Dr. Hounjet is a first-year resident in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of British Columbia.
Born and raised in rural Saskatchewan, she is of Metis and settler descent and is passionate about Indigenous health. She, along with her colleague Emily Green, spearheaded the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Report Card Project which provided a voice to Indigenous medical students across the country. She has had the privilege of acting as a consultant to the Federal Government during the National Dialogue on Indigenous Health. This year she was the honored recipient of both the Canadian Association of Medical Education Rising Star Certificate of Excellence for her work in improving Indigenous health education both at a local and National level, as well as the Dr. Graham Clay Presidential Prize.
She hopes to continue to work to improve access to safe medical care for Indigenous people, especially from a surgical perspective, as she continues through her residency.
In graduate school, Alex studied the relationship between head impact exposure and neurological function in football players. He was a recipient of the CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship. During medical school, he received the George W. Leroux Memorial Scholarship and Florence E. Heighway Summer Research Award. He received multiple scholarships from the American Academy of Neurology and won Top Breakthrough Abstract at the Canadian Stroke Congress for his research regarding cognition and quality of life following stroke.
Alex previously played competitive soccer but now spends his free cycling and skiing. He also enjoys travelling, especially to surfing locales.
Dr. Rizzuto earned his MD from the University of British Columbia after completing a BSc. (Hons) in Kinesiology with a minor in Chemical Biology at McMaster University.
Michael acted as the president to the UBC Medicine Class of 2019 over the course of his medical studies. He served a two-year term on the board of the UBC Medical Journal as the Director of Publications. During his undergraduate studies, he was the recipient of an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award at McMaster University, which allowed him to evaluate virtual reality head mounted displays as tools for ergonomic posture assessments. At UBC, Michael received research funding that allowed him to study microRNA biomarkers as they relate to the severity of spinal cord injuries.
Michael holds a 1st degree black belt in Taekwon-Do and has played competitive soccer for a number of years. He also enjoys skiing, baking, and occasionally dabbles in video games.