Awards & Honours

Celebrating Excellence in Orthopaedics Through Departmental Awards

The UBC Department of Orthopaedics is proud to honour our faculty, staff, and trainees. Through a diverse range of awards, we recognize excellence in research, teaching, service, innovation, and leadership. These honours reflect the dedication and impact of individuals who advance orthopaedic care, education, and discovery—locally and globally.


Academic Excellence Awards

The Academic Excellence Award aims to foster a culture of academic scholarship in the UBC Department of Orthopaedics by developing faculty talent. The program provides three-year grant funding to new investigators who spend most of their time doing clinical work and show exceptional merit in areas of orthopaedic scholarship in research or education.

2024 Winner

Faculty Research Award

The Faculty Research Award is in recognition of outstanding contributions in the area of research and innovation in the Department of Orthopaedics. All clinical or academic faculty members conducting research or contributing to innovation at the Department of Orthopaedics are eligible for this award.

2024 Winner
  • Dr. Andrea Veljkovic, Clinical Associate Professor
2023 Winner

Faculty Service Award

The Faculty Service Award recognizes outstanding contributions in service to the Department of Orthopaedics in the areas of leadership, advocacy, quality improvement, engagement initiatives and/or program development. All clinical or academic faculty members within the Department of Orthopaedics are eligible for this award.

2024 Winner
2023 Winner

Unsung Hero Award

The Unsung Hero Award recognizes an individual who has made significant behind-the-scenes contributions to the success of the Department of Orthopaedics. All faculty and staff within the Department of Orthopaedics are eligible for this award.

2024 Winner
  • Karen du Plessis, UBC Orthopaedics Administrative Manager (Interim)
2023 Winner
  • Vicki Wenman, Residency Program Manager

Excellence in Leadership Award

Selected by the department head, the Excellence in Leadership Award recognizes and honours individuals who demonstrate exemplary leadership.

2025 Winner

Faculty Teaching Award

Selected by our UBC Orthopaedic Residents, the Faculty Teaching Award is presented annually to a faculty member in recognition of outstanding contributions to resident education.

2025 Winner
  • Dr. Phil Hache, AY23-24 Clinical Fellow
2024 Winner
  • Dr. Kelly Apostle, Clinical Associate Professor
2023 Winner
2022 Winner
  • Dr. Paul Clarkson, Clinical Professor
2021 Winner
2020 Winner

Fellow Teaching Awards

Selected by our UBC Orthopaedic Residents, the Fellow Teaching Awards are presented annually to clinical fellows in recognition of outstanding contributions to resident education.

2025 Winner
  • Dr. Aly Alsaifan, Orthopaedic Trauma (Vancouver Acute) Fellow
2024 Winner
  • Dr. Philip Hache, UBC Orthopaedic Trauma (Vancouver Acute) Fellow
2023 Winner
  • Dr. Mohammed Alotaibi, UBC Pediatric Orthopaedic Fellow
2022 Winners
  • Dr. Gerard Sheridan, Adult Reconstruction, Hip & Knee
  • Dr. Courtney Bull, Paediatric Orthopaedics
  • Dr. Lukas Grassner, Neurosurgical & Orthopaedic Spine
2021 Winner
  • Dr. Supriya Singh, Paediatric Orthopaedic Spine

Resident & Fellow Research Day Awards

Each spring, UBC Orthopaedics residents, fellows, and graduate students come together to share their latest research at our annual Research Day. This special event fosters meaningful conversations, promotes teamwork, sparks new ideas, and helps build a vibrant and collaborative academic community.

2025 Winners & Program

Resident Research

  • 1st Place: Yousif Murad – “Automated IHDI Classification Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks” (supervised by Dr. Kishore Mulpari)
  • 2nd Place: Nicole Krysa – “From Injury to Reconstruction: How Rapid Access Acute Knee Clinics Expedite Adolescent Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Management” (supervised by Dr. Lise Leveille)

Clinical Fellow Research

  • Vishvas Shetty – “Sarcopenia Predicts Delayed Ambulation in Geriatric Fragility Fractures of the Pelvic Ring Treated Nonoperatively” (supervised by Dr. Aresh Sepehri)

Graduate Student Research

  • Amardeep Singh Sekhon – “Impact of hemodynamic management and anticoagulation timing on intraparenchymal hemorrhage progression and functional recovery after acute traumatic spinal cord injury” (supervised by Dr. Brian Kwon)

Poster Competition

  • Grad Student award: Shahriar Shalileh – “A Fully implantable, flexible optical device for neuromodulation of the spinal cord” (supervised by Dr. Dena Shahriari)
  • Resident/Fellow award: Jackson Robinson – “Weight Bearing Monitoring Devices in Lower Extremity Fractures: A Scoping Review” (supervised by Dr. David Stockton)
2024 Winners & Abstracts

Resident Research

  • 1st: Eryck Moskven – “Mitigating Medical Adverse Events Following Spinal Surgery: The Effectiveness of a Postoperative Quality Improvement (QI) Care Bundle” (supervised by Dr. John Street)
  • 2nd: Taylor Ricci – “Hip Dysplasia: Risk Factors and their Associated Diagnostic Severity” (supervised by Dr. Emily Schaeffer)

Clinical Fellow Research

  • Nikolaus Kögl (Clinical Fellow) – “The Natural Course of Mild Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy” (supervised by Dr. Nicolas Dea)

Graduate Student Research

  • Mehdi Nouri Zadeh (Graduate Student) – “Enhancing Upper Extremity Strength: Blood Flow Restriction Exercise for Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury” (supervised by Drs. Babak Shadgan & Kishore Mulpuri)

Poster Competition

  • Arashdeep Sidhu (Resident) – “Nickel Free‚ Hypoallergenic versus Standard Cobalt-Chrome Containing Total Knee Replacement: Is There a Difference in Synovial Metal Ions at Minimum 1-Year Follow-up?” (supervised by Dr. Michael Neufeld)
2023 Winners & Abstracts

Resident Research

  • 1st: Yousif Murad (PGY 1) – “Fully automated analysis of the anatomical and mechanical axes from pediatric standing lower limb radiographs using convolutional neural networks” (supervised by Dr. Anthony Cooper)
  • 2nd: Mikaela Peters (PGY 5) – “The Double Edged Scalpel – Experiences and Perceptions of Pregnancy and Parenthood During Canadian Surgical Residency Training” (supervised by Dr. Kelly Lefaivre)
  • 3rd: Taylor Crown (PGY 3) – “A Comparison of Suspensory Versus Aperture Fixation for Isolated Soft Tissue Posterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction : A Systematic Review” (supervised by Drs. Parth Lodhia & Jordan Leith)

Clinical Fellow Research

  • Ankita Bansal (Clinical Fellow) – “Differences in Presentation between Patients Diagnosed with Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip in a Multi-Centre, Global Prospective Registry: A Comparison of Western and Indian Centres” (supervised by Drs. Kishore Mulpuri & Emily Schaeffer)

Graduate Student Research

  • Adan Moallemi (Graduate Student) – “Optogenetic stimulation to enhance axon growth and motor recovery following spinal cord injury” (supervised by Dr. Dena Shahriari)
2022 Winners & Abstracts

Resident Research

  • 1st: Alice Wang (PGY1) – “Cost Analysis Comparing Staged vs Non-staged Pes Planovalgus Foot Reconstruction” (supervised by Dr. Andrea Veljkovic)
  • 2nd: Eryck Moskven (PGY2) – “The role of frailty and sarcopenia in predicting major adverse events, length of stay, reoperation and mortality following en bloc resection of primary bone tumours and isolated metastases of the spine” (supervised by Dr. Raphaële Charest-Morin)
  • 3rd: Tanya MacDonell (PGY3) – “Highly crosslinked polyethylene liner thickness in THA does not influence long-term survival: A retrospective cohort study with minimum 11 years follow-up” (supervised by Dr. Michael Neufeld)

Clinical Fellow Research

  • Gerard Sheridan – “Identification of Protective and Risky HLA Genotypes for the Development of Pseudotumours Around Hip Resurfacing – A Case-Control Study” (supervised by Dr. Donald Garbuz)
  • Lukas Grassner – “Serum neurofilament light (NF-L) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) biomarkers and their association with MRI findings in acute human traumatic spinal cord injury” (supervised by Dr. Brian Kwon)

Graduate Student Research

  • Shahriar Shalileh – “Fully implantable, flexible optical probes for neuromodulation of the spinal cord” (supervised by Dr. Dena Shahriari)
  • Luke Johnson – “Advanced MR imaging of Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease: a pilot study” (supervised by Dr. David Wilson)
2021 Winners & Abstracts

Resident Research

  • 1st: Alex Hoffer – “Follow up after ACL reconstruction: how long is long enough” (supervised by Dr. Jordan Leith)
  • 2nd: Mikaela Peters – “Effect of orthopaedic resident education on screening for intimate partner violence” (supervised by Dr. Kelly Lefaivre)
  • 3rd: Hannah Nazaroff – “ The state of MSK education in Canadian family medicine training programs” (supervised by Dr. Adrian Huang)

Clinical Fellow Research

  • Gabriel Larose – “The trajectory of long-term recovery following ORIF for distal radius fractures” (supervised by Dr. Kelly Lefaivre)
  • Lynn Murphy – “Gender diversity, leadership, promotion, and opportunity among the members of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association” (supervised by Dr. Kelly Lefaivre)

