Senior Promotions - Annual Report 2020-2022
Dr. Joao Amaral
The Hospital for Sick Children
Professor
Promotion Date: July 2021
Dr. Amaral was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Creative Professional Activity.
Dr. Amaral is a talented and dedicated Pediatric Interventional Radiologist who continually strives to improve children’s health through Image-guided Minimally Invasive procedures. This is demonstrated through several new and successful initiatives such as Interventional Radiology procedures under MR guidance in children, the innovative use of a Vacuum assisted breast biopsy device for muscle biopsies avoiding large surgical scars, as well as the creation of a surgical and interventional radiology procedure (a surgical bypass post vessel valvulotomy) in collaboration with surgeons for patients with Nutcracker Syndrome.
Dr. Amaral has also been active in challenging the currently accepted peri-procedural processes which has had impact on the need for blood work prior to some interventional procedures; demonstrating the safety of port-a-cath insertion in neutropenic patients and the demonstration that following liver biopsy it is possible to reduce the amount of blood testing and image monitoring. All of these processes frequently lead to delay, cost and anxiety which now can all be reduced following Dr. Amaral’s process improvement.
Dr. Amaral is an internationally renowned physician; Interventional Radiologists from across the world shadow or consult him for expert opinions in Pediatric Interventional Radiology. In addition, Dr. Amaral is a Board member for the Society of Pediatric Interventional Radiology, which is the most influential and important society in his subspecialty. Dr. Amaral has assumed a number of leadership roles both locally, nationally, and internationally.
Dr. Sangeet Ghai
JDMI/Toronto General Hospital
Professor
Promotion Date: July 2021
Dr. Ghai was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Research.
Dr. Ghai’s research interest is in the diagnosis and treatment of localized prostate cancer. Two new non-surgical treatment methods have undergone significant clinical research through Sangeet’s work, these being magnetic resonance focused ultrasound and magnetic resonance-guided focal laser thermal therapy.
Dr. Ghai has undertaken the optimization of protocols for imaging and therapy delivery and has helped carry these techniques into the clinical domain. The multi-specialty group of which Dr. Ghai is a part of is a leader in the field and work resulting from this clinical research is rapidly changing practice. Dr. Ghai’s international stature as result of this research is reflected in the large number of speaking invites around the world to share results of his work. These successes are also reflected in Dr. Ghai’s publication record which not only includes papers in high ranking journals, both radiology and urological, but also the writing of a number of book chapters on the subject.
Dr. Ghai has been successful in capturing funding for his research. Since his last promotion he has been awarded over $12M in research funding with over $3M as principal investigator. Funders have included Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Terry Fox Foundation, hospital Foundation funding, CIHR and industry. The team that Dr. Ghai has built in support of this work has also included support of radiology fellows, residents, medical students and undergraduate students providing research projects and mentorship.
Dr. John Kachura
JDMI/Toronto General Hospital
Professor
Promotion Date: July 2021
Dr. Kachura has been promoted on the basis of Excellence in Creative Professional Activity.
Dr. Kachura has dedicated his career to improving patient care through the application of Interventional Radiology and Interventional Oncology on an international level. Dr. Kachura has held numerous administrative roles with a sustained track record of impact on a national and international scale.
From 2005 to 2014, Dr. Kachura was on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Interventional Radiology Association (CIRA), now known as Canadian Association of Interventional Radiologists (CAIR). In his capacity as President of CIRA, the organization submitted a successful application for Interventional Radiology to be recognized by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (RCPSC) as a fully approved subspecialty. This is a substantial accomplishment for the field of Interventional Radiology ensuring Interventional Radiologist subspecialty training can be recognized across Canada.
IR subspecialty recognition will enhance awareness, standardize IR training, and advance IR research opportunities, with the result of increased patient access to the best medical care.
In 2013, Dr. Kachura was appointed by Cancer Care Ontario as the Co-Chair of the Focal Tumour Ablation Advisory Committee. Under Dr. Kachura’s leadership the Committee’s recommendations through the “Report for Focal Tumour Ablation” was completed in 2015, leading to the adoption of a provincial plan.
Dr. Kachura has dedicated his career to improving patient care through the application of Interventional Radiology and Interventional Oncology on an international level.
Dr. Eric Bartlett
JDMI/Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Associate Professor
Promotion Date: July 2021
Dr. Bartlett was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Teaching and Education strongly supported by Creative Professional Activity (CPA).
