47th Annual Shields Research Day
Theme: New Frontiers in Translational Anesthesia Research
Abstract submissions are now open
Register for Shields Research Day coming soon
What is Shields Research Day?
The overall purpose of our Annual Shields Day event is to bring together our clinical faculty, fellows, residents, and anesthesia assistants from the University-affiliated hospitals. Shields Research Day aims to provide a forum for updates on and stimulate further research into the frontiers of clinical science regarding anesthesia and related topics (e.g., critical care management, obstetrical anesthesia, pain management, etc.). We have been growing in recent years!
We aim to provide an excellent research and training opportunity for Anesthesia faculty, residents, fellows, graduate students, and anesthesia assistants who wish to keep abreast of current research initiatives in the field.
Our trainees (residents, fellows, and graduate students) have a unique opportunity to experience all the stages of presenting their peer-reviewed work at a scientific meeting, from the abstract writing and submission process to the poster design and oral presentation phase. The Annual Shields Research Day prepares trainees for a future role in academia under the guidance of experienced faculty mentors.
The goal is to create synergies for collaborative research (both clinical and basic science) that will enhance the work and advance knowledge beyond what each investigator can accomplish independently. The participants will have an opportunity to discuss topics of interest in the field of anesthesia and gain a better understanding of research methodologies.
Event Details
- Date: Friday, May 1, 2026
- Time: 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. EST
- Location: The Ritz-Carlton, 181 Wellington St W, Toronto
Key Dates and Deadlines for 2026
- Call for Abstracts: January 12, 2026
- Teaching, Clinical Excellence, and Trainee Awards Open: February 2, 2026
- Event Registration Opens: March 2, 2026
- Deadline for Submission of Abstracts: March 3, 2026
- Deadline for Award Nominations: March 9, 2026
- Successful Applicants are Informed: April 2, 2026
- 47th Annual Shields Research Day: May 1, 2026
Program: Annual Shields Research Day Program - May 2026 (coming soon)
Keynote Speakers
Keynote Address by Laura Niklason, PhD, MD
Biography
Dr. Niklason is the Nicholas M. Greene Professor at Yale University in Anesthesia and Biomedical Engineering, where she has been on faculty since 2006. Dr. Niklason’s research focuses primarily on regenerative strategies for cardiovascular and lung tissues. Niklason’s engineered blood vessels are currently in clinical trials, and are the first life-sustaining engineered tissue to be studied in any Phase III trial. Niklason’s lab was also one of the first to describe the engineering of whole lung tissue that could exchange gas in vivo, and this work was cited in 2010 as one of the top 50 most important inventions of the year by Time Magazine. She was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors in 2014, and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2015.
Dr. Niklason received her PhD in Biophysics from the University of Chicago, and her MD from the University of Michigan. She completed her residency training in anesthesia and intensive care unit medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and completed post-doctoral scientific training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Learning Objectives: Coming Soon
Faculty Speaker
Lecture by Akash Goel, MD, MPH, FRCPC
Biography
Dr. Akash Goel is a clinician-investigator, attending anesthesiologist and interventional pain medicine specialist at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto. Dr. Goel received his medical degree from McMaster University. He then completed his anesthesiology training at the University of Toronto and pursued further fellowship training in interventional and multidisciplinary pain medicine at Stanford University. He also holds a Masters in Public Health from The Harvard School of Public Health. He currently employs systematic reviews, retrospective analyses of administrative databases, and Delphi analyses to study the perioperative management of substance use disorders. He has published international guidelines on the perioperative management of buprenorphine and cannabis, and is widely accepted as a continental expert on buprenorphine. His academic work has been featured in leading journals such as Anesthesiology, British Journal of Anesthesia, and The Canadian Journal of Anesthesia. His academic pain practice involves the application of novel and advanced pain therapeutics, including neuromodulation techniques such as spinal cord stimulation, dorsal root ganglion stimulation, and peripheral nerve stimulation. Dr. Goel also employs advanced techniques in the management of craniofacial pain, including fluoroscopic guided neuroablative therapies.
Talk Title: TBC
Learning Objectives: TBC