Our Residents

Dr. Stanley Onyegbule is originally from Nigeria and obtained his medical degree from the University of Port Harcourt. He also completed a master’s in business administration at the University of South Wales. He practiced as a General Practitioner in Nigeria for seven years, working in clinical and public health roles, before relocating to Canada. He led various projects related to implementation of clinical management of HIV and Tuberculosis, program evaluation, and cervical cancer screening. His interests include infectious diseases, health equity research, and global health leadership. In his free time, he enjoys playing soccer, tennis, and traveling.

Dr. Emmanuel Egberuare is a physician with over a decade of experience across clinical practice, research, public health, and health tech. He earned his MBBS from the University of Lagos and completed his internship at Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Licensed in both Nigeria and Canada, he brings a global perspective to healthcare delivery.

Emmanuel’s clinical journey spans rural and urban settings in Nigeria, where he served as a primary care physician and pioneered telemedicine to reach underserved communities. In Canada, he continues to build his clinical expertise and previously served as a clinical research project manager at the Calgary Prostate Cancer Centre. There, he led clinical trials focused on improving mental wellness and prehabilitation for oncology patients.

A passionate health innovator, Emmanuel co-founded PrecisionNote, an AI-powered clinical documentation platform designed to ease physician burnout, administrative burden and enhance provider accuracy. He is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Health at the University of Suffolk, with a focus on leveraging clinical data to drive efficiency.

His interests include global health leadership, health equity, infectious diseases, and maternal health. Outside of work, he enjoys music, playing soccer, traveling, and community service. Emmanuel strives to elevate healthcare systems through innovation and leadership.

Dr. Phinehas Omondi is originally from Kenya. He obtained his medical degree from Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. He practiced as a General Practitioner in rural Kenya for six years, working in clinical and public health roles, before relocating to Northern Ontario to pursue a master’s degree in Public Health/Epidemiology at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. The myriad of health challenges facing rural communities ignited his desire to explore solutions for rural health, which led him to the NOSM U PHPM program. His interests include infectious diseases, addressing inequalities in the distribution of social determinants of health, and access to healthcare in rural communities. He aspires to gain critical and transferable public health skills to not only positively impact the local community, but global rural communities as well. Beyond medicine, he enjoys playing tennis, traveling, and safari expeditions.

Dr. Zeinab Moinfar completed her MD, MPH, and Community Medicine specialty training at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Throughout her academic and work journey as a family physician and public health director in communities with diverse rural and urban populations, she has led various projects related to implementation of clinical practice guidelines, program evaluation and disease surveillance namely diabetes, cancer and mental health. She is particularly interested in the role of data, biostatistics and IT in developing evidenced-based proposals in public health that aim to improve the quality of healthcare. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and biking.

Dr. Kasunka Kankanam Gamage is originally from Sri Lanka and obtained her medical degree from the University of Ruhuna. She also completed a Master’s in Community Health at the University of Toronto. Her experiences of growing up in a village and working in various healthcare settings have inspired her to address social determinants of health and promote health equity. She is particularly interested in mental health and addictions, sexual and reproductive health, rural health services and health policy. Outside of medicine, she enjoys baking, cooking, hiking, and travelling.

Dr. Oscar Pico Espinosa was born and raised in Santander, Colombia, where he obtained his medical degree from Universidad Industrial de Santander. He completed Master’s and doctoral studies in Public Health and Epidemiology at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. He moved to Canada to complete a postdoctoral research fellowship in HIV prevention at St. Michael’s Hospital and at the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network (CTN). Other clinical and research interests include 2SLGBTQIA+ health, migrant health, communicable diseases, program evaluation and Epidemiology. In his free time, he loves dancing salsa, cooking, hiking and swimming.

Dr. Chidubem Okechukwu is an Indigenous Nigerian who obtained her MBBS from the first Indigenous and independent University in Nigeria, and a Master of Public Health degree from UBC. Having grown up in a rural region where she saw firsthand how her own family and relatives were adversely affected by lack of quality and accessible healthcare services, she was inspired to study medicine and to give back. Her personal and lived experiences led her to acquire a wealth of international experience including as a volunteer in many rural and remote underserved communities in Nigeria where she organized and led outreach primary and preventive care services and advocated for populations and communities at risk. Recognized for her dedication and determination, she was awarded a Mastercard Foundation Scholarship to attend UBC in order to follow her passion for additional public health knowledge and to continue her career as a public health specialist in Canada.

Dr. Lyall Pacey completed medical school at the University of Saskatchewan.  He grew up in Yorkton, Saskatchewan and worked for several years as a pediatric speech-language pathologist in rural and regional settings.  His experiences affirmed the importance of community-based care and influencing others at a population level, and drove his interest in PHPM at NOSM U.  Outside of medicine, Lyall spends time at the gym, running, or on a bike.

Dr. Christina Hao is originally from Montreal and completed medical school at Université de Montréal. She has always been inspired by the vast fields of communicable disease, health prevention and promotion, health inequities, and mental health.  Christina looks forward to developing skills as a medical officer of health, and making a positive difference in communities and society.  So far, she has found that NOSM University provides great experience in training, diversified practice, great support and working environment.

Dr. Blessing Odia completed her Bachelors in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) in Nigeria and is a fellow of the West Africa College of Physicians and Post Graduate College of Nigeria.  She recently completed her Masters in Public Health, and has significant experience in monitoring and evaluation, logistic management of health commodities (supply chain a management), and adolescent health in Sub-Saharan Africa.  She is particularly interested in health promotion and adolescent health.  Her goal is to support closing the gap of inequity between the poor and rich.