HONOURS/ AWARDS / ACHIEVEMENTS

Ian Taylor (Anatomy) received the Dr. Mary Hollington Teaching Award - Excellence in Pre-clinical Teaching

Robert Cusimano (CardSurg) received the Bruce Tovee Undergraduate Teaching Award.

Hugh Scully (CardSurg) was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Medal for outstanding contributions to health and health care.

Hugh has also been re-appointed to the Health Policy and Advocacy Group of the American College of Surgeons in Washington for another three years.

Subodh Verma (CardSurg) has been awarded two 3-year operating grants from the Heart & Stroke Foundation for the projects entitled “Elucidating the Role of BRCA1 as a Target to Improve Endothelial Function, Promote Angiogenesis and Attenuate Atherosclerosis” and “The Role of Autophagy in Cardiovascular Disease: A Bench to Bedside Translational Approach”.

Subodh has also been named this year’s winner of the annual St Michael’s Hospital Jameel Ali Award for Excellence in Continuing Education in Surgery.

Nancy Baxter (GenSurg) was elected to membership of the American Surgical Association (ASA)

Marcus Burnstein (GenSurg) received the 2013 Surgical Skills Centre Distinguished Educator Award.

Charles deMestral (GenSurg) took 1st place, oral presentation on “Comparative Operative Outcomes of Early and Delayed Cholecystectomy for Acute Cholecystitis: A Population-Based Propensity Score Analysis” at the 36th Annual Assembly of General Surgeons on May 30th, 2013.

Ralph George (GenSug) received the Nicholas Colapinto Teaching Award.

John Hagen (GenSurg) received the Bruce Tovee Teaching Award for Postgraduate Education.

Saima Hassan (fellow, GenSurg) was also the inaugural recipient of the 2013 Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Young Investigator Award in Memory of Evelyn H. Lauder, supported by The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Her research is entitled the “Genomic prediction of response to PARP inhibition in breast cancer patients guided by a tumor-microenvironment high-throughput model” (supervisors Frances Wright (Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto) and Joe Gray (Oregon Health and Science University, Portland)).

Saima Hassan

Rebecca Gladdy (GenSurg) has been re-appointed to IMS graduate faculty as an Associate Member, May 1, 2013 to April 30, 2018.

Paul Greig (GenSurg) is the recipient of a 2013 Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Medical Education.

Robin McLeod (GenSurg) has been elected as President of The Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT) for a 1 year term, 2013-2014.

Carol-Anne Moulton (GenSurg) received the Bernard Langer Surgeon Scientist Award.

Avery Nathens (GenSurg) received the 2013 Lister Prize.

Vanessa Palter (GenSurg) took 2nd place, poster presentation for “Development of an evidence-based technical skills and cognitive knowledge curriculum for colorectal surgery: Lessons learned from implementation” at the 36th Annual Assembly of General Surgeons on May 30th, 2013.

Dylan Pannell (GenSurg) was one of the 12 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members recognized by Canadian Armed Forces in the House of Commons for their valuable contributions to the CAF. Each member chosen for the Program was presented with a Chief of the Defence Staff Commendation for deeds or activities beyond the demand of normal duty.

Peter Stotland (GenSurg) has been awarded the Integrated Medical Education Award. This new award acknowledges the significant contribution of an increasing number of community-based teachers.

Sara Temple (GenSurg) took 1st place, poster presentation for her work on “Combined Pancreaticoduodenectomy and Colon Resection for Locally Advanced Tumors of the Pancreatic Head: Analysis of Post-Operative Morbidity and Mortality” at the 36th Annual Assembly of General Surgeons on May 30th, 2013.

Homer Tien (GenSurg) received the Robert Mustard Mentorship Award.

PGY1 Naif Alotaibi (NeurSurg) served on the organizing team (as social media coordinator) of TEDxUofT, which took place on May 18, 2013 at University of Toronto. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share “Ideas Worth Spreading”.

Mark Bernstein (NeurSurg) was honoured by The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) with the 2013 Humanitarian Award. Mark has worked tirelessly to advance neurosurgical care in developing countries by introducing innovative and life-changing techniques.

