Team & Governance
Faculty leads, graduate and undergraduate researchers, Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars, and community partners united by multi-year collaborative experience.
UPROOT Team and Indigenous Governance
The UPROOT Team
The project team is fortunate to be based on a deep foundation of collaborative and productive partnerships. The team is composed of a broad range of experts, scholars, community members, and students with diverse connections to Indigenous Nations across Canada. Collectively, the team has adopted the name UPROOT, symbolizing what, how, and why we are doing this work.
Our team acknowledges the work we do may be within a colonial structure, but we hold a commitment to practice in a manner of mutual respect, responsibility, relevance, and reciprocity throughout, prioritizing relationships above all. Some relationships among the team members have existed for more than 10 years.
The UPROOT Governance Consists of the Following Groups
The ISAC reports to the IAC and consists of Indigenous and a select number of non-Indigenous students. As future graduates and care providers from various Indigenous groups across Canada, this committee offers a unique and valuable perspective to the team.
Community Partners
UPROOT benefits from a diverse group of Indigenous partners across BC representing different Nations and areas of knowledge. Partners include members from urban, rural, and remote communities and contribute meaningfully in various ways as part of the UPROOT team.
Indigenous Advisory Committee (IAC)
The IAC consists of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous expert representatives who oversee all aspects of UPROOT. These community partners are respected leaders and decision-makers with different BC First Nations and have had previous collaborations with Larry and Jason.
Indigenous Student Advisory Committee (ISAC)
The ISAC reports to the IAC and consists of Indigenous and a select number of non-Indigenous students. As future graduates and care providers from various Indigenous groups across Canada, this committee offers a unique and valuable perspective to the team.
Indigenous Pharmacy Student Collegium (IPSC)
The IPSC is a student-led social club that aims to provide self-identified Indigenous students, across all four years of the Entry-to-Practice PharmD program, a safe space to engage with others and participate in cultural immersion activities.
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBC
Jason Min and Larry Leung are with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and are the leads from UBC. As non-Indigenous advocates, their experience, dedication, and passion for Indigenous individuals, families, and communities are primary motivators in the pursuit of decolonizing and Indigenizing the pharmacy curriculum.
Undergraduate Academic Assistants (UAA)
The UAAs are self-identified Indigenous or non-Indigenous students that participate as active team members in assisting with project deliverables.
Current Team
Jason Min
Faculty Lead
Dr. Jason Min is an Associate Professor of Teaching at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Over the past 10 years, his research and scholarly interests have focused on Indigenous health, pharmacy informatics, and interprofessional care. His recent work includes the collaborative development of a new Indigenous Cultural Safety course for pharmacy students and the building of a national Academic Electronic Health Record system. As a pharmacist, Jason’s diverse and unique clinical practices included outpatient team-based primary care settings, rural/remote interprofessional care with Indigenous communities, and specialty outpatient clinics for complex, chronic, and medication-intensive conditions. Jason’s passion for teaching in the undergraduate PharmD program has been recognized with numerous teaching awards.
Larry Leung
Faculty Lead
Dr. Larry Leung is an Associate Professor of Teaching at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UBC. He is a Chinese Canadian currently working on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam people. Larry has had the privilege of working with Indigenous communities across British Columbia since 2010 and has built strong and reciprocal relationships with his partners. As a non-Indigenous educator, he currently serves as course coordinator of a first-year seminars course, co-coordinator of mandatory and elective Indigenous health and cultural safety courses, Interprofessional Education co-lead, and co-lead for the Neurology Module. As a pharmacist, Larry has had the opportunity to work directly with Indigenous patients and care providers in the building of pharmacy services.
Isabel Kim
Graduate Academic Assistant
Isabel is a third-year PhD candidate in the Department of Medical Genetics at UBC. She obtained her BSc in Microbiology & Immunology at McGill University on the traditional territory of Kanien’kehà:ka in Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal. She now studies and resides on the shared, unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh(Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) People. Isabel is passionate about healthcare policies and is eager to participate in advocating for the decolonization of pharmacy education and practice as a part of the UPROOT team. In her free time, she can be found painting on a small canvas, reading, and playing with her dog.
Katherine Huerne
Graduate Academic Assistant
Katherine is a doctoral researcher in Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. Her interdisciplinary work spans bioethics, epidemiology, public health, and Indigenous health equity. Katherine has been involved in multiple community-led research initiatives with Northern Indigenous communities, focusing on topics such as perinatal wellness and equitable pandemic health policy. She is committed to working in respectful partnership with communities, centering Indigenous voices and self-determination in all stages of the research process. A core priority of her work is the development of accessible, evidence-based knowledge translation materials that support culturally-safe health practices and equitable policy directions. Her broader research agenda emphasizes equity-driven methodologies and sustained engagement with Indigenous partners, ensuring that their knowledge systems and lived experiences guide the shaping of healthcare practices and research priorities.
Alyssa Burrows
Undergraduate Academic Assistant
Alyssa (she/her) is a current PharmD student at UBC residing on the unceded land of the Musqueam Nation. Prior, Alyssa obtained her BHSc in Biology & Pharmacology Co-op from McMaster located on the traditional territories of the Mississauga and Haudenosaunee nations protected by the “Dish with One Spoon” wampum agreement and her MSc in Translational Medicine from Queen’s University located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat peoples. With UPROOT, Alyssa looks forward to developing meaningful relationships with Indigenous communities, decolonizing pharmacy education and applying her previous research experience to help the UPROOT team. Alyssa enjoys canoeing, kayaking, hiking, baking, and reading in her free time.
Liam Naysmith
Undergraduate Academic Assistant
Liam is currently a third-year student in the PharmD program at the University of British Columbia. He previously obtained his BSc in Biology and a minor in Anthropology from the University of Victoria in 2022. Liam was born and raised on the unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples (Victoria, B.C.). Throughout his undergrad, Liam spent summers working in the Northwest Territories, in the lands of the Dene, Inuit, and Métis peoples. While working with UPROOT, he aspires to learn more about indigenous lived-experiences and culture, and positively contribute to the improvement of cultural safety in pharmacy practice. During his time away from classes and work, he likes to scuba dive, freedive, and workout with friends.
Hailie White
Undergraduate Academic Assistant
Hailie is a third-year PharmD student at the University of British Columbia, where she previously studied her BSc in Biology. She grew up and currently resides on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam people. While working alongside the UPROOT team, she is excited to continue learning and growing as a future pharmacist, with a focus on improving health outcomes and supporting Indigenous peoples through culturally safe care. Outside of her studies and working, Hailie enjoys spending time outdoors with friends and family.
Hannah Dalagan
Undergraduate Academic Assistant
Hannah is a second-year PharmD student at the University of British Columbia, where she previously obtained her BSc in Biochemistry. Hannah was raised and now studies on the unceded territories of the Musqueam people. With UPROOT, she looks forward to learning more about Indigenous cultures and experiences, collaborating with Indigenous communities to promote culturally safe healthcare, and decolonizing pharmacy practice and education. In her free time, Hannah enjoys hiking, baking, and singing karaoke with friends.
Alumni
Brittany King
Brina Kim
Idaylia Swanson
Jessie Li
Nailah King-Hopkins
Emma Young
Tuskonne Blais
Mojan Fazelipour
Lindsay Ellefson
Lindsay Swanson
Brandon Whitmore
Tia De Groot
Ryan Knowles
Tenzing Sedonla Ukyab Lama
Kadence Cave
Emma Mills
Madison Runa
Olivia Yeung
Naila Ali
Katie Arisz
Tyler Floen
Meghan Houston