Beyond discovery: Celebrating BC’s clinical research professionals for International Clinical Trials Day 2025

Join Clinical Trials BC — part of Michael Smith Health Research BC — and Fraser Health as we celebrate the incredible clinical research professionals across British Columbia. Bring your lunch and tune in to an engaging talk show featuring their personal career journeys, the impactful work they do, and more.

 

Celebrate International Clinical Trials Day in BC with the people who make clinical trials possible! This event is part of Five Days in May 2025, a series of events on health research in BC.

 

Hosts:

Alison Orth, portfolio director, Research Programs, Michael Smith Health Research BC

Alison Orth is a portfolio director, research programs at Michael Smith Health Research BC. She has over 25 years of experience leading organizations, programs and multi-disciplinary teams in both the private and public sectors.

 

In her role as portfolio director Alison provides leadership for the Clinical Trials BC, Research Ethics BC and REACH BC teams along with provincial system change initiatives. More recently Alison led the development of a vision for clinical trials in British Columbia. She serves on several provincial and national committees dedicated to advancing clinical trials and improving the clinical trial experience for participants.

 

 

Kate Keetch, director, Evaluation & Research Services, Fraser Health

Kate, known as K2, is the Director of the Department of Evaluation and Research Services at Fraser Health. She is an experienced research administrator with over 15 years of direct research, grant administration, project management, and supervisory experience in collaborative research environments. PhD trained, she has a broad acumen in conducting and supporting research in academic and health authority settings. As a relational leader, she is known for her optimistic (humourous) demeanor and “can do” attitude and is passionate about fostering pragmatic research that has positive impact on people’s lives and the health system at large.

 

Speakers:

Celia Belamour, Clinical Research Nurse Coordinator, Northern Centre for Clinical Research, Northern Health

Celia is a clinical research nurse coordinator with a BScN RN. She has over five years of experience in coordinating clinical research activities, mainly in respiratory infectious disease surveillance and phase III/IV vaccine trials, and she previously worked as a research assistant. Celia is thrilled to join Northern Centre for Clinical Research (NCCR) through Northern Health to build a new and exciting clinical research program in Northern BC. Based in her hometown of Prince George, she looks forward to working with the team to build the processes, procedures, and professional connections required to conduct clinical trials in the local and regional settings. She collaborates with the study principal investigators, researchers, clinicians, and others to ensure that clinical research is organized, planned, and carried out efficiently and according to regulatory standards. She is passionate about bringing clinical research together with people of the North. When she is not working, she enjoys riding her bike, Orange Crush, to and from work in all weather (even snow!) and walking the many nearby nature trails with her dogs.

 

 

Linh Vu, Research Nurse Coordinator, Island Health

Linh’s time at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) spans over a decade, and as the city grows, she’s watched the hospital expand in space and service. Throughout her time at the NRGH, Linh has had roles as a medical/surgical nurse for 3 years, a critical care nurse for 10 years, and now 3 years as a research nurse. Since joining Research in 2022, Linh has been working closely with Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH) to help build NRGH’s profile as a clinical research site. The invaluable mentorship and dedicated support from RJH’s Clinical Trials Unit is a huge reason why research in Nanaimo has found success and continues to grow, and Linh is deeply grateful for the relationships that have made her role meaningful and research possible here in Nanaimo.

 

 

Putri Rahmaputri, Research Quality Assurance Specialist, Fraser Health

Siti Dyannie Rahmaputri (Putri), BA, CCRP is a clinical research professional with more than 7 years of experience. After completing her bachelor degree in Molecular and Cell Biology at University of California, Berkeley, she began her career working as a clinical research coordinator for oncology. Right before the COVID-19 pandemic, she moved to the Lower Mainland, BC, where she continues her career in clinical research. Currently, she is the Clinical Research Quality Assurance Specialist at Fraser Health Authority. She is passionate about integrating clinical research into clinical care and ensuring research compliance through standardization.

 

Dusty, Clinical Research Coordinator, Interior Health