I write essays and poems that explore the inner life and the ordinary moments through which we encounter change, loss, beauty, relationship, and meaning. My writing draws on contemplative practice, Chinese philosophy and literature, and a lifelong curiosity about how we meet the world with greater clarity and openness.
I am the author of The Art and Science of Compassion: A Primer—Reflections of a Physician-Chaplain (Oxford University Press, 2021), which grew from my experience of medicine, suffering, and contemplative practice. I also created Loving Presence: Visual Meditations of a Woman’s Inner Journey, which pairs images with haiku poetry. My current work, A Way of Being: Reflections on the Daodejing and the Inner Training, turns toward early Chinese thought, bringing together close readings of classical texts with reflections, poetry, and images. Much of my recent writing continues this movement between philosophy and lived experience, allowing ideas to be tested against the textures of everyday life.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, I trained in medicine at McGill University and in ophthalmology at the University of Toronto, and later completed a PhD in neuroscience at the University of Toronto. I have spent much of my professional life as a physician-scientist and professor at the University of Toronto and The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. My academic career has brought together clinical medicine, neuroscience research, and teaching.
Alongside my scientific and medical work, I undertook formal contemplative and chaplaincy training at Upaya Zen Center and was ordained as a chaplain and Sōtō Zen priest. I am also on the faculty of the Sarana Institute in Toronto, where I teach in programmes integrating mindfulness, compassion, and systems thinking in healthcare. I also lead workshops in Emmanuel College’s Psychospiritual Continuing Education programme at the University of Toronto.
Across these different parts of my life, writing has become a way of bringing contemplation, philosophy, science, and lived experience into conversation—and of paying closer attention to what it means to be human.
