Our Team

Dr. Saul Isserow
Dr. Saul IsserowMedical Director

Dr. Saul Isserow graduated from the University of Witwatersrand in 1986. He did General Practice and Specialty Training in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Saskatchewan. FRCPC (Internal Med.) in 1994, followed by FRCPC (Cardiology) in 1996. He is the Director of the VGH Centre for Cardiovascular Health and the Director of Cardiology Services at UBC Hospital. Dr. Isserow is the Regional Lead for Cardiac Rehabilitation in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. He received the Master Teacher awards from the Department of Anaesthesia in 2003 and 2013 and from the Department of Medicine in 2010. He was the recipient of the People’s Choice Award VGH Medical Staff in 2000 and Vancouver Coastal Health Annual Award for Clinical Excellence in 2008. Most recently, Dr. Isserow was awarded a 2019-2020 UBC Killam Teaching Prize. He was also the Cardiology Lead for the Vancouver Olympic Games in 2010. Dr. Isserow is the Medical Director of SportsCardiologyBC.

Dr. Jimmy McKinney
Dr. Jimmy McKinney

Dr. Jimmy McKinney received an M.D. from the University of Toronto, M.Sc. in Biochemistry, and B.Sc. in genetics from the University of Western Ontario. He completed Internal Medicine and Cardiology fellowship at the University of British Columbia and subspecialty fellowship in Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention at the University of Toronto. He completed a sports cardiology fellowship at the University of British Columbia, and has done sports cardiology training in Rome and London, UK. His research interests include pre-participation screening of young and Masters athletes, the chronic effects of exercise, and medical education. Dr. McKinney is the Research Medical Director of SportsCardiologyBC.

Dr. Nate Moulson
Dr. Nate Moulson

Dr. Nate Moulson received a B.H.K. and M.D. from the University of British Columbia. He completed Internal Medicine at Queen’s University, and Cardiology Fellowship at the University of British Columbia. He completed a subspecialty fellowship in Sports Cardiology at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital. He is currently completing a Clinician Investigator Program, Master of Health Administration, and Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention Fellowship at the University of British Columbia. His research interests include the cardiovascular care of highly active persons and athletes with cardiac disease, the performance, and cardiac effects of COVID-19 on competitive athletes, the use of cardiopulmonary exercise testing in Sports Cardiology, and the virtual delivery of cardiac rehabilitation.

Maida Valkenier
Maida ValkenierClinical and Invasive Diagnostic Cardiologist

Maida Valkenier is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in the health wellness and fitness industry. Her skills include Healthcare Consulting, Budgeting, Coaching, Team Building, and Healthcare Information Technology (HIT). Maida graduated from Simon Fraser University. She worked at Medisys for 8 years holding the positions of Senior Director and eventually Vice President.  Currently, she is the Executive Director of SportsCardiologyBC.

Dr. Brett Heilbron
Dr. Brett HeilbronClinical and Invasive Diagnostic Cardiologist

Dr. Brett Heilbron received an undergraduate degree from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), and then practiced as a rural family physician in Newfoundland and Manitoba for 4 years. He completed Internal Medicine and Cardiology training at the University of British Columbia in 1995. He is currently a Clinical and Invasive Diagnostic Cardiologist at St. Pauls’ Hospital, and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia. His interests include valvular heart disease, noninvasive cardiac imaging, and information technology.

