Trainee
BC Children's Hospital
Venessa Thorsen, BSc (Hons)
Trainee, BC Children's Hospital
Venessa Thorsen is a Masters of Science candidate in the Women+ and Children’s Health Sciences program in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. She completed her undergraduate studies in Biology and Psychology at UBC Okanagan, where she graduated with honours in 2021.
Venessa is interested in improving preventive care for primary dyslipidemias such as Familial Hypercholesterolemia and is dedicated to making meaningful contributions to this area. Since 2022, Venessa has worked alongside Interventional Pediatric Cardiologists at BC Children’s Hospital to develop and deliver a first-of-its-kind continuing medical education course to improve rates of early detection diagnosis of primary dyslipidemias in children and adolescents. Since December of 2023, the course has been delivered to hundreds of physicians through partnerships with the BC Pediatric Society, UBC Faculty of Medicine and Rural Coordination Centre of BC. Her research has received award recognition and funding support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute and UBC Faculty of Medicine.
In addition to her academic pursuits, Venessa co-founded the non-profit “Students for Heart Health” in 2021 which raises funds and promotes community engagement in physical activity and blood donation initiatives through partnerships with the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Centre, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Canadian Blood Services, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation. Leading fundraising campaigns, Venessa successfully raised $10,600 for Kelowna General Hospital in 2022, contributing to the acquisition of an intra-aortic balloon pump essential for cardiac care. Additionally, her efforts in 2023 resulted in raising $5,000 for the Children's Heart Centre at BC Children's Hospital, supporting preventive care for pediatric patients.
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Friday, October 25, 2024
10:00 AM – 10:15 AM PT