Vanessa Brcic, MD, CCFP
Vancouver, BC (Chair/Présidente)
Géraldine Layani, MD, MSc
Montreal, QC
Lucas Leclerc, MD, MSc
Sherbrooke, QC
Edward Xie, MD, CCFP(EM), DTMH, MSc
Toronto, ON
Editorial Advisory Board Bios
Vanessa Brcic, MD, CCFP
Vancouver, BC (Chair/Présidente)
Dr. Vanessa Brcic is a Vancouver-based family physician, UBC Clinical Assistant Professor, community-based researcher, and graduate of the UBC Clinician Scholar Program. She is active in the community, currently as the co-Founder and current co-Chair of Basics for Health Society, and as a Research Associate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (BC office). She has a special interest in safe, compassionate and equitable health care, and the social determinants of health. Clinically, her work is focused on the interdisciplinary care of vulnerable patients and those with complex chronic conditions; she brings to this work insights from her own experience as a patient, as well as additional certification in relational somatic therapy for trauma, and GunnIMS for chronic pain. She also has a growing interest in contributing to the growth of culturally safe care for Indigenous peoples.
Géraldine Layani, MD, MSc
Montreal, QC
After practicing emergency medicine in France and Quebec from 2012 to 2017, Géraldine Layani has been practicing in GMF-U at the University of Montreal since 2017. Currently, at the University Family Medicine Group Notre-Dame in Montreal, she is a regular researcher at the Researcher Center of the Hospital Center of the University of Montreal and a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine. She also completed a master’s degree in clinical Epidemiology at the University Laval (Quebec, QC), for which she was awarded a scholarship from Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), as well as Transdisciplinary Understanding and Training on Research - Primary Health Care (TUTOR-PHC) offered by the University of Western (London, Ontario). Since 2024, she has been a Junior 1 Research Clinician Scholar with the “Fonds de Recherche du Québec en Santé”. Her research aims to understand better the implementation and effects of health interventions carried out in intersectoral collaboration in primary care for and with people with chronic diseases.
Lucas Leclerc, MD, MSc
Sherbrooke, QC
Lucas Leclerc graduated from a remote campus of the Université de Montréal in Trois-Rivières, QC. He previously obtained a BSc and an MSc in Biology from the Université de Montréal, specializing in molecular genetics. He decided to transition from bench to bedside to have a more direct approach to patient care. He remains interested in research in Family Medicine and has a wide range of interests, including echography and home care medicine. He is currently completing his residency training in Family Medicine at the Université de Sherbrooke.
Edward Xie, MD, CCFP(EM), DTMH, MSc
Toronto, ON
Edward is a Clinician Investigator at UHN in Toronto and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto where he is a Faculty co-Lead of climate change and health. He has volunteered with Médecins Sans Frontières, at clinics for uninsured patients, and as an executive member of Global Health Emergency Medicine (GHEM). Edward’s research interests focus on determinants of health and inter-sectoral problems, such as homelessness and addictions. He completed an MSc in London with a focus on economic analysis and social policy. He enjoys rock climbing, but is not very good at it.