Airway Reconstruction and Image-Guided Innovation

Peter Kim with his wife Jennifer and son William
Peter Kim is a paediatric general and thoracic surgeon
whose clinical practice includes tracheal reconstruction,
airway surgery, vascular reconstruction, and minimal
access operations on the lung, biliary tract and intestines.
His cases in the week of this interview included surgical
treatment of bronchomalacia, creation of a pelvic pouch
and laparoscopic bowel and lung resections. He takes
great pride in the airway reconstruction team (ART)
comprised of ENT (Vito Forte, Paolo Campisi), anaesthesia
(Helen Holtby), critical care (Peter Cox, Desmond
Bohn), general surgery (Priscilla Chiu), pulmonary
medicine (Felix Ratjen) and cardiac surgical colleagues
(Glen Van Arsdell, Chris Caldarone).
Peter's research program includes a basic science program
investigating molecular mechanisms in congenital
malformations of the hindgut and foregut supported by
CIHR. Peter's applied research emphasizes the development
of new technology in collaboration with industry.
He is developing catheter-based and robotic smart tools
based on automated autonomy, in collaboration with
MDA Corporation. He is working on imaging with
Philips Research USA to develop magnetic resonance
and ultrasound-based technologies for paediatric and
fetal surgical application. The third component of his
applied research is in simulation, working in collaboration
with L-3 Mapp of Montreal (manufacturer of simulators
for NASA).
Peter is setting up an incubator for the development
of advanced surgical instruments applicable to all surgical
specialties with initial focus on paediatric needs. The
plan is to develop sustained funding rather than the
usual single cycle paradigm of grant support by creating
a company in collaboration with industry partners. This
program (the Center for Image-Guided Innovation and
Therapeutic Intervention; www.CIGITI.com) has been
guided by Chair Richard Reznick, Jim Wright, Surgeonin-
Chief at the Hospital for Sick Children, and Janet
Rossant, head of the HSC research institute. He has
active ongoing engagement of clinical team members
Walid Farhat, Sharifa Himidan and Jim Drake. Peter
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building process and structure by hiring Thomas
Looi, an MBA engineer, and three PhD theme leaders,
Edward Huang, Nikoo Saber and Harmanpreet
Bassan who will catalyze interaction between surgeons
and engineers. Collaboration
strategy for these projects has been developed over the
past two years. He currently holds over $3.5 million in
grants from the Ministry of Research and Innovation
and $5.4 million from the Canadian Foundation for
Innovation for this initiative. Peter's management skills
were enhanced by attendance at the Ministry of Health
and Long Term Care Advanced Health Leadership
Program at the Rotman School of Management, led by
Professors Brian Golden and Joseph D'Cruz.
Recent accomplishments (featured in The Toronto Star
April 30, 2009 edition) include a significant populationbased
health systems initiative leading the development
of the fetal alert network (FAN) (www.fetalalertnetwork.com), to improve access to care, surveillance and education
about birth defects in Ontario. This provincial
program ($5.4 million over 5 years) in co-leadership
with Greg Ryan and Rory Windrim, David Chitayat
of the Mount Sinai Hospital has helped well over five
thousand pregnant mothers and babies with anomalies
to date, providing timely care and appropriate place
while reducing wait time and cost. The FAN has become
a critical building block of the overarching materno-fetal
provincial strategy led by ADM Adelsteinn Brown of the
MOHLTC of Ontario in transforming our health care
and health care system.
Peter completed his medical training at McGill
University, a PhD in immunology at the University of
Toronto, and surgical training, including paediatric surgery
fellowship at U of T. He completed post-doctoral
studies at the University of Cambridge in molecular biology.
He has mentored a number of graduate students,
clinical and research fellows over the years, and takes a
great pride in their success. PhD student Wei Cheng has
since been appointed as department head and Chair of
Paediatric Surgery at Monash University in Melbourne,
Australia. Research fellow Masayuki Obatake has been
appointed as Surgeon-in-Chief in Nagasaki, Japan and
clinical fellow Patricio Herrera has become department
head of thoracic/airway surgery in Santiago, Chile.
Peter is married to Jennifer, an attorney specializing
in corporate and commercial law. Together they have a
nine-year-old son William. They ski and travel together.
Peter's younger brother Harry Kim is a paediatric
orthopaedic surgeon, currently the head of research at
the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Peter is currently
reading Chasing Daylight by Eugene O'Kelly and
Margaret Atwood's Payback.
M.M.
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