The UBC Medical Alumni Association (MAA) will be celebrating the achievements of several faculty members and students from the UBC medical community at its upcoming UBC Medical Alumni Celebration & Awards event. Through their varied contributions, each of this year’s award recipients has helped build a more dynamic and robust medicine community through their service and actions.
The recipients will be recognized at the UBC Medical Alumni Celebration & Awards on Thursday, May 2, 2024. UBC MD alumni, residents, faculty, and community members are invited to attend.
This year’s award recipients are:
Honorary Medical Alumni Award
Dr. Silke Appel-Cresswell
Associate Professor, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine
Director, Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre, UBC
Founding Director, BC Brain Wellness Program
Marg Meikle Professorship in Parkinson’s Disease Research
A movement disorder neurologist trained in Germany, London (UK), and Vancouver, Dr. Appel-Cresswell holds the Marg Meikle Professorship for Research in Parkinson’s disease and directs the Pacific Parkinson’s Research Centre at UBC. Her research focuses on the role of the microbiome and nutrition in Parkinson’s disease and related brain disorders, lifestyle interventions as well as non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s. She is also the founding director of the BC Brain Wellness Program.
Dr. Adrian Yee
Director of Curriculum, Undergraduate Medical Education Program
Founding Division Head of Hematology, Island Health
Dr. Yee serves as Director of Curriculum for the UBC MD Undergraduate Program. In this role, Dr. Yee provides province-wide curricular leadership, ensuring a high-quality educational experience for UBC medical students across all four sites and four years of the program. Dr. Yee has a passion for community-based and patient-centered innovation and is the Principal Investigator for innovative projects in Virtual Care, Team-Based Care and Planetary Health.
Student Leadership Award
Valerie Mok
Second-year MD student, Vancouver Fraser Medical Program
Valerie is deeply committed to ensuring equitable access to healthcare, particularly for marginalized populations. As president of the UBC Pathways to Medicine Club, Valerie spearheads efforts to provide equitable access and guidance for those interested in pursuing a career in medicine, especially for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds.
Alvin Qiu
Eighth-year MD/PhD student, Vancouver Fraser Medical Program
Alvin completed his PhD thesis work studying the epigenetic mechanisms driving a soft tissue cancer called synovial sarcoma. Throughout medical school, Alvin has been actively involved in student government and strived to address students’ learning needs and supported student wellness initiatives both locally at UBC and across the country.