, Clinical Fellow, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
- Emtenan Meer, Clinical Fellow, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
- Sabeena Jalal Khan, PhD Student, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
Collaborative virtual platform to optimize functional outcomes and understanding for patients with advanced head and neck oncology
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Eitan Prisman, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine
- Farahna Sabiq, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
- Eric Berthelet, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine
- Tony Ng, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Sidney Fels, Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Antony Hodgson, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- David Yang, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry
- Angela Wong, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry
- Caroline Chow, Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Audiology and Speech Sciences, Faculty of Medicine
- Sarah Hamilton, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine
- Robert Olson, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine
- Monty Martin, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine
- Sena Turkdogan, Clinical Fellow, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine
- Hamidreza Aftabi, PhD Student, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Atabak Eghbal, PhD Student, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Melissa Yu, Master’s Student, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science and Faculty of Medicine
- Kevin Gilmore, Master’s Student, School Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science and Faculty of Medicine
- Khanh Linh Tran, Research Technician, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine
- Katrina Zaraska, Undergraduate Student, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science and Faculty of Medicine
- Alex Chen, Undergraduate Student, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science and Faculty of Medicine
- Harkaran Dial, Undergraduate Student, Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine
Field testing of a new and affordable sickle cell disease screening technology for low-resource settings
HIFI Award: $25,000
- Boris Stoeber, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Videsh Kapoor, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine
- Hayley Merkeley, Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Nicholas Au, Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Rodrigo Onell, Clinical Instructor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Pranav Shrestha, PhD Candidate, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
- Christopher Bhatla, MD Candidate, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Yvonne Deng, MD Candidate, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Connor Harrigan, MD Candidate, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
- Ryan Hong, Undergraduate Student, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Science
- Rajan Pande, Chief Consultant Physician and Head, Department of Internal Medicine, Bheri Hospital (Nepal)
- Dinesh Raj Sapkota, Director, Creating Possibilities Nepal
- Nura Basnet, Program and Finance Officer, Creating Possibilities Nepal
- Hendrik Lohse, Master’s Student, Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands)
Posted December 15, 2022
- Stories
- Interdisciplinary Research
