Department of Surgery

Upcoming Events:

• April 15, 2020: FoM Translational Research Grant Competition - Postponed
• May 15, 2020: Collins Surgical Day - Postponed
• William J. Keon Surgical Leadership Award: Call for Nominations (Due April 15 - On hold with Colllins Day)

The Ottawa Hospital Excellence Awards

• Physician Philanthropy Award: Paul Beaulé
• Resident Physician Educator Award: Sameer Apte
• Research Excellence Team Award: Rethinking Clinical Trials (REaCT) 
  • The REaCT Program compares established standard-of-care cancer therapies in real-world settings, with a focus on performing pragmatic randomized controlled trials with patient- focused outcomes. 
  • Team members: Mark Clemons, Angel Arnaout, Rebecca Auer, Brian Hutton, Dean Fergusson, Lisa Vandermeer, Carol Stober, Marta Sienkiewicz, Deanna Saunders, Michelle Liu.
• Healthier Populations: Global Tissue Consent and Collection Platform
  • The Global Tissue Consent and Collection Platform (GTC) launched in October 2019 is a new way of integrating research into care, and may be unique in Canada. It streamlines the process for consenting and collecting human tissue for research purposes from patients undergoing procedures at the hospital.
  • Team members: Rebecca Auer, James Villeneuve, Edita Delic, Iris Teo, Barbara Vanderhyden, GTC Steering Committee members: Angel Arnaout, Joel Werier, Rodney Breau, Stephanie Johnson, Michael Fung‐Kee‐Fung, Carolyn Nessim, Neil Reaume, Jason Pantarotto, Jason Wasserman, Bryan Lo, William Parks, Denis Garvin, Alan Forster, Jean‐Simon Diallo, Barbara Vanderhyden, Jonathan Lee, Jocelyn Cote, Raphael Saginur, Nancy Camack, Harmon Sekhon, Anna Tisch.

TOHAMO Innovation Awardees from the DoS Announced

• Dr. Fahad AlKherayf & Dr. Shaun Kilty: Intraoperative continuous flash visual evoked potentials monitoring during minimally invasive endoscopic skull base surgery, a novel approach to improve patient outcome
• Dr. Rebecca Auer & Dr. Husein Moloo: A Randomised REaCT-NSQIP Study of Preoperative Oral Antibiotics to Reduce Surgical Site Infections in Colectomy Patients
• Dr. Rodney Breau: The impact of 1-year of androgen deprivation following radical prostatectomy on prostate cancer recurrence.
• Dr. Andrew Seely: Prophylaxis for patients at Risk to Eliminate Post-operative atrial fibrillation (PREP trial): a protocol for a randomized controlled feasibility study
• Dr. Sarah Tierney & Dr. Alexandra Stratton: The Feasibility of a Multidisciplinary Transitional Pain Service in Spine Surgery Patients to Minimize Opioid Use and Improve Peri-Operative Outcomes
• Dr. Patrick Villeneuve & Dr. Harman Sekhon: A Pilot Study of the Intra-Operative Assessment of Surgical Margin Status Following Wedge Resection for Lung Cancer

Important update about Dancing with the Docs 

• In light of the COVID-19 global pandemic, we are cancelling the 2020 edition of Dancing with the Docs fundraising gala. Instead, we look forward to announcing a new date for 2021 in the near future.

• Collins Surgical Day abstract competition - Postponed
• Collins Surgical Day - Postponed
• Congratulations to the 2020 Grant Recipients from the Department of Surgery Competitions
  • Research Program Awards
    • Sasha Carsen: The adolescent ACL: Development of a clinical prediction rule in order to optimize post-operative recovery and avoid re-injury
    • Hesham Abdelbary: Harnessing the unique antibiofilm properties of bacteriophage to augment antibiotic therapy implant associated infections
    • Adam Sachs: Restoring function with thought:  Augmenting neuroprosthetic performance in the severely disabled with cognitive brain signals and deep learning
  • Junior Faculty Research Grants
    • Mike Pickell: Changes in the zone of calcified cartilage interfacing articular cartilage and subchondral bone during osteoarthritis
    • Luke T. Lavallée: A research program to improve quality of care for patients with bladder cancer
  • Resident Research Grants
    • Nada Gawad: My On Call (MOC) Pager App: managing pages safely
    • Reza Ojaghi: Effects of Adductor Canal Block Injection Location on the Effectiveness of Regional Anesthesia: A Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effect on Postoperative Analgesia and Motor Power
• Congratulations to the Division of General Surgery on hosting their 1st Virtual Research Day
  • Top Medical Student Presentation: Heidi Li Predictors of false negative sentinel lymph node biopsy in melanoma
  • Top Junior Resident Presentation: Dr. Alicia Rosenzveig Assessing self-awareness in general surgery applicants: an insight into interview performance
  • Residents’ Choice: Dr. Benjamin Fung A chance for reform: the environmental impact of travel for general surgery residency applications
  • Best Presentations 2020
    • Dr. Andre Martel Targeting CCD155 Poliovirus Receptor:  A Novel Strategy to Prevent Postoperative Immunosuppression in Cancer Patients
    • Dr. Heather Smith Informing colorectal cancer screening in northern Canada using participatory simulation modelling
• Current Funding Sources: The University of the Ottawa - Research Management Services maintains a list of grants (linked to their respective organizations) and the accompanying deadlines: https://research.uottawa.ca/rms/researchers-resources/upcoming-fund-opp
• uOttawa Research Management Services (RMS) summary of the actions taken to date by the Tri-Agencies (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC) to address the COVID-19 pandemic: sgr_rms_tri_agency_note_de_service.pdf (pdf, 74.37 KB)