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Welcome to Pathology's Bi-Weekly Bulletin | June 6, 2025
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‍Pathology Day 2025 - A Great Success!

Pathology Day 2025 was a huge success! We had a beautiful sunny day, great food, and everyone enjoyed the event. The theme "A Journey Inside the Brain" brought together excellent presentations and posters from our students and residents. We also welcomed our youngest participant — just a few months old — who joined his dad during the poster session! Here are the winners:

Grad Student Oral Presentation Winners:
1st Place: Asha Subramaniam; 2nd Place: Jenny Zhao; 3rd Place: Fang Fang Li

Grad Student Poster Presentation Winners:
PhD Poster Winners: 1st Place: Craig Ivany ; 2nd Place: Jennifer Cooper; 3rd Place: Mohammad Ghodsi MSc Poster Winners:1st Place: Julliet Zama; 2nd Place: Amir Parham Pirhadi Rad; 3rd Place: Isabella DiBerardino (Neuroscience)

PDF Poster Award Winner: Alexandre Aubert

BMLSc Award Winners:
BJ Twaites Prize - Avah Zamani Farahani
Donald M. McLean Prize, Reid Memorial Prize, William J. Godolphin Prize, and C.F.A. Culling Prize – all awarded to Willie Wu
Outstanding Performance in Pathology 405 "Seminars in Current Topics" - Avah Zamani Farahani
Teaching Excellence Award - Jennifer Xenakis
Teaching Excellence Award - Dr. Morgan Alford
Teaching Excellence Award - Dr. Sophia Park
Philip E Reid Memorial Cup - Jenny Tai

Resident Oral Presentation Winners:
1st Place: Emma Finlayson-Trick; 2nd Place: Anthony Speranza; 3rd Place: Brenden Joseph

Resident Poster Presentation Winners:
1st Place: Michael Minkley; 2nd Place: Abdulrahman Almodahka; 3rd Place: Elsire Boulanger Laborit

Noble Family Award in Laboratory Quality:
Resident: Elsire Boulanger Laborit; Graduate Student: Abbey Sugars-Keen (MSc); Undergraduate: Amit Sharma

Other Awards:
1st Place PDF Pathology Grant Application Practicum Award: Yasir Mohamud
2nd Place Graduate Student Pathology Grant Application Practicum Award: Lanlan Fang
Gross to Nano Histology Award for PATH 501: Jenny Zhao
PATH 502 MVP Award: Fabian Frontzek
Pritchard Award for Best Graduate Student Seminar: Alexandra Witt
PATH 501 Outstanding Instructor: Dr. Jacqueline Quandt
PATH 502 Outstanding Instructor: Dr. Ramon Klein-Geltink
PATH 535/635 Outstanding Instructor: Dr. Leandro Venturutti

🔗 📸 View event photos
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Pathology Residency Program Update & Lunch

We have some staffing changes in our residency program. Please join us in welcoming Lihini Gunasekara, who has joined the residency admin team as Mayumi's maternity leave replacement until December 31, 2026. Lihini will be using the generic residency assistant email for all residency matters: pathology.residencyasst@ubc.ca.

We had a farewell lunch for Mayumi on Wednesday to wish her and her family all the best as they prepare to welcome a baby girl.

 

 

Weekly Province-wide Pathology Rounds

🩺 Weekly Rounds Update

Please note: Weekly Rounds are paused for the summer and will resume in September 2025.

We hope everyone has a restful and enjoyable summer. Thank you for your continued engagement, and we look forward to seeing you again in the fall!

💻 Attend via Zoom only:

PLEASE NOTE: The Zoom information for this recurring meeting has been updated. If you saved the old Zoom link somewhere, please update your records.

NEW Zoom Link: https://ubc.zoom.us/j/66114231597?pwd=CRlUz4RaIaMwegbg7ClYWYK3aikAI5.1

Meeting ID: 661 1423 1597 Passcode: 600976

🔁 Missed a session? View recordings of previous rounds here: Past Rounds Archive

💡 Have ideas for future rounds or speakers? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at pathassist@pathology.ubc.ca
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Kelowna Regional Leadership Update

As part of our provincial engagement efforts, Dr. Gao and Dr. Nimmo visited the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Kelowna General Hospital.

During the visit, Dr. Gao presented a certificate to Dr. Denis Bonin in recognition of his service as Regional Associate Academic Department Head.

Effective June 1, 2025, Dr. Will Chen has been appointed to succeed Dr. Bonin in this role.

