Eric Zhao is the recipient of the 2018 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Award.
UBC MD/PhD candidate Eric Zhao is the recipient of the 2018 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF) Award.
The award recognizes second-year medical students with an established track record of community leadership, superior communication skills and demonstrated interest in advancing knowledge.
A data scientist and health innovator, Zhao is committed to empowering patients and personalizing medicine. He co-authored over 15 original research articles, reviews, and book chapters and has delivered platform presentations at leading conferences including Advances in Genome Biology & Technology and The American Society of Clinical Oncology. He also recently defended his PhD, developing computational methods to personalize cancer therapy using whole-genome DNA stability analysis.
For his accomplishments he received the Lloyd Skarsgard Research Excellence Award and Vanier Canada Scholarship. Zhao served as vice chair of the UBC Vancouver Senate and president of the UBC Medical Undergraduate Society (MUS). In this role, he oversaw passage of a position paper on National Pharmacare, revamped student representation on Faculty of Medicine committees, overhauled member communication, and supported the launch of the inaugural MUS Strategic Plan. He now co-leads a faculty of medicine working group on disruptive innovation in medical education.
In 2015, he co-founded a start-up tailoring evidence-based medication care plans for patients with complex health needs. Nationally, Zhao advises on the CIHR Strategic Working Group on Health Research Training and served as VP Internal of the Clinician-Investigator Trainee Association of Canada.
Each CMHF award recipient receives a cash prize of $5,000 and a travel subsidy to attend the 2019 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Induction ceremony in Montreal on May 2, 2019, where they will have the opportunity to meet CMHF Laureates and interact with health leaders from across the country.