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New Staff

Jean- Francois Boileau
Jean- Francois Boileau
We are delighted to welcome Dr. Jean Francois Boileau to the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre team of Surgical Oncologists. Dr. Boileau holds a medical degree and a Master's degree in Biomedical Sciences and Clinical Research from University of Montreal. He completed his General Surgery training at the University of Montreal and a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the University of Toronto. He has worked as staff surgeon at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montreal (CHUM) before being recruited to the University of Toronto in September 2009.

Dr Boileau's research interests are in breast cancer. The main focus of his research aims at using primary systemic therapy, or neoadjuvant therapy, as a more efficient way to study the effects of systemic treatments in people with breast cancer. The three main axes of his research program are: 1) Determining who will derive the most benefit from systemic therapy by identifying predictors of response to primary systemic therapy in higher risk subgroups of breast cancer patients, 2) Evaluating new systemic treatments in the neoadjuvant setting within randomized controlled trials and 3) Eliminating the barriers to the use of primary systemic therapy by better defining the use of sentinel node biopsy and radiotherapy in this setting. The goal is to better understand the complexities of tumor response to systemic therapy in order to deliver treatments that will be increasingly tailored and personalized.

Dr Boileau is the principal investigator of the SN FNAC Trial, a Canadian multicentre study evaluating the accuracy of sentinel node biopsy in node positive breast cancer patients that have received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. He is also principal investigator for the NSABP at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, a collaborative group that leads some of the most influential studies evaluating the use of neoadjuvant treatments in breast cancer. In addition, he is leading a Canadian predictive oncology effort that is interested in studying the genomic and proteomic predictors of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in triple-negative and Her2 positive breast cancer.

Andy Smith
Division Head, General Surgery
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre


Gregory H. Borschel
Gregory H. Borschel

The Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Greg Borschel to its staff and to warmly welcome his wife, Dr. Tina Mullick Borschel and their two children, Anjali and Nikhil back to Toronto.

Dr. Borschel comes to our division as one of the bright young stars in the field of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery having spent the past 3 years on staff at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri under the guidance of a former Toronto professor, Dr. Susan Mackinnon. Dr. Borschel's recruitment is a heartwarming return to familiar ground as he spent a year as a fellow in Pediatric Plastic Surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in 2005 to 2006 before taking his staff position in St. Louis.

Greg received his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and Biology magna cum laude in 1993 from Emory University before moving to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore for his MD training. In 1997, he enrolled in the Integrated Plastic Surgery Program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor under another Toronto graduate, Dr. Bill Kuzon, during which time he completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship within the Functional Tissue Engineering Laboratory and the Muscle Mechanics Laboratory, University of Michigan. After graduation in 2005, he and his family moved to Toronto for sub-specialty training in Pediatric Plastic Surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children under Dr. Christopher Forrest.

In his short career, Greg has built up an impressive array of accolades, not the least of which is the American Association of Plastic Surgeons / KLS Academic Scholarship Award given only every two years to an outstanding new surgeon. A review of his curriculum vitae suggests that the accomplishments Greg has received would place him at the end of an illustrious career, not at the start. He has rapidly developed an international reputation in the area of peripheral nerve injuries and repair and has accumulated over 100 peer-reviewed scientific presentations, 25 scientific papers, 17 book chapters, peerreview funding from NIH, several patents and a book - not bad for the first 3 years!

Having Greg join our staff has been instrumental in recruiting Dr. Tessa Gordon to the Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children. Tessa has an international reputation as a basic scientist in the field of peripheral nerve injury and repair. Her studies of neurophysiology, nerve regeneration, electrical stimulation and novel surgical paradigms have attracted international attention.

Greg's clinical practice will focus on pediatric peripheral nerve injuries, upper extremity and microsurgery. As a surgeon-scientist in the SickKids Research Institute, his research is devoted to improved understanding and outcomes in peripheral nerve injury using growth factor delivery systems and the use of type I collagen conduits for the repair of nerve gaps.

He holds cross - appointments in the Institute of Medical Sciences and the Department of Biomedical Engineering. With Dr. Howard Clarke and Dr. Tessa Gordon, Greg is forming the SickKids Pediatric Peripheral Nerve Unit which will provide a true interdisciplinary approach to the management of pediatric peripheral nerve injuries.

In his spare time, Greg is very much the family man but is known to have a passion for exotic automobiles.

The Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children is thrilled to have Dr. Borschel join its ranks as it goes from strength to strength and is currently the largest division of pediatric plastic surgeons providing full time care to infants, children and young adults in North America.

