PSP Musculoskeletal (MSK)
Train the Trainer 1
Speaker Biographies
Dr. Julia Alleyne is a Sport Medicine Physician in Toronto, Canada. She is appointed at the
University of Toronto, Department of Family and Community Medicine as an associate clinical
professor. In addition, she holds an active license as a Physiotherapist.
Dr. Alleyne is very involved in education at the University of Toronto as Chair of the Sport and
Exercise Fellowship program since 2004 and course director of the award-wining 5 Weekend MSK
Certificate program for Family Physicians. She is the current Chair of the Education Commission for
the International Sport Medicine Federation and a committee member of Bone and Joint Canada.
She was honoured by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and
Physical Activity as a recipient of the 2003 Most Influential Women in Sport and Physical Activity
Award. Currently, she is providing educational curriculum design leadership to provincial strategies
in Ontario and British Columbia focused on Low Back Pain.
Connie Davis serves as Patients as Partners quality improvement lead for British Columbia and is a
nurse practitioner specializing in care of the elderly. She is a trainer of master educators for the
Stanford Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, a member of the Motivational Interviewing
Network of Trainers and adjunct clinical faculty for the University of British Columbia School of
Nursing. Connie is a fellow at the Center for Advancing Health based in Washington DC, an
organization that focuses on increasing patient engagement in health and health care. She is the
program coordinator of the non-profit Centre for Comprehensive Motivational Interventions
(CCMI).
Dr. Pankaj Dhawan is a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, certified by the Royal
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in his specialty in 1988 after completing his
residency training at Dalhousie University. Since then he has been in full time practice especially
dealing with soft tissue injuries, brain injuries, chronic pain, neurological disorders, nerve
conduction and EMG studies as well as treatment and rehabilitation of disabled individuals with
multiple impairments with an expertise in assessment and treatment of post-trauma neck and back
pain, facet joint disorders, headache including chronic migraine, dystonia, spasticity and regional
disorders of muscle spasm such as thoracic outlet syndrome and piriformis syndrome. He treats
patients in a comprehensive manner with medications, lifestyle counseling, rehabilitation therapies
and ultrasound guided injections of local anesthetics, steroid preparation and therapeutic use of
Botulinum toxins. He was an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie University
in Halifax from 1988 to1999 and University of British Columbia from 2000 to 2009.
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Dr.Tim Dundas has been employed in Kamloops as a Medical Advisor with WorkSafeBC for the
past 13 years. In addition to providing medical opinions and advice to claim managers, he has
researched and presented to new Medical Advisors and community physicians on the subjects of
low back pain, disability and return to work management, chronic pain and physician advocacy.
Dr. Dundas is a 1967 graduate of University of London (UK) and before joining WorkSafeBC worked
for 24 years in Squamish, BC, engaged in full – service family practice including emergency
medicine, obstetrics, and anesthesia, and maintains active CCFP designation.
Dr. Dundas is a member of the MSK Module Content Working Group for the Practice Support
Program
Dr. Bruce Hobson has been a family practitioner in Powell River for 31 years. He is actively involved
with the PSP program in the Mental Health, Child and Youth Mental Health, End of Life, Shared
Care COPD/HF and MSK modules and also working in integrating the PSP modules into electronic
form and integrating the tools and resources into electronic medical records. He is also working
with PITO on optimizing the use of electronic medical records in physician’s offices. He is the Chair
of the Powell River Division of Family Practice and working on a number of provincial primary and
shared care projects.
Barry Koehler is Clinical Professor Emeritus in the Division of Rheumatology, UBC. He has had a
general rheumatology practice since 1973, initially in Thunder Bay, ON, subsequently in Vancouver
(where he was Medical Director for the BC and Yukon Division of the Arthritis Society) and, since
1989, in Richmond. He is a past president of the Canadian Rheumatology Association.
Diane Lacaille MD MHSc FRCPC is an Associate Professor in the Division of Rheumatology at the
University of British Columbia, and a senior scientist at the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada, in
Vancouver. She holds the Mary Pack Chair in Arthritis Research from UBC and The Arthritis Society
of Canada. Her research focuses on two areas: 1) Studying the impact of arthritis on employment
and preventing work disability. 2) Evaluating the quality of health care services received by people
with RA, using a population-based cohort of RA for the province of BC. Her research has been
supported by peer reviewed grants from the Canadian Institute for Health and Research, the
Canadian Arthritis Network and The Arthritis Society of Canada.
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PSP Musculoskeletal (MSK)
Train the Trainer 1
Dr. Linda Li is Associate Professor and Harold Robinson / Arthritis Society Chair in Arthritic Diseases
at the Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, and Senior Scientist at the
Arthritis Research Centre of Canada. She is also a physiotherapist at the Mary Pack Arthritis
Program, Vancouver General Hospital since 2006. Dr. Li earned a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology at
the University of Toronto, and then completed a CIHR-funded post-doctoral fellowship in clinical
epidemiology/knowledge translation at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.
As a health services researcher, Dr. Li’s research focuses in two areas: 1) understanding the helpseeking experience in people with early inflammatory arthritis, and 2) evaluating models of arthritis
care.
Dr. Michael Look is a family physician and a Clinical Assistant Professor at UBC.
Dr. Brenda Lau is a Pain Specialist/Anesthesiologist practicing in BC following a fellowship with the
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Anesthesiology in 2004. She is a Fellow of
the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Australia & New Zealand College of Anaesthetists since 2006
after completing her two year Pain Medicine fellowship and Master of Medicine degree in Sydney,
Australia. Her anesthetic and interventional pain management practices reside at the Surrey
Memorial Hospital (SMH) and St. Paul’s Hospital (SPH). She is a founder of CHANGEpain Clinic
(CpC). She is currently the chair of the Fraser Health Authority Pain Services Division overseeing the
development of acute and chronic pain services in 11 FHA hospitals and their respective
communities.