Graduate Student Research

  • Luke Johnson – “Digitally reconstructed radiographs to evaluate the effect of patient position on hip migration percentage” (supervised by Dr. David Wilson and Dr. Kishore Mulpuri)
2020 Winners

Resident Research

  • 1st: Aresh Sepheri – “Evidence Based Surgery in Orthopaedics – Assessing the Change in Incidence of Surgical Treatment for Acute Midshift Clavicle Fractures”
  • 2nd: Alia Albaghdadi – “Reliability of Carpal Indices in the Evaluation of a SLAC Wrist”

Undergraduate Medical Education Research Forum Awards

Undergraduate students and trainees in orthopaedics at UBC showcase their research at the UBC Orthopaedics UGME Fall Research Forum, an annual event that celebrates academic excellence and innovation. As emerging leaders in medicine, their contributions demonstrate a commitment to advancing orthopaedic care and shaping the future of the field.

2024 Winners & Abstracts
  • 1st: Jennifer Law – “Management of Type 1 Supracondylar humeral fractures during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A Multicenter Randomized Control Trial (SCH-RCT)” (supervisor: Dr. Anthony Cooper)
  • 2nd: Brianna Tsuyuki – “Hydrogen Peroxide as a Sustainable and Effective Solution for Reusable Intermittent Urinary Catheterization” (supervisor: Dr. Dena Shahriari)
  • Runner-up: Cameron Leong – “High prevalence of burnout and moral distress in Orthopaedic surgeons: a Canadian cross-sectional survey study” (supervisor: Dr. Harpreet Chhina)
  • Rapid-Fire prize: Jordan Thompson – “Soft Electronic Implant for Bladder Management” (supervisor: Dr. Dena Shahriari)
2023 Winners & Abstracts
  • 1st: Alissa Zhang – “Crossing the Tibial Physis in Prepubescent ACL Reconstructions – Is it Safe?” ( supervised by Dr. Lise Leveille)
  • Runner-up: Cameron Leong – “Burnout in Canadian Orthopaedic Surgeons” (supervised by Dr. Anthony Cooper)
  • Runner-up: Jackson Robinson – “Scoping Review to Assess External Weight Bearing Monitoring Devices for Use in Lower Extremity Fracture Patients” (supervised by Dr. David Stockton)
2022 Winners & Abstracts
  • 1st: Charlene Harasym – “Measuring cartilage strain using MRI: a cross-validation sub-study” (supervised by Dr. David Wilson)
  • 2nd: Michael Frew – “3D-Printed foot prosthesis for children with fibular hemimelia” (supervised by Sima Zakani)
  • 3rd: Trevor Fowler – “Ultrasound Screening for Infants at-risk of Developmental Hip Dysplasia in BC: Assessing Access-to-Care” (supervised by Dr. Kishore Mulpuri, Dr. Emily K Schaeffer)
2021 Winners & Abstracts
  • 1st: Emily Dunnion & Michael Frew – “3D-Printed foot prosthesis for children with fibular hemimelia” (supervised by Dr. Anthony Cooper)
  • Runner-up: Genevieve Bonnor – “Development of an Omnidirectional Surrogate Neck” (supervised by Dr. Peter Cripton)
  • Runner-up: Adan Moallemi & Nadine Truter – “Optogenetic stimulation in conjunction with biomaterials for axon growth and guidance after spinal cord injury” (supervised by Dr. Dena Shahriari)

READI Research Scholarships

The UBC Orthopaedics READI Research Scholarships are part of our broader commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in our department. Our scholarship opportunities aim to increase our focus on building future talent and exploring new ways to support underrepresented populations in Orthopaedics.

2025 Winners
  • Undergraduate Research Scholarship for Indigenous and Underrepresented Students: Gael Hernandez Palmer, UBC Undergraduate Student in Neuroscience
  • Tredwell Trainee READI Scholarship: Kaid Van Kampen, UBC Orthopaedics Resident
2024 Winners
  • Undergraduate Research Scholarship for Indigenous and Underrepresented Students: Karen Jiang, UBC MD Student
2023 Winners
  • Undergraduate Research Scholarship for Indigenous and Underrepresented Students: Katrina Zaraska, UBC Biomedical Engineering Student | Learn more

Brett Kilb Award

The Brett Kilb Award is a scholarship available to support a resident taking a one-year leave from their residency training to obtain an advanced degree and complete a significant research project. It was first awarded in 2018 and is available at most every two years.

2021 Winner
  • PGY2 resident Dr. Daniella Crocker, who will be completing an MBA program at the University of Alberta.

Contact Us

If you have questions about our UBC Orthopaedics award opportunities, please send an email to: orthopaedics.admin@ubc.ca
To share additional awards and honours with the UBC Department of Orthopaedics, please send an email to: orthopaedics.communications@ubc.ca

Other Award Opportunities


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