James Drake (NeurSurg) received a CIHR CHRP grant for his project on bone High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound. ($450K over 3 years)

Michael Fehlings (NeurSurg) was the recipient of the Charles H. Tator Surgeon Scientist Mentoring Award, presented at the Department of Surgery’s 39th Gallie Day on May 10, 2013.

Michael has also received renewal funding in the amount of $93,500 for 2013-14 for the NeuroDevNet Demonstration Project “Cerebral Palsy: Causes to Prevention”.

Clement Hamani (NeurSurg) received the 2013 Ohye Award, given by the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery (WSSFN) to promote and initialize basic or clinical research projects in the field. The Award was bestowed during the closing ceremony of the 2013 WSSFN Congress on May 30 in Tokyo.

Abhaya Kulkarni (NeurSurg) was appointed to the Editorial Board of Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.

Andres Lozano (NeurSurg) was selected to receive the Tasker Award from the WSSFN for outstanding contributions to the field of stereotactic and functional neurosurgery. He is the inaugural recipient of this quadrennial award, which was given at the 2013 WSSFN Congress in Tokyo.

Todd Mainprize (NeurSurg) was selected to receive the Peters-Boyd Academy Mentorship Award for 2012-13 for demonstrating exceptional commitment within the Mentoring Program for medical students.

Jim Rutka (NeurSurg) has been elected to membership of the American Surgical Association.

Jim is also the recipient of the Charles B. Wilson Award from the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors. This award recognizes outstanding contributions of a clinician to the field of neuro-oncology and has been presented to only three recipients since 2004.

Mohammed Shamji (NeurSurg) received the best paper award from the Lumbar Spine Research Society for his research on «Treatment of Gait and Sensory Changes in Experimental Disc Herniation Radiculopathy By Local and Sustained Anticytokine Delivery”.

Ido Strauss (fellow; supervisor: Andres Lozano) (NeurSurg) has been awarded a 2013 Spark Award from the Alzheimer Society Research Program.

Taufik A Valiante (NeurSurg) was senior author of two oral presentations at the Toronto Western Research Day held May 15, 2013. The 1st place prize was awarded to his MSc student Ryan McGinn for his talk entitled “Low frequency coherence in human temporal neocortical microcircuits”.

Jeff Wilson’s (PGY4; supervisor: Michael Fehlings) (NeurSurg) review paper entitled “Emerging therapies for acute traumatic spinal cord injury” was featured on the cover of the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ April 2, 2013 185:485-492).

PGY4 residents Jeff Wilson (supervisor: Michael Fehlings) and Nir Lipsman (supervisor: Andres Lozano) (NeurSurg) were awarded the 2013 Gallie-Bateman Prize (third place) in a three-way tie with Bheeshma Ravi (Division of Orthopedic Surgery). The Prize was awarded at the 39th Gallie Day at which Jeff presented his work entitled “A Clinical Prediction Model For Long- Term Functional Outcome After Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Based On Acute Clinical And Imaging Factors” and Nir presented his work entitled “Magnetic Resonance Guided Focused Ultrasound (Mrgfus) For Thalamotomy In Treatment-Refractory Essential Tremor”.

Gelareh Zedeh (NeurSurg) was awarded a 1-year, $50,000 Adam Coules Research Grant for the project “Therapeutic Target of Tumor Metabolism Using Azoles in Glioblastome”.

Gelareh was also selected to serve on the Guidelines Committee of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS).

Brian Ostrow (Office of International Surgery) was awarded the 2013 Best Research from a Developing Country Award from the Journal of Wound Care http:// www.jwcawards.com on behalf of the Guyana Diabetes and Footcare Project which has been working in Guyana, South America since 2008 and has reduced by 50% the number of diabetes-related major amputations at the national referral hospital.

Benjamin Alman, and Diane Nam (OrthoSurg) received a 5year grant ($930,804) for their study Molecular mechanisms in fracture and wound healing.

