Researchers & Clinicians

Dr. Cathy Slavik – MPH, PhD

Dr. Cathy Slavik
MPH, PhD

Dr. Cathy Slavik is an Assistant Professor and the Legacy for Airway Health Chair in Health Communication in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. She is also a Research Scientist at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute. Her research examines how social and environmental risk factors shape health and how health risks can be communicated to support informed decision-making and behaviour change. Previously, she was a Behavioural Science Research Fellow at Impact Canada and Health Canada’s Tobacco Control Directorate, studying ways to help Canadians quit tobacco through improved cessation services and resources. She also held the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Oregon’s Center for Science Communication Research, where she developed and tested health education tools aimed at increasing public awareness of environmental and health risks, such as wildfire smoke and radon. She received her PhD from the School of Earth, Environment & Society at McMaster University and her Master’s of Public Health in Occupational and Environmental Health from the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Dr. Min Hyung Ryu – Ph.D.

Dr. Min Hyung Ryu
Ph.D.

Dr. Ryu holds the Moira and David Yeung Professorship in Respiratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia. He is also an Assistant Professor in the Division of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, and a Principal Investigator at the Centre for Lung Health and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.

Dr. Ryu’s research program focuses on systems biology-driven approaches to define the etiology of complex diseases of the lungs. His lab leverages omics datasets and cutting-edge data science methodologies, such as machine learning, to identify preventative and therapeutic strategies for chronic respiratory illnesses. His research program combines population omics research (molecular epidemiology) and translational research to impact the lives of those living with chronic lung diseases.

Dr. Ryu completed his postdoctoral training at the Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA in 2024. He received a PhD in Experimental Medicine from the University of British Columbia in 2021. Prior to his doctoral studies, Dr. Ryu received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology and BSc in Life Sciences at the University of Manitoba and Queen’s University, respectively.

Dr. Ryu’s ultimate goal is to leverage “big molecular data” to help patients and their healthcare teams mitigate environmental and genetic risk factors for chronic respiratory diseases and improve their quality of life.

Dr. Naomi Zimmerman – Ph.D.

Dr. Naomi Zimmerman
Ph.D.

Dr. Naomi Zimmerman is an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering at the University of British Columbia and is a Canada Research Chair in Sustainability. Prior to joining UBC she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies at Carnegie Mellon University and also holds a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the measurement of air pollutants in complex environments to better understand the health and climate impacts of new technologies and policies, with a focus on the transportation and energy sectors.

Dr. Connie Yang – MSc, MD

Dr. Connie Yang
MSc, MD

Dr. Connie Yang is a pediatric respirologist at BC Children’s Hospital’s in Vancouver where she is the Medical Director of the Pediatric Asthma Program. She completed her respirology fellowship at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and her Master’s Degree at the University of Toronto where she examined the accuracy of diagnostic tests for asthma in children. She is currently the co-chair of the Canadian Thoracic Society Asthma Steering Committee and the chair of the latest Asthma Guideline committee. She has an interest in improving the management of and ensuring equitable care across the province for children with asthma, cystic fibrosis and interstitial lung disease.

Marvin Wesenberg RRT, CRE

Marvin Wesenberg
RRT, CRE

Marvin graduated from Thompson Rivers University, as a Respiratory Therapist in 1993 and in 2008 became a Certified Respiratory Educator. For 13 years he worked at Vancouver General Hospital as a core therapist on the spinal cord unit, working with a multidisciplinary team to provide specialized respiratory management. As the opportunities for community-based Respiratory Therapy increased, so did his interest in becoming involved in the community clinic setting. In December 2006 he accepted the opportunity to become a Community Therapist on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. The role has involved spirometry, COPD and asthma education, research, quality improvement projects and implementing a tobacco reduction clinic.

Dr. Stephanus F van Eeden – MD, Ph.D., FRCP

Dr. Stephanus F van Eeden
MD, Ph.D., FRCP

Dr. van Eeden is a Professor within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and a Principal Investigator at the UBC Centre for Heart Lung Innovation at St. Paul’s hospital. He obtained his MD and Ph.D degrees at UBC. He currently holds a CIHR/GlaxoSmithCline Research Chair in COPD. His research focus is on mechanisms of lung inflammation, particularly, lung inflammation caused by infection, cigarette smoking and air pollution. This research covers a broad range of clinical conditions such as pneumonia, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, scleroderma and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The research is multidisciplinary and integrated and includes work at molecular, cellular, organ, intact animal and human levels. Dr. van Eeden’s current clinical translational studies explore the potential utility of wearable electronic devices to continuously monitor subjects with COPD with the aim to identify early signs of acute exacerbations and early treatment of AECOPD to improve long-term outcomes.

Dr. Scott Tebbutt – BA, Ph.D.

Dr. Scott Tebbutt
BA, Ph.D.

Dr. Tebbutt is Professor in the Department of Medicine (Respiratory Division), University of British Columbia, as well as Principal Investigator and Director of Education at the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, Canada. His research program is focused on systems biology of complex disease and other health-related conditions, including asthma, allergic rhinitis, heart failure, and neonatal vaccinology. He is Chief Executive & Scientific Officer of the Prevention of Organ Failure (PROOF) Centre of Excellence – a not-for-profit organization dedicated to moving research findings into health care, and focused on non-invasive omic biomarkers that can diagnose and/or predict organ failure (heart, lung and kidney). Dr. Tebbutt holds a B.A. in biochemistry from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of East Anglia (Cambridge Laboratory, John Innes Centre).

Dr. Laura Struik – Ph.D., RN

Dr. Laura Struik
Ph.D., RN

Dr. Struik is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health and Social Development at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus. Her current research focuses on the development, implementation, and evaluation of e-Health interventions for tobacco control, from prevention to cessation. She is currently working with a variety of stakeholders and end-users in developing innovative solutions for addressing e-cigarette use among youth and young adults. She brings a gender-sensitive lens to her work, as well as a strong skillset in qualitative research methods.

Dr. Don D. Sin – MD

Dr. Don D. Sin 
MD

Dr. Sin is the Director of the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (HLI), and a Professor of Medicine at University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. He holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in COPD and the De Lazzari Family Chair at HLI. He has published more than 500 peer-reviewed papers and has an H-index of 98. Expertscape.com has ranked him as the leading COPD expert in Canada and 2nd in the world (http://www.expertscape.com/ex/copd/p/earth). He has served on the Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) scientific committee since 2009 and is the section editor for the European Respiratory Journal and an editorial board member of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. He obtained his medical degree at University of Alberta and completed his post-doctoral research fellowship at University of Toronto. His research focus is using “omics” data to discover novel biomarkers of disease activity and new therapeutic targets to reduce hospitalization and mortality in patients with COPD.