Dr. Jack Taunton
Dr. Jack TauntonDirector of Sports Medicine

Dr. Taunton was a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Division of Sports Medicine at the University of British Columbia. He had a clinical practice in sports medicine at the Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Centre where he was the director for over 25 years after co-founding the Centre in 1979. Thirty years ago, Dr. Taunton co-founded Sportmed BC while president of the Sports Medicine Council of Canada. He has always been passionate about clinical and exercise medicine research with a keen interest in overuse injuries, injury prevention and concussions in sport. He was the Director of Sports Medicine for Fortius Sport and Health and was on the board of directors of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. He was also the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and CMO for Canada at the Sydney Olympics, two Pan American and two World Student Games. Dr. Taunton was the Women’s Team Physician and Association Coordinating Physician for Field Hockey Canada for over 25 years and the Team Physician for the Vancouver Grizzlies NBA Team during its time in Vancouver. He was also co-founder of the Vancouver Marathon, the Vancouver Sun Run and most recently the UBC Grand Prix of Cycling. Dr. Taunton has been a competitive runner, completing over 60 marathons. He was inducted into the BC Athletics Sports Hall Of Fame and the Burnaby Sports Hall of Fame and was named to the Globe and Mail 2012 Power 50. Dr. Taunton was a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.

Dr. Anthony Della Siega
Dr. Anthony Della SiegaRegional Lead - Vancouver Island

Dr. Anthony Della Siega is a Staff Interventional Cardiologist and Director of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory and of the Interventional Fellowship program at the Royal Jubliee Hospital. He is a board member and Director at Victoria Heart Institute Foundation. Dr. Della Siega received his MD and completed his Internal Medicine and Cardiology residencies at the University of British Columbia followed by his Interventional Cardiology Fellowship at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. Dr. Della Siega has a strong presence in the athletic community, being an active hockey player and coach as well as a board member of the Victoria Racquet Club Minor Hockey Association. He joins us as the SportsCardiologyBC Regional Lead on Vancouver Island.

Dr. Kevin Pistawka
Dr. Kevin PistawkaRegional Lead - Interior British Columbia

Dr. Kevin Pistawka is the Chief of the Division of Cardiology at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) and Medical Director and founding member of C.O.A.C.H. (Central Okanagan Association for Cardiac Health) Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. He completed his undergraduate and medical school training at the University of British Columbia (1986). His rotating internship was completed at Ottawa Civic Hospital (1987) and additional house officer training in New Zealand (1987-89). He finished Internal Medicine residency at UBC (1992) and subsequent Cardiology sub-specialty training completed in 1995. He has been working in Kelowna for past 2 decades practicing general cardiology including diagnostic angiography, echocardiography, CCU, pacer clinics, cardiac rehabilitation and office consultations. Other activities include UBC Associate professor, Continuing Medical Education teaching for rural GP’s and a KGH Foundation Board Director. He has been involved in multi-center clinical trial research, having been a co-investigator in over 20 multi-center trials of various cardiac medications and clinical devices. Has completed Level 1 Coaching certificate and have been involved with youth sports teams as soccer coach (> 15 teams) and hockey assistant coach &/or trainer ( > 20 teams). He enjoys the Okanagan recreation with his spouse and 4 kids including golf, cross-country/downhill and water -skiing, hockey and road-biking. Dr. Kevin Pistawka joins us as the SportsCardiologyBC Regional Lead for the interior of British Columbia.

Dr. Darren Warburton
Dr. Darren WarburtonCo-Director of the Physical Activity and Chronic Disease Prevention Unit at UBC

Dr. Darren Warburton attended York University for his BA and M.Sc. (Kinesiology and Health Sciences) and received a Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Physiology, Physical Education from the University of Alberta in 2000. He is the co-Director of the Physical Activity and Chronic Disease Prevention Unit at UBC. He is the founder and director of the Cardiovascular Physiology and Rehabilitation Laboratory at UBC and was the director of the Sports Cardiology and Musculoskeletal Assessment Research Team (SMART 2010) for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Darren is a lead investigator in the Top Secret Own the Podium program and oversees the training and assessment of high-performance athletes from various sports. He is also co-director of the Physical Activity Support Line and led the development of the new Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+) and the new electronic Physical Activity Readiness Medical Examination (ePARmed-X+).
Dr. Warburton’s research spans the spectrum of elite athletic performance, childhood health, quality of life in the elderly, and the treatment of patients with chronic disease and/or disability (including individuals with heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, and spinal cord injury). He has published extensively including over 150 peer-reviewed articles and chapters.