In October 2013, Dr. Bartlett took on the role of Program Director for the Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program at the University of Toronto, providing him the opportunity for numerous innovations and developments in teaching and design within the program. Dr. Bartlett’s has applied a resident led philosophy through the residency program allowing significant input from the learners themselves in the running of various aspects of the program. Involvement of residents throughout the program in various residency committees has allowed increased exposure to collaborative and leadership roles. Increase in the social interactions of the residents through regular retreats has been highly appreciated as an effort to highlight the role of wellness. In addition, further increase in responsibility and transition to practice, has been achieved through the collaboration with the Forensic Pathology Department providing consultation and advice regarding radiology in the forensic environment where we are unique in Toronto having CT and MRI scanners embedded in the pathology department.
The culmination of Dr. Bartlett’s Program Directorship came recently during the RCPSC Accreditation visit when the program was granted full accreditation. Furthermore, in recognition of the innovations undertaken in the program recommendations were made to acknowledge two Leading Practices and/or Innovations a great reflection of the novel work Dr. Bartlett has brought to the residency program.
Dr. Bartlett is an excellent teacher and mentor to both our residents and fellows. His success is reflected by the litany of awards he has achieved, including being awarded the RDoC Puddester Award for Resident Wellness in 2018, a National award from the Residents of Canada.
Dr. Kate Hanneman
JDMI/Women's College Hospital
Associate Professor
Promotion Date: July 2021
Dr. Hanneman was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Research.
Dr. Hanneman has been instrumental in the application of cardiac MRI in the assessment of patient’s with Fabry disease applied to diagnosis and guiding of therapy. This has resulted in publications in some of the highest radiology and cardiovascular journals. From a translational point of view, this work has been further extended to develop Canadian guidelines applied to the management of patients with Fabry disease.
Dr. Hanneman’s work has been recognized by her peers on a number of occasions including, the 2015 Young Investigator Award, Society of Computed Body Tomography and Magnetic Resonance, Toronto, ON. (Research Award, Specialty: Cardiac Imaging) and 2015 American Heart Association (AHA) Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention (CVRI) Young Investigator Award, first place, North American Society of Cardiovascular Imaging (NASCI), San Diego, CA, USA. (Research Award, Specialty: Cardiac Imaging).
Dr. Hanneman is also recognized on the international stage for her educational efforts exemplified by the awards of the Radiological Society of North America Honored Educator Award in both 2017 and 2018.
Dr. Farzad Khalvati
The Hospital for Sick Children
Associate Professor
Promoted: July 2021
Dr. Khalvati was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Research.
In March 2020, Dr. Khalvati moved to the Hospital for Sick Children when he was appointed as a ‘Chair in Medical Imaging and Artificial Intelligence’, within the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Associate Scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children.
Dr. Khalvati has contributed significantly to the Department of Medical Imaging’s AI research during his positions at various research institutes of the University of Toronto hospitals. During that time, he developed his research platform using medical imaging as a means of detecting and characterizing cancer non-invasively without the need for biopsy, providing a means of interrogating the whole tumour and overcoming the problems of tissue heterogeneity.
The successes Dr. Khalvati has achieved has resulted in his successful appointment, in open competition, to one of two Chairs in Medical Imaging and Artificial Intelligence funded jointly by the Department of Medical Imaging and partnering hospital to the sum of $1,000,000 over 5 years. These Chairs are to function as hubs of expertise in AI applied to medical imaging and provide collaboration, education, and aid in translation of AI projects within the department.
Dr. Khalvati’s area of interest in AI involves cancer diagnosis, cancer prognosis and tumour segmentation. He is also exploring novel MRI techniques such as Computational Diffusion MRI and MRI Enhancement for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Detection for detection of prostate cancer.
Dr. Khalvati is a sought-after speaker; he has received invitations to speak nationally and internationally. He is dedicated to supporting the research process as an editorial board member, guest editor, peer reviewer, program committee member for international conferences and workshops.
Dr. Anish Kirpalani
St. Michael's Hospital/Unity Health
Associate Professor
Promoted: July 2021
Dr. Kirpalani was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Creative Professional Activity (Professional Innovation and Creative Excellence).
Dr. Kirpalani has made significant contributions to the development of professional innovation and creative excellence. This has been achieved through three inter-connected pillars at the national level and beyond through leadership in his support for the founding of a research MRI centre at St Michael’s Hospital; providing an exemplar of research practice at the Centre through the development of new techniques within the MRI research centre for the investigation of renal disease and finally using this platform to develop a now nationally recognised MRI educational course which on the most recent iteration had over 700 registrants.
