Bonnie Leung is a nurse practitioner in oncology at BC Cancer – Vancouver and PhD student at the UBC School of Nursing. She has been working with both medical and radiation oncology, caring for patients with lung cancer since 2014. Her research interests include psycho-oncology, palliative and end-of-life care, health disparities of immigrants, and geriatric oncology.
Bonnie is also the recipient of a 2022 CIHR Health System Impact (HSI) Fellowship. The HSI Fellowship program employs a co-mentorship model between host organizations and academic partners to promote a high quality training experience embedded within the health system. Through their research activities, fellows will work to accelerate health system improvements across Canada. Bonnie's fellowship will be hosted by BC Cancer in partnership with the UBC School of Nursing, funded through the generous support of the BC Cancer Foundation. During her fellowship Bonnie's research will focus on improving access to diagnosis and care of cancer-related spinal cord injury for patients with language barriers by exploring how communication and cultural barriers impact health and health care outcomes for foreign-born Canadians. Her doctoral HSIF project will study the disparities in care and care outcomes of cancer-related spinal cord injury among patients with limited English proficiency in B.C. Clinical resources and policies will be developed with patient partners and an interdisciplinary care team to address the identified barriers.