MD, FRCPC
Clinical Assistant Professor
Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
Alberta Children's Hospital

Dr. Simon Lam is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Calgary. He is the director of the southern Alberta pediatric liver transplant program. His current research involves identifying novel ways to detect and screen for biliary atresia.

MD, MSc, FRCPC, FAASLD, FCAHS
Professor of Medicine
Cal Wenzel Family Foundation Chair in Hepatology

Dr. Mark Swain is a hepatologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary. He holds the Cal Wenzel Family Foundation Chair in Hepatology. Dr. Swain has longstanding research and clinical interests in improving the management and treatment of people with metabolic, viral and autoimmune liver disease - with a specific focus on liver disease-associated symptoms.

He is President of the Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver (CASL) and was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2019 for his accomplishments as a clinician and researcher in helping to improve our understanding and management of liver disease.

MD, FRCPC, FAASLD
Professor of Medicine

Dr. Samuel S. Lee is a hepatologist based in Calgary, Alberta. He obtained his medical degree from Memorial University in 1978. He specialized in internal medicine and gastroenterology then went on to pursue a research fellowship in hepatic hemodynamics at INSERM Unit 481 in Clichy, France.

Dr. Lee served as the past president of the Canadian Association of the Study of Liver and the International Ascites Club. He was editor-in-chief of Liver International from 2008 to 2013. Currently, he is a professor at the University of Calgary and the Councilor of the International Association for the Study of Liver.

Clinical Associate Professor, FMC
Hepatology

Dr. Mayur Brahmania is currently Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Calgary in the Division of Gastroenterology and Transplant medicine. Mayur has been involved with the Choosing Wisely Canada (CWC) campaign as the Canadian Association for the Study of Liver Quality Lead where he led the development of the 'top 5' list recommendations for Hepatology and his group is currently working to develop strategies to benchmark quality indicators for chronic liver disease and HCC across Canada. He also works with CWC on the “Diving into Overuse in Hospitals” campaign to promote Choosing Wisely principles in Canadian hospitals. In 2021, he was awarded the Young Scholar in Quality award from CAG.

Parent

Carolyn Kwan is an amazing mother of four children, her oldest son Dylan Kwan, was born with biliary atresia. Carolyn and Dylan have had their fair share of trials as he grew up with liver disease. Now Dylan has just turned eighteen years old, making it necessary to leave behind the pediatric liver doctor he and Carolyn were accustomed to, and transition to the adult liver clinic here at the Foothills Hospital.

Carolyn will share hers and Dylan’s story about that transition, the fears, the process, and tips to help others navigate the system.

Parent

Marla Marshall was born with many liver complications, and after a tumultuous journey with her health throughout childhood, she had a liver transplant at the age of 17. She was then blessed to live a normal, happy life attending university, becoming a flight attendant and a legal assistant, she travelled the world and had three beautiful daughters who are the joy of her life. However, after years of good health, in 2022 her liver once again began to fail. Marla will tell us about her journey, her close brush with mortality, how she overcame it and continues to live a life feeling blessed for all her good fortune.

Non-Directed Living Liver Donor & Communications Strategist

Heather Badenoch says that the best decision she ever made was donating 22 per cent of her liver to a stranger—to a child she’s never met.

Heather believes in the power of not-for-profits and the strength they have to effect change for people, animals and our environment. As the Communications Strategist at Village PR, she advises health, disability, community and environmental clients.

An active volunteer with the transplant community, Heather mentors people on the path to becoming living liver donors and volunteers with the Canadian Donation and Transplant Research Program and the UHN Centre for Living Organ Donation Advisory Council. She also helps people on the transplant list find living donors by running their public appeals pro bono.

Professor of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Division of Gastroenterology, Vancouver General Hospital
Medical Advisory Committee, Canadian Liver Foundation, Chair

Dr. Eric Yoshida is a Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is also currently the President of the Medical Staff Association at the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). 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 more than 320 papers in peer-reviewed journals in the area of liver disease and liver transplantation. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the Canadian Liver Journal, the official journal of CASL, and was 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 BC. 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.

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 (UBC) and the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at UBC and a liver specialist in the Division of Gastroenterology at the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). Since 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.

Clinical Instructor, Division of General Surgery, University of British Columbia
HPB Fellowship Program Director
Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Surgery, Vancouver General Hospital

Dr. Michael Bleszynski is a hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) surgeon, liver and pancreas transplant surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH), and a clinical instructor at the Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

Dr. Bleszynski completed his medical school at the Jagiellonian University, Medical College in Krakow, Poland. He then completed his Master’s Degree in Surgery and his General Surgery Residency training at UBC. Following surgical residency, he completed a 1-year fellowship in HPB/Transplant at UBC and a 2-year abdominal transplant/HPB fellowship at the University of Toronto.