David Wasserstein (OrthoSurg) was honoured with the Zane Cohen Clinical Fellowship Achievement Award. This award is given for the most significant achievement made by a clinical fellow.

Cari M. Whyne, Albert J. Yee, and Thomas Willett (OrthoSurg) received a 5 year grant ($720,465) to study the Implications of pathologic changes to bone material properties on the skeletal stability of the metastatic spine.

Heather Baltzer (PlasSurg) received the second place in the McMurrich Poster Competition award at Gallie Day 2013 (supervisor Paul Binhammer).

Heather has also been awarded one of ten Novartis Oncology Young Canadian Investigator Awards (NOYCIA) by the NOYCIA Program Committee for her work entitled “MRI volumetric analysis of fibroglandular tissue to assess risk of the spared nipple in BRCA 1/2patients who are considering prophylactic nipple-sparing mastectomy” (supervisor John Semple). Heather has been chosen to give a podium presentation of this work at the upcoming American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

Heather also received the FM Woolhouse Award at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons for the best presentation of a clinical study by a resident. Her presentation was entitled “MRI volumetric analysis of breast fibroglandular tissue to assess risk of the spared nipple in BRCA 1/2 patients who are considering prophylactic nipple sparing mastectomy” (co –authors O. Alonzo, M Yaffe, K Metcalfe, E Warner and J Semple).

Greg Borschel (PlasSurg) with co-PIs Tessa Gordon and Molly Shoichet received a CIHR - NSERC grant to study “Enhancement of nerve regeneration with controlled release of neurotrophic factors.” ($540K over 3 years). The goal of the project is to enhance nerve regeneration by local controlled release of glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) to rescue neurons from degenerating after injury.

Siba Haykal (PlasSurg) received the First Place for the Gallie Bateman Award in Surgical Research for her research on tracheal allotransplantation. This is the highest academic award that is given to our surgeon scientist trainees (supervisors- Tom Waddell and Stefan Hofer).

Marc Jeschke

Marc Jeschke (PlasSurg) has been awarded the Chair in Burn Research at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre/ University of Toronto. Marc has made major contributions to burn care, particularly our understanding of the host response to thermal injury. He has also demonstrated significant leadership through his efforts to increase the profile of the University of Toronto Burn Program.

Marc is also the winner of this year’s George Armstrong Peters Award, given to a young investigator who has shown outstanding productivity during their initial period as an independent investigator as evidenced by research publications in peer reviewed journals, grants held, and students trained.

Marc has also been elected to membership in the American Surgical Association.

Ron Levine receiving recognition from James Rutka

Ron Levine (PlasSurg) was honored at Gallie Day 2013 as the Director of the PGME Office in his recent efforts with his second Royal College Review and recognition of 15 years of service in Post- Graduate Education.

Jennical Platt (PlasSurg) received the Educational Foundation Award at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons for the best Epidemiology & Biostatistics Presentation . Her paper is entitled “Regional variation in rates of immediate breast reconstruction: It matters where you live in Ontario” ( coauthors T Zhong, AM Easson, G Booth, R Moineddin and NN Baxter).

Ron Somogyi (PlasSurg) is this year’s recipient of the D. R. Wilson Teaching Award, given in recognition of outstanding effort in education.

Simon Kitto (Research in Education) received the Helen P. Batty Faculty Development Award - Innovation in Program Development and Design, Wilson Centre Qualitative Research Atelier Series, Team Member

Nikki Woods (Research in Education) has received an Education Development Fund Award to work on her project entitled “From passive to active: Using peer assessment to improve vicarious learning of surgical skills”.

Gail Darling (ThorSurg) has been elected to membership in the American Surgical Association as well as of the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Christian Finley (ThorSurg) received a 2 years grant ($177,000) from the Hamilton Academic Health Sciences Organization (HAHSO) to study the Evaluation of a Patient-Focused, Nurse Navigated Esophageal Cancer Program.