Christopher R. Forrest,
Division of Plastic Surgery

Jeremy Hall
Jeremy Hall

The Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at St. Michael's Hospital is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Jeremy Hall.

Jeremy is a Surgeon Educator who joined the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at St. Michael's Hospital in July 2009. His clinical interests include complex orthopaedic trauma reconstruction and upper extremity reconstruction.

Jeremy graduated from the University of Toronto Medical School and Orthopaedic Residency Program in 2004. He undertook a fellowship with Dr. Michael McKee at St. Michael's Hospital in Upper Extremity Reconstruction, Trauma and Ilizarov Reconstruction. Thereafter, he worked as a Clinical Associate at St. Michael's for 4 years. During that time, he completed his M.Ed at the Ontario Institute for studies in education (OSIE/U of T).

Jeremy's research interests center around education and simulation as well as clinical trials. He was involved in the development of the fracture module of the groundbreaking Competency Based Curriculum in Orthopaedic Surgery and is well known for his teaching.

Jeremy enjoys playing hockey in his spare time. He, his wife Shari and daughter Madeline enjoy spending quality time at the cottage.

Emil Schemitsch
Division Head, Orthopaedic Surgery
St. Michael's Hospital


M. Lucas Murnaghan
M. Lucas Murnaghan

Dr. M. Lucas Murnaghan studied at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario where he completed his undergraduate and medical degrees. His orthopaedic residency was completed at the University of British Columbia. During that time he participated in a one-year elective in medical education and concurrently obtained his Masters of Adult Education. His fellowship training continued in Vancouver, with a fellowship in Arthroscopy and Athletic Injuries. His paediatric fellowship training included six months at Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia and a one-year fellowship at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children in Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Murnaghan's main area of clinical interest is the orthopaedic care of athletic injuries in the paediatric, adolescent and collegiate athlete. His clinical practice in Toronto is based at The Hospital for Sick Children where his practice includes general pediatric orthopaedics with a sub-specialty interest in paediatric athletic injuries and the use of arthroscopy in the management of a wide spectrum of pathologies. His practice extends to the adolescent and young-adult athlete with a busy clinical practice at Women's College Hospital. He is the consultant orthopaedic surgeon for the MacIntosh Clinic at the University of Toronto with a close association with a number of varsity, provincial and national teams.

Dr. Murnaghan's research interests to date have spanned a variety of clinical areas within pediatric orthopaedics including trauma, developmental dysplasia of the hip and Apert Syndrome. He has made medical and surgical education an area of specific interest with current research focused on inter-professional education and surgical decision-making. He holds an appointment at the Research Institute at The Hospital for Sick Children as a Project Investigator and is a member of the Wilson Centre as a Clinician/Educator Researcher.

Dr. Murnaghan is devoted to education at the medical student, resident and fellowship level.

Benjamin Alman
Orthopaedic Division
The Hospital for Sick Children


Fiona Webster
Fiona Webster

Dr. Fiona Webster joins the Holland Musculoskeletal program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre as a Knowledge Translation Scientist with a particular emphasis on hip & knee arthroplasty and traumatic bone and joint injury. She holds a PhD in sociology from the University of Toronto (2009) and has trained primarily in qualitative and ethnographic approaches to health services research and knowledge translation/implementation science (KT). She is leading several innovative studies that utilize social science theory and methods to develop more effective strategies for integrating the uptake of evidence-based knowledge in the delivery of surgical care that are sensitive to clinical, policy and patient standpoints.

Fiona comes to Sunnybrook most recently from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) where she worked as the Assistant Director of Knowledge Translation at the Institutes of Circulatory and Respiratory Health and Population and Public Health. Prior to that she was an Associate Scientist at London Health Sciences Centre where she researched the delivery of stroke care through the Ontario Stroke Strategy.

Fiona is cross-appointed to the Department of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation where she teaches qualitative research methods, is a general member of the Wilson Centre, and has developed a module on KT for the Institute for Medical Sciences MSC1010/11Y course.

Hans Kreder
Orthopaedic Surgery and Health Policy Evaluation & Management
Holland Musculoskeletal Program,
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre


Welcome to Alina Gaspar

Alina Gaspar
Alina Gaspar

With this issue our new assistant editor, Alina Gaspar, joins the Surgical Spotlight.

Alina comes to us with a background in management and a master's degree in languages focused principally on English and Latin. She is proficient in multiple languages including English, French, Italian, Latin and her native Romanian. She is currently learning the arcane languages of surgery and bioethics. Moving the Spotlight office to the Banting building and our search for a new assistant editor delayed our production schedule. We are grateful to Alina for reawakening our newsletter from its hibernation.

Ed.




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