Vancouver (All mentors accepting applications for 2025-2026.)

Joel Singer is a professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. He has been involved as a clinical trials methodologist and analyst since the 1980s and has been methodological lead on many national and international trials in diverse clinical areas including HIV, COVID, cardiology, nephrology and health behaviours. He has been a member and chair of many Data Safety Monitoring Boards.

Joel Singer is a professor in the School of Population and Public Health at UBC. He has been involved as a clinical trials methodologist and analyst since the 1980s and has been methodological lead on many national and international trials in diverse clinical areas including HIV, COVID, cardiology, nephrology and health behaviours. He has been a member and chair of many Data Safety Monitoring Boards.

Dr. Russell’s major current themes of research are (1) randomized controlled trials in patients with septic shock and now COVID-19 and (2) biomarkers of septic shock and COVID-19.

• The COVID-19 pandemic led to success to study acute and long COVID-19 with 4 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grants and 3 St. Paul’s Foundation grants totalling $4.3 M and 18 peer-reviewed publications (details below).
• Finding and validating new therapies in sepsis and septic shock has been difficult. Dr. Russell is enunciating a new tripartite strategy to increase the yield of breakthrough therapies in sepsis and septic shock by using (1) predictive biomarkers in trials with (2) response adaptive trial design and (3) focus on short-term organ dysfunction primary endpoints.

Dr. Russell’s major current themes of research are (1) randomized controlled trials in patients with septic shock and now COVID-19 and (2) biomarkers of septic shock and COVID-19.

• The COVID-19 pandemic led to success to study acute and long COVID-19 with 4 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grants and 3 St. Paul’s Foundation grants totalling $4.3 M and 18 peer-reviewed publications (details below).
• Finding and validating new therapies in sepsis and septic shock has been difficult. Dr. Russell is enunciating a new tripartite strategy to increase the yield of breakthrough therapies in sepsis and septic shock by using (1) predictive biomarkers in trials with (2) response adaptive trial design and (3) focus on short-term organ dysfunction primary endpoints.

I have been involved in clinical trials for more than 20 years across diverse medical areas including mental health, HIV, emergency medicine, neurology, women & children’s health, and rehabilitation medicine. My methodological research interests are in the design of pragmatic clinical trials, with a current focus on the embedding of trials within learning health systems to support personalized treatment decisions.

I have been involved in clinical trials for more than 20 years across diverse medical areas including mental health, HIV, emergency medicine, neurology, women & children’s health, and rehabilitation medicine. My methodological research interests are in the design of pragmatic clinical trials, with a current focus on the embedding of trials within learning health systems to support personalized treatment decisions.

Dr. Fidel Vila-Rodriguez is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and director of the Non-Invasive Neurostimulation Therapies (NINET) Laboratory and Schizophrenia Program. He is also a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar.

As a clinician-scientist, he has a strong interest in conducting translational research that bridges the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders with the clinical applications of this knowledge. His clinical practice is actively focused in those most severely afflicted by such conditions, and his research interests are directed at finding novel therapeutic interventions within NINET that can help mitigate the suffering of those with severe and refractory forms of psychosis and depression. His laboratory actively investigates on all forms of NINET and uses a varied number of neurophysiological tools to research on biomarkers. The NINET Laboratory is the only centre in Canada to host both simultaneous TMS-fMRI and tDCS-fMRI capability.

Dr. Fidel Vila-Rodriguez is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and director of the Non-Invasive Neurostimulation Therapies (NINET) Laboratory and Schizophrenia Program. He is also a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar.

As a clinician-scientist, he has a strong interest in conducting translational research that bridges the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders with the clinical applications of this knowledge. His clinical practice is actively focused in those most severely afflicted by such conditions, and his research interests are directed at finding novel therapeutic interventions within NINET that can help mitigate the suffering of those with severe and refractory forms of psychosis and depression. His laboratory actively investigates on all forms of NINET and uses a varied number of neurophysiological tools to research on biomarkers. The NINET Laboratory is the only centre in Canada to host both simultaneous TMS-fMRI and tDCS-fMRI capability.

I have been involved in clinical trials for more than 20 years across diverse medical areas including mental health, HIV, emergency medicine, neurology, women & children’s health, and rehabilitation medicine. My methodological research interests are in the design of pragmatic clinical trials, with a current focus on the embedding of trials within learning health systems to support personalized treatment decisions.

I have been involved in clinical trials for more than 20 years across diverse medical areas including mental health, HIV, emergency medicine, neurology, women & children’s health, and rehabilitation medicine. My methodological research interests are in the design of pragmatic clinical trials, with a current focus on the embedding of trials within learning health systems to support personalized treatment decisions.

Dr Hawkins is a clinician-scientist cardiologist and Associate Professor at UBC with dual training in heart failure and electrophysiology. His leadership roles include Medical Lead for Quality and Research at Cardiac Services BC, and Director of Research for the UBC Division of Cardiology. His research group examines cardiovascular outcomes, health services, and comorbidities in patients with heart failure, arrhythmia, and pulmonary disease. He is Co-PI for the MAPLE-CHF and international SYMPHONY heart failure screening trial, member of the CIHR Canadian Heart Function Alliance, and Co-PI for the Canadian Cardiovascular Society MYCOVACC national surveillance study of myocarditis and/or pericarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.

Dr Hawkins is a clinician-scientist cardiologist and Associate Professor at UBC with dual training in heart failure and electrophysiology. His leadership roles include Medical Lead for Quality and Research at Cardiac Services BC, and Director of Research for the UBC Division of Cardiology. His research group examines cardiovascular outcomes, health services, and comorbidities in patients with heart failure, arrhythmia, and pulmonary disease. He is Co-PI for the MAPLE-CHF and international SYMPHONY heart failure screening trial, member of the CIHR Canadian Heart Function Alliance, and Co-PI for the Canadian Cardiovascular Society MYCOVACC national surveillance study of myocarditis and/or pericarditis following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination.