Meet TJ Niu, Classroom & IT Technician
TJ Niu
TJ joined the Department in April. He was born in Singapore; his family, including 3 siblings, moved to Canada when he was just five years old. Luckily for us he has exceptional skills with implementation and equipment set-up for large events and strong technical troubleshooting abilities. He frequently makes the rest of the staff laugh with his great sense of humour and images he adds to internal email communications. Prior to coming to the Department he was the Assistant Director of Admissions for The Art Institute of Vancouver (Lasalle College). He holds a side gig as a sound designer and audio engineer and also is a member of Tickle Me Pickle Improv (Theatre Sports). In spite of all his work activities he still finds time to play basketball, watch movies and play video games with his fiancé.
Meet Jean Cremin, Instructor and Neurology Stream Coordinator
Jean and her family enjoying the wilder places of BC
I am delighted for the opportunity to join the UBC Department of Physical Therapy in the capacity of Instructor and Neurology Stream Coordinator.
After graduating from the McMaster University MSc PT program, my physiotherapy career has been focused on neurological clinical practice and has taken me across the lifespan – from pediatrics to geriatrics, as well as across the continuum of health care – from the neuro acute care hospital setting, to inpatient and outpatient neuro rehabilitation programs, to community based neuro rehabilitation practice, private practice and consultation. I have also had the privilege to work at nationally and internationally renowned rehabilitation centres – the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, Ontario as well as GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre right here in Vancouver, BC.
In addition to my passion and enthusiasm for my ongoing clinical work, evidence-based practice and research are the foundation in my approach to neurological physiotherapy. I have been involved in ongoing research with the Rick Hansen Spinal Cord Injury Registry, and most recently, I was awarded a research grant through the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute in July 2017. This research project will look at knowledge translation from research into clinical practice as well as developing an evidence-based decision making tool for clinicians working with individuals with various neurological conditions.
Since moving back home to Vancouver, I have also been involved with the Department of Physical Therapy at UBC as a clinical instructor and neuro tutor for the neurology content of the IEPEP program as well as a clinical skills assistant in various courses. I am thrilled to be a part of the MPT program at UBC where I will be able to combine my passion and experience as an instructor and life-long learner with my strong foundation of evidence-based practice and neurological physiotherapy clinical practice.
It is an exciting time to be a neuro PT! I feel fortunate to be surrounded by incredible researchers, instructors and clinicians in neurological physiotherapy. It is my goal to bring critical thinking, problem solving, enthusiasm and clinical expertise to the classroom, in order to help prepare the MPT students for the dynamic and ever-changing clinical world.
In my spare time, you will find me in the garden, or cycling around this amazing city with my husband and 2 daughters, hopping on a paddle board whenever I get the chance, and also trying to get out to the wilder places of our beautiful province and country whenever possible.