One of his main focuses is expanding the pancreas transplant program at VGH. His research interests include quality improvement and clinical outcomes in HPB and liver/pancreas transplantation.

His clinical practice includes, HPB oncology (pancreas, liver, and bile duct cancers), surgical management of chronic pancreatitis, liver, pancreas and islet cell transplantation.

Clinical Hepatologist

Dr. Edward Tam is a Clinical Hepatologist in Vancouver, BC.

He has a full-time community-based clinical practice in General Hepatology with a focus on viral hepatitis, as well as an interest in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and autoimmune liver diseases. He is active in teaching, clinical research, clinical guidelines development, has published extensively in peer-review journals and presented at international congresses, and has also served on the Board for the Canadian Liver Foundation BC/Yukon Region for many years.

He is most excited about global efforts working toward the elimination of hepatitis C, development of new therapeutics in the area of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and the future promise of curative therapies for chronic hepatitis B.

Registered Kinesiologist

Andreja has been a Practicing Kinesiologist for over 24 years. She graduated from Simon Fraser University in 1998 with a BSc. Kinesiology, completed a Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Gerontology (the study of Aging) in 2005; and a Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Science in 2021 from the University of Melbourne in Australia. Andreja holds a mandate ‘to help people’ and is driven by science to find solutions. She takes a methodical approach in her exercise programming and looks to restore function, correct patterns, increase strength, enhance performance, condition for sport, and above all improve quality of life!

Andreja also holds certifications in Kinesio-taping, Functional Movement Systems (Level I/II), Clinical Athlete Weightlifting Certification, Active Isolated Stretching (AIS - Mattes Method), Functional Capacity Evaluation (Matheson System), Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS) Level I Exercise / (DNS) Level II Exercise, TRX - Suspension Training, and Trigger Point Performance Therapy.

Andreja is a member in good standing with the BC Association of Kinesiologists (BCAK) and has been an instructor for the BCAK Functional Assessment of the Spine and Extremities course for the past 12 years. She also served on the BCAK Board of Directors for 10 years and held the position of President in an effort to continue driving the profession of Kinesiology forward. Andreja enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 young daughters, playing in the outdoors, running marathons, and working on her strength and conditioning.

HBSc., RD

Ali J. Chernoff is a Registered Dietitian who has over 20 years of experience in the industry. She offers one on one, corporate wellness workshops, healthy menu planning, and environmentally friendly meals in mason jars.

Since 1993, Ali has been involved in numerous activities related to the field of nutrition. She provides services that include conducting educational sessions to groups and individuals on Diabetes Education, Family Nutrition, Food Allergies/ Intolerances, Gut Health (IBS/Celiac), Healthy Heart Tips, Meal Planning, Sports Nutrition, Lifestyle Nutrition, Vegetarian/ Vegan Meal Planning and Weight Management. As well, Ali’s involvement with SportMedBC includes one on one with athletes and onsite counselling. She writes for numerous health and wellness magazines, including IMPACT Magazine, Canuck runner, and Pacific road racers. In addition, she has been quoted in articles in several publications; Chatelaine, Georgia Straight, Metro, Today’s Parent, Vancouver Courier, The Province, Verve Girl, The Vancouver Sun and Ottawa Citizen. Also, she has been featured on CityTV (Breakfast Television and CityCooks), CTV (Olsen On Your Side and the 6pm news), PBS (Chowtime cooking show), Joy TV (First Talk with Tamara Bull) and Women’s Network (the Shopping Bags). Ali started a second company called Energy Essentials 24-7 Inc. to develop healthy whole foods such as a 7% M.F. cheese, Essential which was sold in 2016. She has co-authored and self-published two books: Good Food Baby and Good Food Toddler.

She also likes spending time with her dog, Apple, and helping dog owners switch from kibble to whole foods. She is an avid skier during the winter months and golfs in the summer - a true Vancouverite. Every year she tries to travel to an interesting place in the world to experience different cultures and try new foods.

Father, Volunteer, Advocate

Richard’s son, Mathew, is one of the very few that can say that both his mother and father have given him life. His mother at birth and his father on September 7, 2010 when he donated 71% of his liver to give his son a second chance. Watch Richard tell the full story at the 2024 LIVERight Health Forum.

Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division

https://bc.cmha.ca/about-cmha/