The KCSF Dream Tree Award was established to recognize persons of Korean heritage who have elevated the profile of Korean-Canadians through his or her success and accomplishment in the broader Canadian or international community.

KCSF encourages community members to submit nominations to highlight achievements of high-profile Korean-Canadians. To submit your nomination, please complete this nomination form.

2024 Dream Tree Award Recipient: Dr. Jiwon Oh

Dr. Jiwon Oh (Staff neurologist, scientist, and Medical Director of the Barlo Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Program at St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto)

Dr. Jiwon Oh is a staff neurologist, scientist, and Medical Director of the Barlo Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Program at St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto and specializes in the care of people living with MS. Dr. Oh’s research focuses on developing advanced MRI techniques in for use in clinical settings, and the development of large datasets. She leads the MRI research program at St. Michael’s Hospital, and is the principal investigator on numerous local and multi-center collaborative studies, including the Canadian Prospective Cohort Study to Understand Progression in MS (CanProCo), which is a national prospective cohort study designed to better understand progression in MS. Dr. Oh is one of the founding members of the North American Imaging in MS Cooperative (NAIMS) representing a multi-national collaborative MRI research endeavor in MS with over 40 sites in North America. She cares for a large practice of people living with MS, and has overseen the development of the Barlo MS program into a thriving clinical and research program. She is deeply committed to caring for people with MS, educating future generations of clinicians and scientists, and in particular being a role model as a woman leader in medicine and science, and contributing to scientific developments that will drive the field forward. 

Jiwon is a past KCSF scholarship recipient, which makes being the recipient of this year’s KCSF Dream Tree award even more meaningful to her. This is a testament to the importance of organizations like KCSF supporting young scholars at pivotal stages of their career.

2023 Dream Tree Award Recipient: Anita Lee

Anita Lee (Chief Programming Officer, TIFF)

As TIFF’s Chief Programming Officer, Anita Lee helms artistic and strategic leadership for TIFF and TIFF Lightbox. Prior to TIFF, Lee served as the Executive Producer and Studio Head of NFB Ontario. A veteran media executive with over 25 years in the industry and 15 years in public media, Lee led the programmatic and strategic vision for Canada’s award-winning public agency in Toronto.

Lee is also recognized widely for her past producing achievements of critically acclaimed films including Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell. Anita Lee founded the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival in 1997 and was honoured in 2021 with a festival award in her name, the Anita Lee Firehorse Award for change-makers. Lee has also been recognized with a 2022 WIFT - Toronto Crystal Mentorship Award as well as the Rogers-DOC Luminary Award in 2022. She has received two Peabody Awards and three Canadian Screen Awards, including the 2023 Award for Best Feature Length Documentary (To Kill a Tiger). She has been a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences since 2016.

Past KCSF Dream Tree Award Recipients

  • 2018: Founding directors of KCSF

    • Taek-Soon Yoon, In-Sik Moon, Kyu-Gab Huh, Brian Byong-Kuon Kim, Sang-Whay Kooh, Woo-In Choi, Hee-Heung Chai, Youn-Won Koo, Sung-Wook Lee

  • 2022: Ben Chin

  • 2019: Dr. Schofield Memorial Scholarship Association of Korean-Canadians