Dr. Zachary Laksman
Dr. Zachary Laksman

Dr. Laksman is a Cardiac Electrophysiologist at St. Paul’s and Vancouver General Hospital. Dr. Laksman is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University, and the Charles Kerr distinguished scholar in Cardiovascular Genetics.  Dr. Laksman holds grant support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, and the Stem Cell Network for his work on the genetics of heart rhythm and heart muscle disturbances. Dr. Laksman has a clinical focus on arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, sudden cardiac death, sports cardiology, implantable and wearable monitoring technology, and cardiac ablation and device procedures.

Dr. Mike Wilkinson
Dr. Mike Wilkinson

Dr. Mike Wilkinson is a Clinical Assistant Professor practicing sports and rehab medicine in Vancouver with a major interest in preventive screening and exercise in medicine. He graduated at University of Witwatersrand in 1987, holds the CASM Diploma in Sports Medicine and an MBA, Queens University. He is the CMO for the Canadian Rowing team, a team physician for the Vancouver Canucks, Canadian and BC senior Rugby Teams, was a physician for the Canadian 2004 and 2008 Olympic teams and the Canadian CMO for the 2007 Canadian Pan Ams team. Dr. Wilkinson was the Director of medical services for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic games, is a member of the international rowing medical commission (FISA) and serves as a member of the SMCBC and Own the Podium board of directors.

Dr. Andrew Ignaszewski
Dr. Andrew Ignaszewski

Dr. Ignaszewski received his medical training in Poland. He came to Canada in 1983 and completed Internal Medicine training at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia before moving to University of Alberta where he finished Adult Cardiology training. He was recruited for medical leadership of a premier cardiac rehabilitation and prevention program at St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia in 1994. He is Physician Program Director, Heart Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital, Head, Providence Healthcare Division of Cardiology at St. Paul’s Hospital, Medical Director of Heart Function Clinic, St. Paul’s Hospital and Clinical Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Ignaszewski’s research interests are cardiac rehabilitation and prevention, heart failure and patient outcomes following various cardiovascular interventions. He has published 77 papers and 128 abstracts in these areas. Dr. Ignaszewski is also involved in the teaching of medical students and medical residents at St. Paul’s Hospital. He has received teaching awards from the University of British Columbia such as Best Teacher during a clinical rotation, Excellence in Clinical Teaching Skills and Teacher of the Year Awards. He has also received an award for Excellence in health Promotion from BC Medical Association and publication award for original research.

Dr. Andrew Krahn
Dr. Andrew Krahn

Professor in the Division of Cardiology at UBC, Dr Krahn received his MD from the University of Manitoba. His clinical expertise is in the inherited heart arrhythmia and arrhythmia device management. Current research interests include investigation of genetic causes of arrhythmias, causes of loss of consciousness and implantable arrhythmia device monitoring. He has research funding by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Institute of Health Research. His research has been widely published in numerous peer-reviewed scientific journals all over the world with 245 papers and 290 abstracts. He is the Deputy Editor of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, and sits on the Editorial Board of Heart Rhythm and the Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology. Dr. Krahn is affiliated with several professional associations including the Royal College of Physicians of Canada, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the Heart Rhythm Society. He is a member of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Council, and the Scientific Program Chair for the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress (2012. 2013). He has recently relocated to UBC in Vancouver as the Sauder Family Chair and Chief of Cardiology, and the Paul Brunes Chair in Heart rhythm Disorders.

Dr. Carolyn Taylor
Dr. Carolyn Taylor

Dr Carolyn M Taylor, MD, MPH is a clinical assistant professor at the University of British Columbia and a member of the Divisions of Cardiology at St Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital. With fellowship training in Preventative Cardiology (Harvard University) and Cardiac CT Angiography (Massachusett’s General Hospital), Dr Taylor is actively involved in clinical and research activities in these fields. She focuses her clinical time in the Healthy Heart cardiac rehabilitation program at St Paul’s and Vancouver General Hospitals and in the Prevention at St Paul’s Hospital. Additionally, Dr. Taylor works in the advanced cardiac imaging department and cardiac intensive care unit at St Paul’s Hospital. Prior research training includes a Masters of Public Health (2008) from Harvard University and completion of the UBC Clinical Investigator’s Program (CIP 2009). Dr. Taylor is currently involved as a co-investigator and primary investigator of numerous research studies in the areas of non-invasive imaging, cardiac prevention and exercise testing.

