Indrila Saha
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
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Congratulations to the “Raincity Resuscitators” Anesthesia Resident Simulation Team who won the simulation Olympics at the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society meeting in St. John’s, Newfoundland – June 20 – 22 2025
Resident SIM Olympics
During the annual Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society meeting event, teams of 2-4 residents from across the country come together to take turns responding to highly immersive critical event simulations. This friendly competition invites residents to practice their technical and non-technical skills, socialize with their peers, and learn from practicing anesthesiologists, who score each team and provide feedback after each round.
In 2025, the UBC Anesthesia Simulation Team was the winning team. Members of the team include – Naomi Abayomi, Kate Koh, Jiachen Liang, and Nicole Ng. Congratulations to all
Congratulations to Drs. Alana Flexman and Teresa Skelton who were successfully awarded research grants from the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society
Dr Alana Flexman – Clinical Associate Professor
BCAS Dr Pieter Swart Perioperative research award – $10,000
RESPonsive Nature-Driven Imagery to Reduce Delirium afTEr Cardiac Surgery: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (RESPITE Trial)
Dr Teresa Skelton – Clinical Associate Professor
Perioperative Blood Management Research Award (PBM) – $20,000
Nutritional optimization in pediatric varus-derotational osteotomy: an observational pilot study investigating the impact of perioperative management of iron deficiency anemia on surgical outcomes
Congratulations to Dr. Helen Parker – Best Abstract Winner at the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society meeting in St. John’s, Newfoundland – June 20 – 22 2025
BEST ABSTRACT Winner
Award for best abstract in AMBULATORY ANESTHESIA
– Dr Helen Parker, Clinical Instructor, BC Women’s Hospital
The Impact of Virtual Reality on Patient Satisfaction during Ambulatory Hysteroscopy: A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial
Congratulations to Dr. Jason McVicar who was recognized for his achievements at the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society meeting in St. John’s, Newfoundland – June 20 – 22 2025
CAS – Humanitarian Award
KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA Jason McVicar, MD, FRCPC is Métis from the Red River Settlement in Manitoba. He was born in the Northwest Territories and raised in western Manitoba. He pursued his medical studies at the University of Manitoba and anesthesia residency at Queen’s University, followed by a fellowship in regional anesthesia and pain medicine in Toronto. He practiced at The Ottawa Hospital for the past decade and is now an anesthesiologist at the Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Jason has worked for Médecins Sans Frontières, has been a trustee of the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society International Education Foundation, and completed a public policy fellowship with Action Canada. Dr. McVicar was lead author on two CMAJ publications on surgical outcomes for Indigenous Peoples in Canada. He was awarded the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine Social Accountability Award in 2022.
Dr. McVicar’s current appointments include membership on the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists Pain Committee, co-chair of the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Circle at The Ottawa Hospital, co-chair of the Collaborative Advisory Group for Rural Anesthesia for the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society, and chair of the Global and Rural Health Committee with the Academic Canadian Universities Departments of Anesthesia.
Jason is the proud father of two loud children who has selfishly taught downhill skiing so he can return to the slopes after a decade hiatus. He perpetually pesters his kids by over photographing them with long lenses and can be occasionally found taking pictures of other slower moving things.
Given in recognition of excellence in global anesthesiology.
Dr. Kondiles, postdoctoral fellow awarded a 2 year Craig H Neilsen Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
Congratulations to Dr. Bethany Kondiles (Postdoctoral Fellow as of August 1, 2025 in Dr. Kip Kramer’s lab) who was awarded a 2 year Craig H Neilsen Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to support her research project entitled “PRECiSe-SCI: Pre-clinical Research to Enhance Clinical Success in Spinal Cord Injury”
Decades of efforts to find cures for spinal cord injury (SCI) have resulted in few treatments to restore function. Many interventions show promise in laboratories but fail to translate to significant improvements when tested in clinical trials. This project arises from my belief that improving preclinical research methodology will greatly improve our search for treatments for SCI. I will disambiguate the disconnect between preclinical success and clinical failure. I will use data science and machine learning tools to aggregate and analyze the preclinical data that establishes efficacy for interventions being tested in clinical trials. I hypothesize that I will detect preclinical data characteristics that predict clinical trial features or outcomes, even in absence of statistically significant functional improvement. By capitalizing on machine learning’s ability to find patterns in large datasets I may find patterns in preclinical data that relate to clinical trial characteristics. For example, key features of preclinical data might predict small positive effect sizes in clinical trials, which may fail to reach clinical significance, but represent biological changes and improvements in quality of life. This analysis will give insight into current preclinical approaches, revealing areas for improvement or strengths to exploit. The models and tools will be forward looking, able to incorporate new published data as new interventions are discovered and tested. Iwill build an interactive web tool, SCI Data Path, which will allow people living with SCI to view summaries of the preclinical data for interventions in SCI trials.
Congratulations to Dr. Chris Chin and Dr. Yvonne Csanyi-Fritz on their promotion to Clinical Professor
On May 27, 2025, the Academic Gowns and Emeriti Recognition Ceremony was held by the UBC Faculty of Medicine to honor faculty members who had recently been promoted to the ranks of Professor, Clinical Professor, or Professor of Teaching, and to recognize those who had been granted Emerita or Emeritus status.
In the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, two of our faculty members, Dr. Chris Chin and Dr. Yvonne Csanyi-Fritz, both based at BC Children’s Hospital Anesthesia were honored.
During the ceremony, recipients were presented with academic gowns, and their achievements were celebrated.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to our 2025 graduating Anesthesia Residents!
The Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics is pleased to extend congratulations to our graduating Anesthesia residents.
Rachel Blair
Michelle Chuang
Alex (Jamie) Head
David Li
Kimberly Li
James Matthews
Robin Mawson
Alex McLean
Nilufer Nourouzpour
David Olmstead
Nikunj Patel
Jacob Pelling
Cale Templeton
Dannielle Tinker
Robertson Venema
William Yao
Paul Yen
On June 11, 2025, the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics hosted its 2025 Resident Awards Night, where we were able to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of our residents, including the graduating residents from the Anesthesia Residency Program; Pain Medicine Residency Program and the Family Practice Anesthesia. In addition to announcing the award winners and celebrating the graduates, the event served as a platform to express gratitude to faculty and staff members who had played a vital role in supporting the trainees’ journeys.
Congratulations to our 2025 graduating Pain Medicine Residents!
The Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics is pleased to extend congratulations to our graduating Pain Medicine residents
Noah Alexander
Sam Brophy
On June 11, 2025, the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics hosted its 2025 Resident Awards Night, where we were able to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of our residents, including the graduating residents from the Anesthesia Residency Program; Pain Medicine Residency Program and the Family Practice Anesthesia.
In addition to announcing the award winners and celebrating the graduates, the event served as a platform to express gratitude to faculty and staff members who had played a vital role in supporting the trainees’ journeys.
Congratulations to our 2025 graduating Family Practice Anesthesia Residents!
The Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics is pleased to extend congratulations to our graduating Family Practice Anesthesia residents
Sairvan Fernandes
Jacek Orzylowski
Ethan (Bei Yuan) Zhang
On June 11, 2025, the Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics hosted its 2025 Resident Awards Night, where we were able to acknowledge and celebrate the remarkable accomplishments of our residents, including the graduating residents from the Anesthesia Residency Program; Pain Medicine Residency Program and the Family Practice Anesthesia.
In addition to announcing the award winners and celebrating the graduates, the event served as a platform to express gratitude to faculty and staff members who had played a vital role in supporting the trainees’ journeys.