Liver Cancer (English & French Session)
Dr. Mamatha Bhat
Staff Hepatologist & Clinician-Scientist Co-Lead of Transplant AI initiative (TAI) Ajmera Transplant Program University Health Network Assistant Professor, Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology Director, Clinician-Scientist Training Program (CSTP) Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
Dr. Bhat is a hepatologist and clinician-scientist at University Health Network, and Assistant Professor at University of Toronto. She leads a translations research program dedicated to improving outcomes after liver transplantation, with specific interest in HCC and NASH, using tools of machine learning and bioinformatics. She is Co-Chair of the CASL Research Committee and is on the Executive Committee of the Canadian Donation and Transplant Research Program
Viral Hepatitis (English Session)
Dr. Eric Yoshida
Professor of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Division of Gastroenterology, Vancouver General Hospital
Chair, Medical Advisory Committee, Canadian Liver Foundation
Dr. Eric Yoshida is a Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. He is the immediate Past President of the Medical Staff Association at the Vancouver General Hospital. He is the past Head of the Division of Gastroenterology at UBC and VGH, past President of Canadian Association for the Study of Liver Disease (CASL) and has the distinction of being CASL’s longest-serving Governing Board Member. He is well known nationally and internationally, as he has published 380 papers in peer-reviewed journals in the area of liver disease and liver transplantation and has over 550 published papers overall. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the Canadian Liver Journal, the official journal of CASL, and was previously the co-editor-in-chief of the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (previously the official journal of CASL).
Dr. Yoshida is the founder of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada’s Diploma Program in Hepatology and is the past Chair of the Royal College subcommittee. He has received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal, the CASL Distinguished Service Award, the VGH Clinical Excellence Award, and the Order of British Columbia.
Dr. Yoshida has served for almost a decade as the Chair of the Canadian Liver Foundation’s National Medical Advisory Committee. He has given lectures at the CLF’s LIVERight Health Forums and other public liver disease forums since 2002 and contributed articles for the LIVERight Gala program magazines. He is one of the inaugural Fellows of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and is the only adult hepatologist in BC with that distinction.
Viral Hepatitis (Chinese Session)
Alcohol, Pandemic and Mental Health
Dr. Peter Kwan
Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
Division of Gastroenterology, Vancouver General Hospital
Dr. Peter Kwan was born in Hong Kong. He came to Canada at a young age. He graduated from medical school at the University of Western Ontario and received his post-doctoral training at the University of British Columbia and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia and a liver specialist in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Vancouver General Hospital. Because he is one of few liver specialists who can speak Chinese, 80% of his patients are Chinese immigrants. As a result, he has a large hepatitis B practice and has worked tirelessly to promote hepatitis B awareness in the community and has been featured in the Chinese language media on many occasions.
Dr. Kwan has participated in hepatitis B related research projects and was a primary investigator of “Hep Beware” a local hepatitis B epidemiologic study, and “Liver Beware”, a community FibroScan Screening study. Both projects are funded by the Canadian Liver Foundation (CLF), BC/Yukon Chapter. Dr. Kwan has been a speaker at many CLF’s LIVERight Health forums over the years and has contributed to written articles for the LIVERight Gala program magazines.
Autoimmune Liver Disease (English Session)
Dr. Gideon Hirschfield
Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto
Lily and Terry Horner Chair in Autoimmune Liver Disease Research, Toronto General Hospital
Dr. Gideon Hirschfield is a world-renowned autoimmune liver disease clinician-researcher, whose work is to improve the diagnosis and treatment of patients living with liver disease in particular those living with PSC, PBC and AIH. Dr. Hirschfield is the Lily and Terry Horner Chair in Autoimmune Liver Disease Research, and Professor ofthe Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Health Network,University of Toronto, and the co-leader of the Autoimmune Liver Disease Program at Toronto Centre for Liver Disease.