She is a founder of the newest Royal College SubSpecialty of Pain Medicine and the inaugural Chair
of BC’s Pain medicine residency program application committee.
Dr. Garey Mazowita received his MD from the Univ. of Manitoba in 1979, his CCFP in 1990, and his
FCFP in 2000. He was in full-service private practice in Winnipeg for many years, and then joined
the Dept. of Family Medicine at the Univ. of Manitoba as a full-time Residency preceptor. Prior to
assuming his position as Chair, Dept. of Family and Community Medicine at Providence Health Care
in Vancouver in 2003, he was Medical Director of Community and Long term Care for the Winnipeg
Regional Health Authority. He has previously served as a member of the University of Manitoba
Research Ethics Board, and is a Past-President of the Manitoba College of Family Physicians. He is
currently Clinical Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UBC, and remains active in teaching, research and
clinical practice. He is Co-Chair of the Collaborative Working Group on Shared Mental Health Care
(Canadian Psychiatric Association and College of Family Physicians of Canada). As well, he is the BC
Ministry of Health physician representative on the General Practice Services Committee, and CoChair of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority Primary Care Council. Dr. Mazowita is the 2010
recipient of the CFPC D I Rice Award.
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Dr. Michael Negraeff is an anesthesiologist and Australian trained pain specialist practicing solely
in pain medicine with VGH's Spine Program. He has been involved in system redesign and
education initiatives on pain issues for many years and has been the board chair of Pain BC since
2010.
Michael has also been involved with the creation and training for the MSK PSP module.
Dr. Scott Paquette is a Neurosurgeon with a subspecialty interest in complex spine. He completed
his Neurosurgery Training at the University of Ottawa before spending a year in Melbourne
Australia completing a one year spine fellowship. He has practiced at the Vancouver General
Hospital in the Spine Program since 2004 where is practice is 100% spine ranging from trauma,
tumour, deformity, degenerative disease as well as the surgical management of spasticity. He is
involved with education of the residents and fellows from both Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery
and sits on both Resident training committees. In addition to his surgical training, Scott holds a
Masters in Adult Education from UBC. Scott is currently on the Executive of the Canadian Spine
Society as the Education Chair.
Kam Shojania is Clinical Professor and Head of Rheumatology at UBC, St. Paul’s Hospital and
Vancouver General Hospital. He is the UBC Rheumatology Postgraduate Program Director. From
2001 to 2006, he was the recipient of the Clinician-Teacher Award from The Arthritis Society. Kam
is the 2003 recipient of the UBC Faculty of Medicine Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 2013
Recipient of the Canadian Rheumatology Association Teacher Educator Award. He has an active
clinical practice in Vancouver and is interested in innovative methods of teaching and clinical care.
Megan Smaha is an RN and has worked 20 years in Perioperatiev Nursing and 5 years in cancer
care before arthritis made it impossible to continue to work. In 2008 she developed Psoriatic
Arthritis, an inflammatory form of arthritis, in conjunction with Ehler Danlos Syndrome. Since then
she has had 2 hip replacements, as well as various other surgeries related to her arthritis. Despite
all these medical setbacks, she began to volunteer with the Canadian Arthritis Society and has
become a community leader and mentor in the field. She has put on several workshops relating to
Arthritis self-management, chronic pain management, and has been an advocate for lcoal chronic
pain management clinics. She participates annually in the Walk for Arthritis with her family and
has been a part of several awareness campaigns within the City of Kelowna regarding arthritis. She
is currently living in Kelowna with her husband and has three grown daughters around the
provinces of BC and Alberta.
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PSP Musculoskeletal (MSK)
Train the Trainer 1
Dr. Lori Tucker completed medical school at Tufts University School of Medicine, and pediatric
training at The Floating Hospital for Children-New England Medical Center. She completed a
pediatric rheumatology fellowship at The Floating Hospital for Children-New England Medical
Center, and remained there as an Assistant Professor in Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric
Rheumatology. Dr. Tucker is currently Clinical Associate Professor in Pediatrics, UBC, and Division
of Rheumatology, BC Children’s Hospital. She is the Chair of the Pediatric Section of the Canadian
Rheumatology Association, a member of the Executive Council of The Canadian Rheumatology
Association, as well as active in the Arthritis Alliance of Canada and the Canadian Alliance for
Pediatric Rheumatology Investigators. She has been a Board member of The Arthritis Society of BC
and Yukon, and currently is a Board member of Cassie and Friends: A Society for Children with
Juvenile Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Diseases.
Dr George Watson is a General Practitioner practicing on the North Coast of British Columbia out
of Prince Rupert. He is a BC Medical Association (BCMA) appointee to the General Practice Services
Committee (GPSC) and also serves on the Shared Care Committee (SCC).
Mary Beth Wells an active patient partner with Patient Voices Network lives daily with Low Back
pain. As a mother of two boys, ages 21 and 14, and as an LPN in a residential care facility, Mary
Beth has had no other option but to practice her self-management skills in order to maintain her
commitment to a healthy and active lifestyle. With debilitating pain at its worst, and manageable
pain at its best, Mary Beth continues to make the most of each day. Enjoying hiking, walking and
playing ping pong, along with her daily Yoga practice, there is no doubt that Mary Beth manages
her pain without letting the pain manage her.
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