About the Institute for Health Literacy
Hazel Booth
Nurse Practitioner
Clinical Director, Hazelnut Health
Nurse Educator, Camosun College
Instructor, University of Victoria
I co-founded IHL because of one question: how can we build a health system that supports people before they become unwell?
I’ve worked across clinical care, education, and policy, helping develop Nurse Practitioner roles in the Yukon and Australia. Along the way, I saw the limits of a system that is often reactive and hard to navigate.
At IHL, my focus is on a bringing health care literacy to our community focused on prevention and giving people agency to make the right choices for them. I bring clinical expertise in family care, aging, mental health, and chronic disease, along with travel medicine and end-of-life care.
I continue to teach, develop NP programs, and speak on how primary care can better serve both patients and providers.
Julian J. Lum, PhD
Distinguished Scientist
Distinguished Scientist, BC Cancer
Professor, University of Victoria
Director, The Metabolomics Consortium of BC
I am a scientist, educator, and translational researcher whose work sits at the intersection of cancer biology, metabolism, and immune health. I have spent my career leading research programs that uncover how diet, metabolism, and the microbiome shape immune function and disease outcomes.
Within IHL, I bring a deep academic lens to rethinking health based on over two decades of work in immunometabolism, cancer immunology, and patient-centered translational science.
My focus within IHL is to help translate complex science into practical, preventative, and personalized strategies that can be integrated into primary care, connecting research, nutrition, and immune health in a way that is actionable, evidence-based, and built for long-term impact.