Dr. Kirpalani’s own research includes leveraging the new MRI Research Centre to help support his research program which was centered around renal diseases, a specialty area particularly served by St Michael’s Hospital.
Dr. Kirpalani has received the Professor R. McCallum Award for Excellence in Quality, Innovation, and Research in Medical Imaging, Department of Medical Imaging, St. Michael’s Hospital on three occasions (2015, 2014, 2013).
Dr. Pejman Maralani
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Associate Professor
Promoted: July 2021
Dr. Maralani was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Creative Professional Activity (CPA).
Dr. Maralani has made significant contributions to the development of professional practice. These have involved involvement at a national level, preparing guidelines and recommendations for scanning patients with MRI using contrast agents and in those with implanted devices. Dr. Maralani has achieved this through his membership of the Canadian Association of Radiologists committee on contrast media and his chairing of the committee on device and implants.
For his work on devices and implants, Dr. Maralani showed his reach on the international stage striking a committee which eventually produced recommendations on prescreening prior to MRI. Like precontrast screening, prescreening for these devices has been a great interruption for patients undergoing MRI scanning. Like his work on contrast the outcome of his work will have profound impact on patient care, the size of the problem reflected by the popularity of publications arising from this work.
Dr. Maralani was the Neuroradiology Residency Program Director up until 2021 culminating in successful accreditation in the last Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Canada (RCPSC) accreditation cycle completed in late 2020. At this time, the program was judged to have no Areas for Improvement (AFI) and a planned re-accreditation visit in 8 years.
He is highly regarded as an excellent teacher and mentor to our residents and fellows and has also been involved in the teaching of undergraduate medical students. His success as a teacher within our programs is reflected in the fact that he has been awarded outstanding teacher in the residency five times (2019, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014) and outstanding teacher in the fellowship four times (2019, 2018, 2016, 2015), also capturing our most prestigious residency teaching award, the Edward E Lansdown award, on one occasion in 2014.
Dr. Korosh Khalili
JDMI/Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Professor
Promoted - July 2020
Dr. Khalili was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Creative Professional Activity.
Following a visit to Ethiopia Dr. Khalili recognized an opportunity to create a partnership between the Department of Medical Imaging at the University of Toronto and the Department of Radiology at Addis Ababa University. From the outset the goal was the creation a formal fellowship program to train academic radiologists in several radiology subspecialties such that the newly trained specialist would then become the local teacher for students, i.e., train the trainer. Korosh has been the co-director of this program since its initiation since when over 30 Canadian volunteer radiologists and technologists have made more than 40 visits to Addis Ababa and nine Ethiopian fellows have undergone extended (three month) training in Toronto. All nine of the imaging fellows have graduated and represent the first fellowship-trained radiologists practicing in Ethiopia. In line with the original philosophy the first 2 radiologists who graduated from the abdominal imaging program in 2014 are now training others to become specialist radiologists creating their own first in-country radiology fellowship program.
Dr. Khalili has undertaken work on, first discovering and then attempting to address the deficiencies that exist in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Ontario. From his work he was able to identify factors that were associated with poor outcomes of patients receiving care outside tertiary referral centers, and the significance of the publication arising from this work was recognised by the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Award of Distinction in 2016 for the best manuscript of the year. As a result of this, Korosh set about collaborating with local experts to lobby Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) in an attempt to get HCC onto the agenda, identify this as a clinical program and therefore to identify explicit resources for this condition.
Dr. Oscar Navarro
The Hospital for Sick Children
Professor
Promoted - July 2020
Dr. Navarro was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Teaching and Education.
Dr. Navarro has dedicated his academic efforts to providing excellent teaching and education. Recognition of Dr. Navarro's dedication to education manifested in 2011 when he was appointed the Paediatric Residency and Fellowship Director, a position he has held since that time. During his time in this position, he has continued to apply his own high standards of teaching and education to further develop the program, which has been improved by the institution of more formal evaluation of
teaching rounds, regular quarterly student assessments and multisource evaluation of trainees. Dr. Navarro’s own input to these rounds, particularly in the realm of abdominal ultrasound is one of the highlights of the teaching week at the Hospital for Sick Children, attracting residents, fellows, and any other paramedical staff who want to attend.
Dr. Navarro’s teaching popularity is not confined to his local hospital or just Canada, he is a highly sought-after international speaker and has been an international visiting professor on numerous occasions visiting other North and South American sites, Asia, Europe, and Arabia.
