2018 DEPARTMENT OF ANESTHESIA FACULTY PROMOTIONS
Dear Colleagues,
It is my pleasure to announce the faculty members in our Department who were promoted this year, effective July 1, 2018 to higher ranks upon review by the Decanal Committee. Please join me in congratulating them on a great accomplishment!
Assistant to Associate Professor
Dr. James O’Leary is a Consultant Anesthetist with the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Medicine and the Division of Cardiac Anesthesia at The Hospital for Sick Children. He holds an appointment as an Associate Scientist at the Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children and is an Adjunct Scientist with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. Dr. O’Leary obtained his MD at the National University of Ireland and completed a clinical fellowship in pediatric anesthesia at the University of Toronto. He is a member of the Single Ventricle subspecialty group at The Hospital for Sick Children, which provides anesthesia for children undergoing stage-I palliative surgery. The research program goal of Dr. O’Leary is to investigate the association between healthcare interventions in early life and adverse child development.
Dr. Tobias C. Everett is a Pediatric Anesthesiologist and Director of Pediatric Procedural Sedation Education and Training at The Hospital for Sick Children. He is also the Director of Simulation and lead for Postgraduate Simulation for The Hospital of Sick Children. He holds an appointment as Project Investigator at the Research Institute, The Hospital of Sick Children. Dr. Everett obtained his MD at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. His education research focuses on the optimization of individual and team function in high-stakes and low frequency events using validated performance tools that can improve performance and real-patient safety.
Dr. Stephen Choi is a staff Anesthesiologist and the Director of the Clinical Research Unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Most recently, he became the Co-founder/Director of the Centre for Perioperative Brain Health at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centres. He obtained his MD at the University of Western Ontario, received his FRCPC in Anesthesia from the University of Toronto, and completed a Regional Anesthesia fellowship at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. The goal of his research program is to develop interventions and strategies that will transform perioperative care by optimizing currently available methods and developing new processes. His research has advanced the practice of regional anesthesia to help reduce opioid use after major surgery and has been recognized on an international level.
Dr. Adriaan van Rensburg is a staff anesthesiologist in the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management at the Toronto General Hospital and a consultant staff at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Dr. van Rensburg obtained his MD and residency at the University of Stellenbosch. He went on to complete a cardiovascular fellowship at Toronto General Hospital and later received his FRCPC in Anesthesiology in 2008. Dr. van Rensburg is the recipient to the David Fear Award in 2017 for outstanding contributions to continuing medical education and continuing professional development in the department. He is actively involved in education where there is a balance between active and passive learning. His teaching philosophy is based on two pillars; content and method of delivery, and understanding the application of the content in a way that allows for higher retention of knowledge.
Associate to Full Professor
Dr. Anahi Perlas is a staff anesthesiologist and the Director of Clinical Regional Anesthesia Program at the Toronto Western Hospital. She is the Chair of the Departmental Appointments Committee, Department of Anesthesia, University of Toronto. Dr. Perlas received the Distinguished Service Award from the European Society of Regional Anesthesia and the Excellence in Continuing Medical Education Award from the Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management at Sinai Health System in 2017. She obtained her MD at the Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo, Uruguay and she received her anesthesia Specialist Certificate (RCPSC) in 2003. Dr. Perlas is the founding member and Board of Directors liaison for Point-of-care Ultrasound Special Interest Group with the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine. Her main research focus is the development and validation of innovative perioperative ultrasound applications, particularly the uses of ultrasound to image peripheral nerve and central neuraxial structures.
Dr. Hannah Wunsch is a staff physician in the Department of Critical Care Medicine and a Senior Scientist at the Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Trauma, Emergency and Critical Care Research Program at Sunnybrook Research Institute. She is the Associate Director of Research for the Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care Medicine, University of Toronto. Dr. Wunsch obtained her MD at Washington University School of Medicine, she went on to complete an internship in Internal Medicine, residency in anesthesiology and a fellowship in critical care at Columbia University Medical Centre. Dr. Wunsch is the recipient to the Presidential Scholars Award from the American Society of Anesthesiology, for her dedication to research in anesthesiology. More recently, she was awarded the Fellow, American College of Critical Care Medicine Award by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. The research of Dr. Wunsch focuses on organization and delivery of intensive care services, and on pharmaco-epidemiology of critical illness. She was recently named Associate Editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and serves on editorial boards of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine.
I will like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere congratulations to all of our faculty for their successful applications for promotions this year.
Sincerely,
Chair and ProfessorDepartment of Anesthesia, University of Toronto
