Dr. Ron Remick
Dr. Remick trained at Johns Hopkins University and George Washington Medical School before immigrating to Canada in 1974 where he completed his specialty training in psychiatry (1978). In 1986, he became the Assistant Head, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia where he founded the UBC Mood Disorders Clinic that continues to enjoy an international reputation for research on understanding and treating mood disorders.
Dr. Remick has published over 200 articles, letters and book chapters in a variety of scientific journals.
In 2008 he became the Medical Director of the Psychiatric Clinics here at the Mood Disorders Association of BC, where he pioneered the introduction of patient-focused group medical visits.
He strongly believes that educated patients – “informed consumers” – are most likely to receive the best care; it is this philosophy that drives his approach to patient care.
In 2017 he also became the Medical Director of Lookout Housing and Health Society – British Columbia’s largest not for profit social housing organization with a goal of providing innovative mental health services for the 3000+ residents of Lookout’s shelters, transition homes and long term housing facilities.
Click here to meet Dr. Remick
To hear Dr. Remick speak about Fitness as Medicine, click here.
Dr. David Heilbrunn
Dr. Heilbrunn studied medicine at the University of Cape Town, South Africa and completed his postgraduate training in both psychiatry and psychoanalysis at the University of Toronto.
At the University Hospital of Western Ontario he developed and led the psychiatric outpatient and group therapy program. In 2000, he was recruited as the Medical Director of the psychiatric outpatient and group therapy program at Surrey Memorial Hospital. In addition to leading group medical visits for the Mood Disorders Association of BC, Dr. Heilbrunn is a member of the faculty at UBC and is a staff member at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. He is currently President of the Western Branch of the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society and serves on the Ethics Committee of the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society.
Dr. Philip Brost
Dr. Brost completed Medical School at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, as well as Psychiatry Residency at the University of British Columbia. He is now a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, having completed his specialty training in 2014. During residency, Dr. Brost gained extensive experience in Mood Disorders, having trained at several hospitals and community sites within Vancouver Coastal Health, PHSA, as well as Providence Health Care. He is very pleased to be a part of the MDA team.
Dr. Leslie Wicholas
Dr. Leslie Wicholas graduated from the University of Calgary medical school in 1998 and completed her specialty training in Psychiatry at UBC in 2003. She then practiced on the Provincial Child Inpatient Unit at BC Children’s Hospital until 2016, working intensively with children and families facing a wide range of psychiatric and medical challenges. In her role as Clinical Director, she introduced and piloted a new model of trauma-informed care, transforming the way psychiatric care is delivered to patients.
More recently, Dr. Wicholas’ interests have focused on the burgeoning field of Nutritional Psychiatry and the role of inflammation in both mood and pain disorders. She is currently training with the Institute of Functional Medicine, which utilizes a unique, mechanism-based approach to identifying and treating the root causes of chronic disease.
Dr. Wicholas has designed Food as Medicine, a group-based program for treating mood disorders and chronic pain with a specific focus on addressing the underlying inflammatory components of illness. She is currently offering this program at MDABC.
Dr. Sheehan Chowdhury
Dr. Sheehan Chowdhury completed his medical degree at the University of Calgary in 2013 and then completed his residency in Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia in 2018. He then completed a fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of Alberta in 2019 before joining us at MDA. He works at Richmond Hospital helping to run the acute care of the elderly unit, the consultation liaison team, and the older adult mental health team. He also sees patients at the Access and Assessment Centre. Dr.Chowdhury has a strong interest and expertise in non-invasive neurostimulation. He helps provide electroconvulsive therapy at Richmond Hospital and is now the Lead Psychiatrist for MDA’s repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation program.
Dr. Lucinda Kunkel
Dr. Lucinda Kunkel is a psychiatrist trained in both Adult as well as Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at University of Toronto. She received her medical degree from University of Western Ontario in 2006. She has worked at BC Children’s Eating Disorders Program for almost a decade where she liked to utilize mindfulness-based therapies as well as Western medicine. She has a life-long love of yoga which led to becoming a Certified Yoga Instructor in 2014. Since then she has taught yoga group on the inpatient unit and for staff at BC Children’s hospital before leaving the Eating Disorders Program to expand her practice early 2020. She has now developed an 8-week yoga program for depression as she knows yoga is a very powerful modality for self-awareness, stress reduction and healing.
Dr. Daniel McBain
Dr. McBain obtained his medical licence from McMaster University in 1998 after having worked as a broadcaster, writer, translator, and editor of bioscience books for the lay reader. He completed a residency in rural and remote Family Medicine through McMaster’s northern program and worked in a variety of locales before obtaining training and certification in Medical Psychotherapy. He has been providing individual psychotherapy virtually since 2010 and has designed virtual Group Medical Visits and brief virtual sessions for mental wellness. He is passionate about pragmatic, non-pharmaceutical treatments, and enjoys exploring creative, inspiring approaches to treating chronic depression and anxiety, winter depression, and psychiatric issues related to palliative and end-of-life care.
Dr. Saby Ramirez
Dr. Saby Ramirez completed her medical degree at Rosario University in Colombia in 1994. She then worked as a family doctor until she immigrated to Canada in 2002. Dr. Ramirez worked as a clinical research associate at the BC Center for Excellence in HIV for 3 years before starting her psychiatry residency training at UBC in 2006. During her last year of training, she focused on psychotherapy, mainly Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). She moved to Powell River BC in 2011 where she practiced as a general psychiatrist at Powell River General Hospital. Dr. Ramirez has experience treating a diverse population – from adolescents to seniors. She is comfortable assessing and treating patients with severe and complex mental illnesses. She utilizes a well-rounded approach – treating the whole person – through medication and psychotherapy. Dr. Ramirez has delivered DBT for 10 years and has seen how this therapy helps her patients gain the skills to increase the quality of their life and decrease their suffering. She is passionate about teaching and holds a position as Clinical Instructor with the UBC Department of Psychiatry.