Honours & Awards

Timothy Daniels (OrthSurg), Johnny Lau (OrthSurg), Mark A.Glazebrook, Alastair Younger, Murray J. Penner, Kevin J.Wing, Ross Leighton and Michael Dunbar, members of the Canadian Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (COFAS), were awarded the 2007 Roger A. Mann, MD, Award for paper entitled: "Comparison of Health Related Quality of Life Between Patients with End Stage Arthritis and Hip Arthritis" presented at The American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) Annual Summer Meeting in Toronto, on July 12 to 15, 2007. Not only a great honour, but the occasion was unique in that this award was given to MDs outside of the United States for the second time in the 25-year history of the AOFAS.

Eleftherios Diamandis (Surg) has received a Cancer Care Ontario, Cancer Research Network Award ($130,000) for project titled: "Identification of Specific, Small Molecular Weight Inhibitors of Human Tissue Kallikrein Enzymes by High-throughput Screening".

Peter Dirks (NeurSurg) has received a Cancer Care Ontario, Cancer Research Network Award ($130,000) for project titled: "High-throughput Screening of Human Brain Cancer Stem Cells".

Jaime Escallon (GenSurg) has been awarded the "Maestros de la cirugia Colombiana" translation: "Masters of Surgery in Colombia". It is the greatest honour that the Association of Surgeons of Colombia gives to a surgeon in recognition of his life's work, devoted teaching and the great support he has given to the Association, not only as a surgeon but as an individual.

Neil Fleshner (UrolSurg) has received an award from the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada for project: "Impact of Antioxidants on MRI Markers of Cell Proliferation and Hypoxia Among Men on Active Surveillance With Early Stage".

Daryl Kucey (VascSurg) has been installed as President of the Canadian Society for Vascular Surgery. This honour brings pride to the Department, the Division of Vascular Surgery and Sunnybrook.

Robert Nam (UrolSurg) has been awarded the Early Research Award ($150,000) by the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, formerly the Premier's Research Excellence Award.

Raja Rampersaud (OrthSurg) has been awarded the 2007 Arbor Award for outstanding volunteer service to UofT and the Spine Journal Outstanding Paper Award: Surgical Science ($10,000) presented at the annual North American Spine Society (NASS) meeting.

Sandro Rizoli (GenSurg) was awarded the Best Speaker Award for the 2006-2007 Principles of Surgery Lecture Series.

Charles Tator (NeurSurg) is the recipient of the 2007 Arbor Award for outstanding volunteer service to the University of Toronto.

Michael Taylor (NeurSurg) is the recipient of a 3-year Sontag Foundation Distinguished Scholar Award for his work on: "Multiple Genetic Events Converge to Target Histone 3 Lysine 9 Methylation in Pediatric Medulloblastoma".

Vasundara Venkateswaran (Research) on behalf of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), has been invited to become a member of the "Nutrition, Food & Health" Grants Committee. She was recommended for this appointment by peers in recognition of her reputation in the field and demonstrated excellence in science. The initial term of this appointment is from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008 and renewable for an additional 2 years. As you know, one of CIHR's major activities is the assessment of applications for support.

Alexandre Zlotta (UrolSurg) has received an award from the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada for project: "Prevalence and Age Distribution of Prostate Carcinoma and its Precursor lesions in African, Asian and Caucasian Men in Autopsy Specimens: A Prospective Comparative International Study with Central Pat".

Ronald Zuker (PlasSurg) has been awarded the 2007 Art of Listening Award. This award honours a health professional who models the importance of caring receptive professionals in the lives of individuals and families living with genetic conditions. He was nominated by the Mobius Syndrome through the Genetic Alliance and was selected from over 50 nominations. The Genetic Alliance is a genetic advocacy organization based in Washington, DC.

Ivan Diamond (GenSurg Resident) was awarded 2nd Prize in the Resident Clinical Paper Competition at the annual meeting of the Canadian Pediatric Surgical Association for paper titled: "Changing the Paradigm: Omegaven for the Treatment of Liver Failure in Pediatric Short Bowel Syndrome".

The Resident Trauma Papers Competition from Western [Region XI] and Eastern [Region XII] Canada was held at the Canadian Surgical Forum meeting in Toronto on Sept. 8th. The winning papers for Region XII were:

Barbara Haas (GenSurg Resident, Supervisor: A. Nathens) received Award for Clinical Science Category for paper titled: "The Survival Advantage in Trauma Centres: Expeditious Intervention or Experience?"

Ann Parr (NeurSurg Resident, Supervisor: C. Tator) received Award for Basic Science Category for paper titled: "Transplantation of Adult Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells and Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in the Injured Rat Spinal Cord".

Congratulations to both winners and all the residents who participated. The two winning papers will be submitted to the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma who will chose one of these 2 papers to represent Region XII in the international competition to be held in March 2008 in Washington DC.

Betty Kim (NeurSurg Resident) has been awarded the National Cancer Institute of Canada Diamond Anniversary Student Research Award, the Joseph M. West Family Memorial Fund, the Charles F. Fell Fund and Javenthey Soobiah Scholarship.

Paul Kongkham (NeurSurg Resident) is winner of the Resident Research 1st Prize Award of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery. He will be presenting his work: "A Combined Epigenetic and Genetic Genome-wide Screen Identifies SPINT2 as a Novel Tumour Suppressor Gene in Medulloblastoma" at the upcoming meeting at the Ritz Carlton in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada. This resident research prize is the most highly sought after prize for all residents as the American Academy of Neurological Surgery is the most prestigious group of neurosurgeons in the world.

Adrian Laxton (NeurSurg Resident) received the Miriam Neveren Memorial Award and the Joseph M. West Family Memorial Fund through the Postgraduate Medicine Awards Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, UofT.

Demitre Serletis (NeurSurg Resident) was awarded the Miriam Neveren Memorial Award and the Joseph M. West Family Memorial Fund by the Postgraduate Medicine Awards Committee of the Faculty of Medicine, UofT.

Jensen Tan (GenSurg Resident) has been awarded the 2007-2008 Joseph M. West Family Memorial Fund ($4,980.52) by the Postgraduate Medicine Awards Committee, Faculty of Medicine, UofT.

Patrick Tawadros (GenSurg Resident) has been awarded the prestigious Starr Medal by the 2007-2008 Postgraduate Medicine Awards Committee of the Faculty of Medicine.