Principal Investigator
PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Social Medicine, University of British Columbia
Research Interests
health care improvement; health innovation; remote communities; rural communities; virtual careDr. Femke Hoekstra completed her PhD at the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands, in the areas of implementation science, rehabilitation, and physical activity promotion. In January 2024, she joined UBC’s Department of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in the Division of Social Medicine, focusing on Implementation Science. Dr. Hoekstra leads a research program dedicated to improving health services and care for equity-deserving groups in rural, remote, and other isolated communities. Her work focuses on studying how health innovations, such as virtual care, can be successfully implemented in real-world settings.
“My passion is improving health care access and experiences for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) living in rural and remote areas. The IKT Guiding Principles for conducting and disseminating SCI research in partnership guide our work to ensure that the research we do is relevant and useful for those who can benefit from it. I truly believe meaningful change happens when we work together.”
Awards
- Prize-Project Grant: Health Services and Policy Research Rising Star Early Career Award: $25,000
Current Lab Members
| Undergraduate Students | Master Students | PhD Students | Postdoctoral Fellows | Research Staff | Administrative Staff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison Landry | Nancy Lu | Maaike Wildekamp | Dr. Sameh Mortazhejri | Giselle Roller | Kimia Nouhi |
| Joey Cheng | Meghan Brennan | Alanna Shwed | Vania Amelia Tjandra | Courtney Kohnen | |
| Abhisha Rathod | Shafaq Nami | Pim Brandenbarg | Asia Rosa | ||
| Emily Payne | Khushi Khandelwa | Emily Payne | |||
| Asia Rosa | Audrey Warner | ||||
| Zander Torres | Samantha Doyle | ||||
| Cameron Ardiel | Hollis Owens | ||||
| Jason Yi | Jacqueline Hunter | ||||
| Mia Dokken | |||||
| Brad van Osch | |||||
| Vania Amelia Tjandra | |||||
| Giselle Roller | |||||
| Kimia Nouhi |
Trainee Awards
| Year | Trainee | Award |
| 2025 | Vania Amalia Tjandra | International Undergraduate Research Award: $10,000 |
| Abhisha Rathod Patel | Faculty of Medicine & Southern Medical Program SMP Summer Research Award: $4,800 | |
| 2024 | Maaike Wildekamp | UMCG Research 4-year PhD Position: ~37,000 euro (~$55,000 CAD) per year |
Learn more about Dr. Hoekstra’s research on the Implementation Science and Isolated Communities (ISIC) Lab website
Recent publications
- Ginis, KAM et al.. 2026. Community-Based Exercise for Chronic Pain in People with Spinal Cord Injury: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2026.06.010.
- Tjandra, V et al.. 2026. Research Partnerships in Rural and Remote Virtual Health Innovation Projects: A Scoping Review.. Aust J Rural Health. doi: 10.1111/ajr.70220.
- Warner, A et al.. 2026. Experiences and Perceptions Within a Co-Created Drone Transport Initiative With Rural First Nation and Non-First Nation Communities: Semistructured Interview Study.. J Particip Med. doi: 10.2196/82720.
- Gainforth, HL et al.. 2026. Meaningful Engagement in Exercise Intervention Research Involving People with Spinal Cord Injury: Seven Practical Recommendations.. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil. doi: 10.46292/sci25-00081.
- Martin Ginis, KA et al.. 2026. A Comparison of Biopsychosocial Features of Chronic Neuropathic Versus Musculoskeletal Pain in Adults with Spinal Cord Injury: Baseline Cross-Sectional Data from the EPIC-SCI Trial.. Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil. doi: 10.46292/sci25-00033.
