SBME Interfaces

SBME Interfaces with Santa Ono | Ep. 8

March 22, 2021 UBC School of Biomedical Engineering Season 1 Episode 8
SBME Interfaces
SBME Interfaces with Santa Ono | Ep. 8
Show Notes Chapter Markers

Welcome to Episode 8 of SBME Interfaces

In this episode, we interface with Dr. Santa Ono, the 15th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia, on UBC, his second term, the changing conversation around mental health, and his excitement for the future of SBME at UBC.

All episodes available to watch on our YouTube Channel

Guest:

DR. SANTA ONO
15th President and Vice-Chancellor, UBC

Santa J. Ono PhD FRSC FCAHS is the 15th President & Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia.

Installed as President and Vice-Chancellor in 2016, he also serves as Chair of the U15 Group of Universities, on the Board of Directors of Universities Canada, and as Past Chair of Research Universities of British Columbia. He is also a member of the Boards of Fulbright and MITACS. He has also served on the Boards of the American Council on Education and the Council on Competitiveness and as Chief Innovation Advisor to the Province of British Columbia.

Prior to his appointment as President and Vice-Chancellor of UBC, Dr. Ono served as the 28th President of the University of Cincinnati and Senior Vice-Provost and Deputy to the Provost at Emory University.

A molecular immunologist educated at the University of Chicago and McGill, Dr. Ono has taught at Johns Hopkins, Harvard University and University College London. He has advised national and regional governments on higher education and mental health. He has also advised companies such as GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Novartis on R&D.

Dr. Ono has been inducted as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, USA and the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars. He holds Honorary Doctorates from Chiba University and the Vancouver School of Theology and is a recipient of the Reginald Wilson Diversity Leadership Award from the American Council on Education, the Professional Achievement Award from University of Chicago, a Grand Challenges Hero Award from UCLA and the NAAAP 100 Award from the National Association of Asian American Professionals.

View Dr. Ono's TEDx Talk on Mental Health in our Youth

Hosts:
Dr. Payam Zahedi

Strategic Planning & Operations Director, UBC School of Biomedical Engineering

Payam is a born problem solver and dot connector who believes that real impact only occurs when everyone is given the means to chase it. He's the Director of Strategic Planning and Operations at UBC's School of Biomedical Engineering and holds a BASc in Biomedical Engineering and an MSc and PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, from the University of Toronto. He believes we are better together and is an advocate for equity and inclusivity. In his spare time, when he's not chasing his two sons around, he's experimenting in the kitchen, reading crime fiction and untangling the mechanisms of effective leadership.

Miguel Eichelberger
Communications & Engagement Manager, UBC School of Biomedical Engineering

Miguel is an unflinching optimist. He is a communicator and writer whose work has appeared in literary magazines and on stages around the world. His most recent publications include Harpur Palate, the Literary Review of Canada, Plainsongs Magazine, and Soliloquies Anthology. He believes in authenticity; in doing and saying what you actually believe, and he is an obsessive student of leadership from the biological and anthropological perspectives. You've likely heard him rant about it, and he's not sorry.

On UBC's response to the pandemic
On the motivation to joun UBC
On finding time for research while leading a university
On providing PhD's with an opportunity to pursue an administrative stream early on
On choosing a second term as UBC's President
On SBME at UBC, how we're doing and where we're going
On the importance of leaders speaking up on issues of mental health, and the strength of vulnerability
On the draw of Instagram and Photography
On the embarrassment of riches of Vancouver's food scene
On the exciting projects to come from Antiracism work to the President's Academic Excellence Renewal