Now Accepting Applications: Clinical Faculty Mentoring Program 2025–26

Applications are now open for the UBC Faculty of Medicine Clinical Faculty Mentoring Program, running from October 2025 to April 2026. This is a great opportunity for clinical faculty who are interested in teaching, mentoring, or being mentored by a more experienced colleague.

The program includes monthly mentoring meetings, career development support, and optional CPD credits:

  • Mentees: Up to 8.5 Mainpro+/MOC Section 3 credits
  • Mentors: 1.5 Mainpro+/MOC Section 1 credits
  • Time commitment: ~9 hours over 7 months
  • Cost: Free

Learn more and apply by July 15, 2025
Program overview: Download PDF

Questions? Contact cf.mentoring@ubc.ca

Cybersecurity Alert: Phishing Emails Targeting UBC Credentials

UBC faculty, staff, and students are advised to be on alert for phishing emails that closely mimic UBC login pages, especially for Workday and CWL.

Be cautious of emails asking you to enter UBC credentials—especially those marked with a yellow banner stating [CAUTION: Non-UBC Email]. Always access UBC systems by navigating to official UBC websites directly rather than clicking links in emails.

If you receive a suspicious email or think you may have entered your credentials on a fake site, report it immediately to security@ubc.ca.

More info: Phishing Email Guide
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Honouring Faculty at the 2025 Academic Gowns and Emeriti Recognition Ceremony

Congratulations to the following members of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine who were recognized at the 2025 Academic Gowns and Emeriti Recognition Ceremony on May 27:

Academic Promotions

  • Dr. Victor Leung – Clinical Professor
  • Dr. William Lockwood – Professor
  • Dr. Bojana Rakic – Clinical Professor
  • Dr. Aleksandra Stefanovic – Clinical Professor
  • Dr. Li Wang – Clinical Professor
  • Dr. Michelle Wong – Clinical Professor

Emeriti Appointments

  • Dr. Maria Victoria Monsalve – Associate Professor of Teaching Emeritus
  • Dr. Chun Seow – Professor Emeritus

Dr. Zu-hua Gao presented the department's honourees during the ceremony. Please join us in celebrating the achievements and ongoing contributions of our faculty members!

New Publication: Respiratory Virus and Echinacea Study

Congratulations to Dr. Selvarani Vimalanathan, Virology Lead, and Dr. James Hudson, Professor Emeritus, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, on their recent publication in Frontiers in Pharmacology.
The article, titled “Respiratory virus-induced bacterial dysregulation in pediatric airway tissue and the dual actions of Echinacea in reducing complications,” explores how respiratory viruses increase bacterial adhesion in pediatric airway tissues and how Echinacea purpurea extract may help reduce these effects.

Read the full article
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Celebrating Alumni Success: Eva Meihua Su Publishes on Wearable Biosensors

We are proud to share that Eva Meihua Su, a graduate of UBC’s Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science (BMLSc) program, has co-authored a chapter titled “Wearable Biosensors: A Comprehensive Overview” in the journal Progress in Molecular Biology and Translational Science (Elsevier, May 2025).

Eva contributed to this publication as part of a project led by Dr. Kevin Y. Wu at the University of Sherbrooke. The chapter explores the growing field of wearable biosensors and their role in continuous health monitoring and diagnostics.

Read the chapter: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877117325000778

Eva’s work highlights the outstanding contributions of our BMLSc alumni to innovative health research. Congratulations, Eva!

CIHR Summer 2025 Planning & Dissemination Grants Now Open

The CIHR Summer 2025 Planning & Dissemination Grant competition is now accepting applications. With a budget of $2.92 million, this cycle is expected to fund approximately 124 awards, ranging from $10,000 to $75,000 for a one-year term.

Application deadline: June 19, 2025 This round introduces the new narrative-style Tri-agency CV. SPARC is offering additional support, including:

  • Guidebooks and activity templates (CWL login required)
  • Annotated Tri-agency CV template (available online)
  • Drop-in CV consultations:
    • Thursday, May 22 (10 a.m.–1 p.m.)
    • Monday, May 26 (1–4 p.m.)
    Registration and draft CV required in advance.

For more details, visit the SPARC website (CWL login required).

📣 Have News to Share?

Do you have a story, publication, award, event, or other exciting update to share with the UBC Pathology community?

We’d love to hear from you! Please reach out to Debbie Bertanjoli at dbertanjoli@pathology.ubc.ca.

Let’s celebrate our collective achievements and keep our community connected!