Children’s Liver Disease (English Session)
Dr. Orlee Guttman
Pediatric Gastroenterologist, BC Children’s Hospital
Dr Guttman is a pediatric gastroenterologist and hepatologist at BC Children’s Hospital. She completed her fellowship training at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto before moving to Vancouver to take a faculty position at BC Children’s Hospital and University of British Columbia. She is the fellowship training program director for Pediatric Gastroenterology at UBC, and her background is in medical education.
NAFLD/NASH – Part 1 (English Session)
Dr. Alnoor Ramji
Clinical Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
Division of Gastroenterology, St. Paul’s Hospital
Dr. Ramji is a clinical associate professor at the University of British Columbia. His area of clinical and research interest includes viral hepatitis and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Dr. Ramji coordinates multiple provincial education programs for medical professionals, including the Liver Forum, the GP Liver Forum, and the BC HCV Network. He sits on the governing board of the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver and is on the steering committee for the national CanHepC clinical group, Canadian HBV network and a co-founder of the Canadian NASH Network.
NAFLD/NASH – Part 2 Nutrition (English Session)
Dr. Diana Mager
Professor of Agricultural, Life and Environmental, University of British Alberta
Dr. Mager is a Professor of the University of Alberta. Her current studies focus on the dietary and metabolic characteristics influencing the patho-genesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and parenteral nutrition induced liver disease in children and adult populations. Her research focused on treatment strategies, including nutrition support interventions, lifestyle modification, patient outcomes and evidence-based clinical dietetic practice. Dr. Mager’s teaching responsibilities relate to advanced clinical nutrition and nutrition support strategies in clinical dietetic practice.
LIVERight Health Forum Host (English Sessions)
Dr. Peter Kim
BC Chapter Board President Canadian Liver Foundation Clinical Associate Professor, University of British Columbia Head, Liver Transplant Program & Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Vancouver General Hospital
Dr. Kim received his medical degree with distinction from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada. He completed his general surgery residency and Master of Sciences degree at the University of British Columbia. His research work focused on differentiating embryonic stem cells into insulin producing cells to treat diabetes. He subsequently completed his abdominal transplant surgery fellowship at the Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, followed by HPB surgery fellowship at the University of Toronto.
His clinical practice includes HPB surgery (liver, pancreas cancer and bile duct cancers) and liver transplantation.
Dr. Kim is an author of over 60 publications and 8 book chapters. His research interests include studying the outcomes in HPB oncology, importance of blood flow to the liver in liver transplantation, and bile duct complications in liver transplantation.
LIVERight Health Forum Host (English Sessions)
Dr. Valeriya Zaborska
Internal Medicine Resident/PGY-2, University of British Columbia
Valeriya is a second year Internal Medicine resident physician at the University of British Columbia Internal Medicine Program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Science in Biomedical Physiology from Simon Fraser University and has worked for the Canadian Liver Foundation (CLF), BC/Yukon Region as an administrator/fundraiser until 2016. Since then, she has volunteered for CLF events such as the annual LIVERight Gala, LIVERight Health Forum, and the Stroll for Liver. She also worked as a medical office assistant in a hepatology clinic and has contributed as a research assistant on multiple liver-related studies, including treatment for HCC, liver transplants, and HCV. During COVID-19, she worked as a Health Operations Navigator for 8-1-1. She is currently involved in a Behavioural Health Coaching initiative, working on motivating adults to make positive lifestyle changes. She is currently interested in pursuing a career in General Internal Medicine and Hepatology.
LIVERight Health Forum Host (Chinese Sessions)
Karen So
News Anchor, Omni TV
Before immigrating to Canada in 1994, Karen studied journalism at the Chinese University of Hong Kong before completing her bachelors’ degree at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. As a student, Karen started her career in media as a part-time reporter for a local radio station. She became fascinated by the world of television news and subsequently joined a Chinese-language television station. Karen joined the OMNI team in 2003, expanding her cultural knowledge and enabling her to converse with countless people from different cultural backgrounds.
Apart from covering daily news, Karen has earned two Jack Webster awards while working on a magazine-style current affairs program and mini-documentaries. She has also been the host of many Vancouver’s talk shows and community events.
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