VMDAS and VPSA Board Members

Dr. Eric Yoshida is a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia and the past head of gastroenterology at UBC and  VGH.  He is also the former medical director of BC’s Liver Transplant Program and remains a part of the program.  Eric has been a member of the Canadian Association for the Study of Liver (CASL)’s governing board since 2002 and was its president from 2008-10.  He is the chair of Medical Advisory Committee of the national Canadian Liver Foundation and the founding chair of the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada’s Diploma in Hepatology Committee.

Eric is the editor-in-chief of CASL’s new journal, the Canadian Liver Journal, and serves/has served as an associate editor and editorial board member of several well-known liver disease/gastroenterology journals.  He is also a volunteer specialist consultant for Medecins sans Frontiers and was a volunteer physician for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the 2011 Canadian Open PGA tournament (he does not golf), and the 2019-19 IIHF World Hockey Championships. 

Selected awards he has been the recipient of include: the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012); the Martin M. Hoffman Award for Excellence in Research (UBC, Department of Medicine) (2013); the Vancouver Acute Medical & Allied Staff Award for Clinical Excellence (2015); the CASL Distinguished Service Award (2016); the Order of British Columbia (2016); and the Dr. William Webber Award from the UBC Medical Undergraduate Society (2017).

Dr. Alison Harris is a radiologist and UBC clinical professor with a special interest in abdominal imaging and genitourinary intervention. She began her career in England and joined VCH in 1999. In 2007 she became the medical head for the Abdominal Division; she was awarded the UBC Burhenne Scholarship in Radiology from 2009 to 2013. She served as the president of the BC Radiological Society from 2017 to 2019 and has also participated in Doctors of BC’s Medical Imaging Advisory Committee, its Guidelines and Protocols Advisory Committee, as well as its Negotiations Forum.

Alison has been a member of VPSA’s Engagement Working Group for several years. She was involved in the appreciative inquiry work that led to the report on women physician leadership and now serves on the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group. She is excited to be part of the board and to working closely with the physician and allied health community. Her goal is to build on already existing structures and develop new initiatives to improve collaboration across the multiple groups and health authority leadership.

Dr. Alex Lee is a thoracic surgeon at VGH as well as the director of the UBC Thoracic Surgery Residency Program. He has received many honours throughout his career including the Star of Courage from the Governor General in 1995.

Alex came to VCH and UBC in 2017 and is the vice president of the BC Chest Surgery Association and the Thoracic Surgery Section Representative at Doctors of BC. He is passionate about training medical students, residents, thoracic surgery fellows, and allied health professionals. He received the Dr. Forward Award for Postgraduate Surgical Education and Teaching in 2018. He is also deeply committed to physician engagement. In addition to serving on the VMDAS and VPSA boards, he is a member of the VPSA Engagement Working Group and the VPSA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group. He also leads the VPSA Talent Management and Succession Planning Working Group.

Dr. Sophia Wong is a laboratory physician at Vancouver General Hospital as well as a physician quality improvement advisor for VCH/PHC and a board member of Doctors of BC. She has an interest in medical education, and currently serves as program director of the UBC Medical Biochemistry Residency Training Program, as well as interim co-director of the UBC Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science Program.

Sophia is an active member of the VPSA Facility Engagement Working Group and sits on a number of VPSA task groups. She is excited to be a part of the VMDAS/VPSA board because she believes that better decisions are made when the board reflects the diversity of its membership, and when different perspectives are valued and actively sought out. She looks forward to working with and learning from her fellow executives.

Dr. Vivian Yin is an ophthalmologist specializing in oculoplastic and orbital oncology and an assistant professor in the Department of Ophthalmology. Her clinical focus is on the treatment of periocular and orbital cancer, specifically the use of targeted therapy. She is a graduate of the Physician Leadership Program from the Sauder Business School and holds leadership roles on national and international societies for her work in global health and prevention of avoidable blindness.

Vivian developed an interest in health system improvement while working on her master’s in public health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It is her goal to not only contribute to health system improvement in developing countries, but also within her own health authority.

Dr. Joy Masuhara is a family physician who has specialized in the care of the elderly throughout her career. Currently she works for Vancouver Coastal Health, Community Older Adult Mental Health and Substance Use Program, and is lead on a project to improve care for frail ethnic seniors. This project has been supported by Facility Engagement and the Vancouver Division of Family Practice and was a PLQI (Physician Led Quality Improvement) initiative. She has given many workshops and lectures on topics such as dementia, quality improvement in nursing homes, polypharmacy and multicultural care.  Joy has been a member of the Vancouver Division of Family Practice, Frail Elder Care Committee since 2015. She is a clinical assistant professor with the UBC Faculty of Medicine and sits on the UBC Community Geriatrics Logistics Committee. She also is a member of the newly formed VPSA/VCH Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and co-chairs the Culture and Environment Working Group.

Joy is on the Board of Directors of SUCCESS, a multicultural and seniors social service non-profit society. Other volunteer work includes being co-chair of Women Transforming Cities International Society, a non-profit group based in Vancouver that works towards improving the lives of women and girls at the local level. Through this organization she has helped to create an online initiative called the Women Friendly Cities Challenge and has spoken at UN Habitat III and the World Urban Forum. She is also co-chair of the Sexual Orientation Gender Identity (SOGI) Partner Constituency Group of the General Assembly of Partners (GAP). GAP is an international multi-stakeholder platform that has been working with UN Habitat to provide civil society input to the process of sustainable urban development.