OSEI LAB
BREATHE-OK
A Community-Powered Lung Biobank
BREATHE-OK is the Okanagan’s first region-specific lung biobank.
It connects donated airway, blood, and lung samples with clinical and environmental information to understand how wildfire smoke affects lung health, recovery, and resilience.
BREATHE-OK is currently the only Okanagan-based biobank listed in the national CTRNet Biobank Locator.
The program has approval from the UBC Clinical Research Ethics Board (REB H25-02431).
Be Part of BREATHE-OK
Help advance lung health in the Okanagan, as a participant, research collaborator or supporting partner.
For Participants
Donated samples support research into wildfire smoke exposure, respiratory disease, recovery, and resilience in the Okanagan.
For Researchers
Integrated biospecimens, clinical data, environmental information, and human-relevant lung models enable collaborative discovery.
For Partners & Funders
Shared infrastructure advances regional lung health, clinical translation, community resilience, and long-term research capacity.
To discuss research partnerships or supporting BREATHE-OK, contact Dr. Emmanuel Osei.
For charitable giving, we can connect you with UBC Okanagan’s Development and Alumni Engagement team.
How BREATHE-OK Makes an Impact
A connected platform for lung health, wildfire exposure and clinical translation
Wildfire Smoke Challenge
Studies how wildfire smoke changes lung biology and why risk and recovery differ between people.
Community Participation
Invites consenting Okanagan residents, patients and frontline workers under rigorous ethical oversight.
Living Lung Models
Creates donor-derived 3D lung models linked to genomic, clinical and environmental exposure data.
Clinical Impact
Links samples with outcomes to track recovery, detect complications and improve respiratory care.
Precision Discovery
Uses human-relevant models to identify biomarkers, disease pathways and potential treatments.
Regional Resilience
Builds evidence to guide public health, policy and preparedness in wildfire-affected communities.
The BREATHE-OK team
Connecting UBC Okanagan departments, Kelowna Fire Department, the City of Kelowna, UBC and Interior Health.
Scientific leadership
Dr. Emmanuel Osei
Biobank Director/Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, Biology, UBC Okanagan
Adjunct Professor, Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, UBC
Biobank coordination
Tony Guo
Biobank Manager · MD–PhD student · UBC Okanagan
Clinical collection & pathology
Connecting patient care with discovery
Dr. Julia Pritchard
Respirologist and lead clinical investigator.
UBC/Medicine, Faculty of/Medicine, Department of/Respiratory Medicine Division
Dr. J. Douglass Rolf
Respirologist.
UBC/Medicine, Faculty of/Medicine, Department of/Respiratory Medicine Division
Dr. Maurice Blitz
Thoracic surgeon, Kelowna General Hospital.
UBC/Medicine, Faculty of/Surgery
Dr. Dante D’urbano
Pathologist, Kelowna General Hospital.
UBC/Medicine, Faculty of/Pathology & Laboratory Medicine.
Lung, engineering & environmental research
Connecting expertise across UBCO departments
Dr. Jennifer Frattolin
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Applied Science, UBC Okanagan
Dr. Min Hyung Ryu
Assistant Professor, Bioinformatician, Respiratory Medicine, UBC
Dr. Sijia Chen
Postdoctoral Fellow, Biology, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science, UBC Okanagan
Dr. Abbas S. Milani
School of Engineering, UBC Okanagan
Computational modelling and protective materials
Dr. Farzan Gholamreza
School of Engineering, UBC Okanagan
Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute
Protective fabrics and PPE testing
Dr. Brendan Dyck
Earth and Environmental Sciences, UBC Okanagan
Analytical geochemistry and contaminant characterisation
Wildfire & exposure research
Linking people, place and respiratory health
Prof. Philip Ainslie
School of Health and Exercise Science - Faculty of Health and Social Development/UBCO
Prof. Neil Eves
School of Health and Exercise Science - Faculty of Health and Social Development/UBCO
Dr. Mathieu Bourbonnais
Associate Professor
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences - Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science/UBCO
Dr. L. Madden Brewster
CREWS study lead and Research Associate.
UBC/Medicine, Faculty of/Medicine, Department of/Respiratory Medicine Division
Interior Health | JP Centre | Operations
Connecting clinical operations and biobank coordination
Pamela Hruska
Director, Neurosciences Clinical Network, Interior Health
Helena Neudorf
Manager, Research Data & Special Projects
Christian Allera
Lead Research Navigator
Holly Buhler
Director, Data & Evaluation
Jim Pattison Centre for Health Systems Learning & Innovation
Agnes Yuen
Study operations & guidance
Research Manager, APEL, Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
Municipal partners
Connecting frontline experience and biobank coordination
Kelowna Fire Department
Shawn Wudrich
Assistant Chief of Operations
City of Kelowna Co-applicant
Operational leadership and firefighter recruitment
City of Kelowna
Graysann Bottomley
Co-investigator · Occupational health and safety
Workforce health, safety policy and governance
Vancouver
PUBLICATIONS
Publications are forthcoming and will be updated