Wael Hanna (ThorSurg) received the Shafie S. Fazel Outstanding Resident Award

Colin Schiemann (ThorSurg) was awarded the 2013 McMaster Surgical Associates Education Grant funding ($15,000, 1 year) for the Collaborative Development and Implementation of a Thoracic Surgery Specific CanMEDS Education Program.

Yaron Shargall (ThorSurg) (co-PI with Ranjan Sur and Rosalyn Juergens) was awarded a one year grant ($100,000) from the Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation for A phase II randomized study of neoadjuvant brachytherapy followed by chemotherapy with cisplatin and 5FU compared to neoadjuvant chemoradiation with external beam radiation concurrent with cisplatin and 5FU for patients with adenocarcinoma of the esophagus.

Yaron also received a 2 year grant (May 2013-Apr 2015; $141,631) from the Heart and Stroke Foundation for his study Extended out-of-hospital low-molecular-weight heparin prophylaxis against deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolus in patients undergoing major lung resection for thoracic malignancies: A prospective, randomized study.

Tom Waddell (PI) (ThorSurg) and his co-applicants Shaf Keshavjee, Andras Nagy, Tonja Gonska, Christine Bear received funding for two years ( 150,000/ year) from the for Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (July 2013-July 2015) for their study Expansion of patient-specific Cystic Fibrosis epithelial cells for drug screening through transient partial reprogramming.

Tom was also elected to membership in the American Surgical Association (ASA)

Rajiv Singal (UrolSurg) has won Prostate Cancer Canada’s Mark Dailey Local Hero Award. He is the head of the urology division at Toronto East General Hospital.

39th Annual Gallie Day Awards Presentations:

This year’s recipients of awards at Gallie Day are as follows:

Bernard Langer Surgeon Scientist Award – Carol- Anne Moulton

Bruce Tovee Award – Post-graduate – John Hagen

Bruce Tovee Undergraduate Award – Robert Cusimano

Charles H. Tator Surgeon Scientist Mentoring Award – Michael Fehlings

D.R. Wilson Award – Ron Somogyl

George Armstrong-Peters Prize – Marc Jeschke

Lister Prize – Avery Nathens

The Shafie S. Fazel Outstanding Resident Award – Wael Hanna

Surgical Skills Centre Distinguished Educator Award – Marcus Burnstein

The Zane Cohen Clinical Fellow Achievement Award – David Wasserstein

MCMURRICH RESEARCH AWARDS:

1st Prize

1. Mushriq Al-Jazrawe (Supervisor Ben Alman)
2. Shabana Amanda Ali (Supervisor Ben Alman)
3. Gurpreet Baht (Supervisor Ben Alman)
4. Saber Ghadakzadeh (Supervisor Ben Alman)
5. Stephen Mack (Supervisor Michael Taylor)

2nd Prize

1. Heather Baltzer (Supervisor Paul Binhammer)
2. Shahrzad Jalali (Supervisor Gelareh Zadeh)
3. Chung Ho Leung (Supervisors Christopher Caldarone, Ori Rotstein)
4. Anton Mihic (Supervisors Richard Weisel, Ren-Ke Li)
5. Kathryn Ottolino-Perry (Supervisor Andrea McCart)
6. Jason Rockel (Supervisor Ben Alman)
7. Linda Vi (Supervisor Ben Alman)
8. Bobby Yanagawa (Supervisor Subodh Verma)

GALLIE-BATEMEN AWARDS:

1st Prize

1. Boris Zevin (Supervisor Teodor Grantcharov)
2. Siba haykal (Supervisors Thomas Waddell, Stefan Hofer)

2nd Prize

1. Marvin Hsiao (Supervisor Avery Nathens)
2. Karineh Kazazian (Supervisor Carol Swallow)

3rd Prize

1. Nir Lipsman (Supervisor Andres Lozano)
2. Bheeshma Ravi (Supervisor Gillian Hawker)
3. Jeff Wilson (Supervisor Michael Fehlings)

PROMOTIONS

Lecturer to Assistant Professor:

Abdollah Behzadi (CVH, T/S)
Anand Ghankar (UHN, G/S)
Raj Singal (TEGH, U/S)