Dr. Behzad S. Azimzadeh
Dr. Behzad S. AzimzadehMedical Consultant, Research Assistant

Dr. Behzad S. Azimzadeh received an M.D. from Kerman Medical University in 1988 and a specialty in cardiology from the Shahid Rajaei Heart Center of Iran in 1993. He completed a fellowship of interventional cardiology at Shahid Rajaei Heart Center of Iran in 1999. He has worked as an associate professor of cardiology in Kerman Medical University of Iran for 25 years. He came to Canada in 2013 and completed a fellowship in Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention at University of British Colombia in 2019. He works at SportsCardiologyBC as a Research Assistant and Medical Consultant.

Samantha Pyke
Samantha Pyke

Samantha completed her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba, and then attended the British Columbia Institute of Technology to become a registered Cardiology Technologist. She has always been very passionate about sports and is excited to be working for SportsCardiologyBC as a cardiology technologist.

Ahmed Khan
Ahmed Khan

Ahmed completed his Bachelor of Kinesiology at the University of Toronto. For the past 5 years Ahmed has worked as a Kinesiologist in various health initiatives for Fire Fighters in Ontario. He is very passionate about preventative medicine for first-responders and is very excited to join the SCBC team as a Project and Research Coordinator.

Rebecca Mate
Rebecca Mate

Rebecca received her Bachelor of Arts in Health Sciences from Simon Fraser University. Alongside of her major, she completed a minor in SFU’s School of Communication centering on methods in promoting health through the use of media outlets. Her experience in clinical research has led her to work at Fraser Health Authority, St. Paul’s Hospital, specialty medical clinics, and multiple non-profit sport organizations. She joins the SportsCardiology BC Team as a Project and Research Coordinator.

Sabina Kesedzic
Sabina KesedzicWellness Coordinator

Sabina is an Occupational Health and Safety Officer. She graduated from BCIT in 2003. For the past ten years, Sabina has worked in the private and public sector as a Manager and Wellness Coordinator. Sabina is extremely passionate about sports and athlete’s health as well as injury and illness prevention. Sabina joined the SportsCardiologyBC team in February 2020 as a Wellness Coordinator.

Mila Goretic
Mila GoreticWellness Coordinator

Mila is a foreign trained nurse who immigrated to Canada from Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1995. Upon arriving to Canada, she continued to work as a Care Aid for 4 years in a long-term care home in Edmonton. After completing the Chemical Technology Engineering program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton, Alberta in 2002, she worked as a Research Technologist for over 10 years. For the past seven years, Mila coordinated various wellness programs for small and large corporations in the public and private sectors. She is very passionate about sports and has been teaching yoga for the past eight years. Mila joins the SCBC team as a Wellness Coordinator.

Alma Beciragic
Alma BeciragicLaboratory Technician

Alma began her career as a Nurse Technician in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After immigrating to the United States, she went back to school to become a Dental Assistant to help with oral surgeries. In 2009, Alma moved to Canada and attended Stenberg College where she received an MLA certificate. She then worked in the corporate health field, conducting drug and alcohol testing, vision and hearing testing, spirometry, electrocardiograms and phlebotomy tests. Alma joined the SportsCardiologyBC team in September 2020 as a Laboratory Technician.

Jeff Mesman
Jeff MesmanCPET Technologist and Research Coordinator

Jeff is a BCAK registered Kinesiologist, and completed his Bachelor of Kinesiology degree from the University of British Columbia. He also has experience working as a first responder and is passionate about working with this population promoting Cardiovascular and Pulmonary health through physical activity. He is excited to be joining the SportsCardiologyBC team as a CPET Technologist and Research Coordinator.

OUR TEAM IN ACTION