Department Leadership

Jonathon A. Leipsic, M.D., F.R.C.P.C. M.S.C.C.T is Professor and Head Department of Radiology. He is a Professor of Radiology and Professor of Cardiology with the University of British Columbia. Dr Leipsic is also a Canada Research Chair in Advanced Cardiac Imaging. Dr. Leipsic has over 825 peer reviewed manuscripts in press or in print, over 350 scientific abstracts, and editor of 2 textbooks. He speaks internationally on a number of cardiac imaging topics with over 150 invited lectures in the last 4 years. He is also past President of the Society of Cardiovascular CT (2015-2016) and was awarded its Gold Medal in 2019 and was recently named to the prestigious Top 1% most impactful scientist designation by the Web of Science 5 years in a row (2019-2023).

Dr. Nicolaou is a Professor of Radiology and Head of the Department of Radiology at Vancouver General Hospital. Dr. Nicolaou’s 25 year career at VGH and his passion for teaching have been recognized with numerous awards including the Bringing Clinical Renown to Vancouver Hospital (2020), the UBC Killam Teaching Prize (2013) for outstanding teaching at undergraduate and graduate levels, Mentor of the Year (2013), and the Prestigious Royal College Regional Award for Specialist of the Year (2018). Dr. Nicolaou is also serving as a representative of the Joint Faculties on the Vancouver Senate of UBC. He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications and over 90 educational exhibits. In 2021, Dr. Nicolaou received the Innovation and Translational Research Award from VCHRI to develop a prognostic algorithm for COVID-19, derived from CT and clinical data, in collaboration with UBC CIC and Amazon AWS. Dedicated to empowering and inspiring more individuals, he designed and launched the first medical imaging course (Rads301) for undergraduate students at UBC. He is one of Canada’s most experienced educators in Emergency Radiology, and his lectures locally, nationally, and internationally accordingly reflect his dedication, expertise, and outstanding collaborative skills.

Dr. Laule is an MR physicist, a Professor in the Departments of Radiology and Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Vice- Chair of Research in Radiology, and an Associate Director of the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD) at the University of British Columbia. She is also an associate member of the Department of Physics & Astronomy, where she is actively involved in the Medical Physics program. Dr. Laule heads an interdisciplinary research program in multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury spanning technical innovations to clinical translation. Her research on human brain and spinal cord MRI and histology is funded by NSERC, the MS Society of Canada, the Craig Nielsen Foundation and ICORD. With an h-index of 35, 98 publications and 250+ conference presentations, she has been cited more than 5000 times. She is an elected Senior Fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and serves on many UBC and international committees each year, including the Radiology Awards Committee (co-chair) and the Radiology EDI committee. Dr. Laule is passionate about science communication and leads initiatives to increase diversity in Science-Technology-Engineering-Math including the ICORD Summer Research Program for Indigenous Youth.

Dr. O’Connell is Clinical Assistant Professor, and works at a number of hospitals in Vancouver. He completed his MD at the University of Toronto, his residency at UBC, and his fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Before entering medicine, he obtained an M.Eng in network engineering and worked as a network engineer at Nortel Networks and Bell Canada. He has designed and implemented numerous software packages at various hospitals to improve patient safety and workflow management.

Dr. Ren Yuan is a Clinical Associate Professor at UBC and a consultant radiologist at BC Cancer. With a strong foundation in oncologic imaging and system-level quality improvement, she brings over rich experience leading multidisciplinary initiatives to enhance imaging accuracy, clinical efficiency, and the integration of advanced technologies in cancer care. She co-leads the BC Cancer Medical Imaging Core Lab and has made important contribution to the standardization of imaging interpretation for British Columbia’s lung cancer screening program—the first province-wide initiative of its kind in Canada.Ren is also deeply committed to resident education and mentorship and was honoured with the UBC Radiology Best Community Teacher Award. In her new role as Vice Chair of Quality, she is dedicated to fostering a culture of reflection, innovation, and collaboration—building on the impactful work of Dr. Gerald Legiehn and supporting the department’s ongoing commitment to excellence in clinical care, education, and system improvement.  

Dr. Chang is Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Professionalism and Wellness in the Department of Radiology at UBC. She is also the Section Head of Abdominal Imaging in the Department of Radiology at VGH and UBCH. She completed her medical degree and radiology residency at UBC and her abdominal imaging fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Her interests and expertise are in abdominal MRI, particularly prostate and liver, as well as medical education. She has over 120 peer reviewed publications, over $10 million in grants and over 160 invited presentations at local, national and international meetings. She is a Fellow of the Society of Abdominal Radiology, Fellow of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, Founding President of the Canadian Society of Abdominal Radiology and a member of the Executive Board of the British Columbia Radiological Society.

Dr. Yong-Hing is Vice Chair Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia Department of Radiology. She is immediate Past President of the BC Radiological Society and is Medical Director of the BC Cancer Breast Screening Program. She works at BC Cancer Vancouver where she was Medical Director of Breast Imaging from 2017-2024, BC Women’s Hospital, and two UBC affiliated community imaging clinics. She co-chairs the UBC Radiology Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and and chaired the Canadian Association of Radiologists Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. Dr. Yong-Hing founded Canadian Radiology Women in 2018 and has been invited to speak internationally about actionable ways to improve equity, diversity and inclusion within the Radiology workforce and training programs. In 2002, she won the inaugural UBC Radiology Equity, Diversity and Inclusion award.

Dr. Khosa is Vice Chair Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and an Associate Professor at UBC Radiology. He is the Chair of American College of Radiology Workgroup on Publications and Presentations and also the Chair of Doctors of BC Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Advisory Committee. Dr Khosa has authored over 282 manuscripts on Leadership and Equity and Inclusion. He takes a keen interest in mentoring and supporting students and physicians from minority and underrepresented groups. His mentoring of minorities, disparities research and philanthropic initiatives have been recognized with awards in the USA, Canada, Europe, Middle East and South Asia. He is a signed author with publishers Bloomsbury and Elsevier for a book series on leadership and Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, respectively.

Dr. Hu is a Clinical Instructor, and a radiologist with subspecialty interest in musculoskeletal and neuroradiology at Royal Jubilee Hospital and Victoria General Hospital in Victoria, BC. He completed his MD and radiology residency at the University of British Columbia, and fellowship at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. He is currently the Medical Imaging Physician Lead for IHealth at the Island Health Authority, and has been extensively involved with teaching at UBC and internationally, including with UBC undergraduate and residency radiology curriculum development, and with the National Imaging Informatics Curriculum. His passions include building mentorships and enabling others in pursuit of their interests and dreams.