Dr. Navarro was recently awarded the Jack O. Haller - Thomas L. Slovis Award for Excellence in Pediatric Radiology Teaching by the Society for Pediatric Radiology (SPR - Research and Education Foundation).
Dr. Elysa Widjaja
The Hospital for Sick Children
Professor
Promoted - July 2020
Dr. Widjaja was promoted on Excellence in Research.
Dr. Widjaja is heavily involved in research and has grant funding as both a principal investigator and co-investigator. Supporting her research endeavors, Dr Widjaja has secured peer-reviewed funding close to $6 Million, of which over $2 Million is as principal investigator. The source of funding includes CIHR, Ontario Brain Institute, and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Dr. Widjaja is cross-appointed to the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, and to the Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children.
Dr. Widjaja's research focus has been centered on pediatric epilepsy imaging, brain injury, health economics, and outcomes research. Dr. Widjaja has set about building her research lab and has supervised two Doctoral and two Master's students, as well as supervising four post-doctoral fellows, a CREMS student, one MD student, and seven Clinical Fellows. Dr. Widjaja is an Associate Member of the Graduate Department of Psychology and an Associate Scientist of the Research Institute at The Hospital for Sick Children, both at the University of Toronto. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Science, at the University Ontario Institute of Technology.
Supporting her research endeavours, Dr. Widjaja has managed to secure peer-reviewed funding close to $6 million, of which over $2 million as principal investigator.
Dr. Eugene Yu
JDMI/Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Professor
Promoted - July 2020
Dr. Yu was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Teaching and Education.
Dr. Yu has been heavily involved in all aspects of education from undergraduate, residency, fellowship to CME and as an internationally sought after speaker and visiting professor. Currently, he is the residency
as well as fellowship site director at Princess Margret Hospital. Until 2017, he was an active member of the Residency Program Committee and now sits on the Neuroradiology Fellowship Committee. At the undergraduate level, he sits on the Departmental Undergraduate Medical Education Committee. In 2018, Eugene was invited to become a Faculty Academic Scholar as part of the University of Toronto Portfolio Program, which is a part of the Foundations Curriculum for the first and second-year medical school class.
Dr. Yu’s teaching abilities is much sought after outside of Toronto. He has been a Visiting Professor at a number of cities including Montreal, London, and Kingston, as well as across the border in New York. Most impressive, however, was the awarding of the American Society of Neuroradiology (ASNR) Anne G. Osborn International Outreach Visiting Professorship in 2016. This is one of the most prestigious teaching awards by the ASNR. Dr. Yu undertook a four‐week visiting professorship at the Radiology Department of Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand.
Dr. Yu has been closely involved in providing educational material reflecting head and neck imaging to any radiologist, clinician, student etc. wherever they are in the world. To this end, he has helped develop an imaging website dedicated to head and neck imaging with lectures and modules on anatomy and pathology, and patient management.
Dr. Ania Kielar
JDMI/Toronto General Hospital
Associate Professor
Promoted - July 2020
Dr. Kielar was promoted on the basis of Excellence in Creative Professional Activity.
Dr. Kielar has dedicated her academic efforts to a number of specific areas of clinical practice with the overriding aim of improving patient care, patient experience and patient outcomes. These broadly can be defined as standardization in radiology reporting, quality improvement projects and Leadership and early career radiologists. The number and extent of her efforts in these areas are significant.
As an actively practicing abdominal radiologist, Dr. Kielar has focused much of her attention on improving the management of liver disease, specifically liver cancer, conditions that make up a significant proportion of the day to day workload of many radiologists across the world. The liver reporting and data system (ACR LI-RADS) steering committee, which Dr. Kielar is member of is working to ratify the overall plans for LI-RADS, including frequency of updates and the creation of working groups.
In 2017, she was awarded the prestigious RSNA Honoured Educator award, which acknowledges those most invested in furthering radiologic education through the creation of high-quality educational content in their field of study.
Dr. Kielar is active in the Canadian Association of Radiologists, for which she is presently Vice President for the Executive Board and is on the presidential track, assuming this role in 2023-2025.
Dr. Supriya Kulkarni
JDMI/Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Associate Professor
Promoted - July 2020
Dr. Kulkarni was promoted on the basis of sustained excellence in Creative Professional Activity.
Dr. Kulkarni's heavily involved in the hands-on delivery and organization of teaching. The success of her teaching to residents and fellows during her time in Toronto is reflected in recognition through a number of prestigious awards, including the Wightman-Berris Academy Individual Teaching Award for Postgraduate Education for Excellence in Resident & Fellow Teaching, from the University of Toronto in 2015. This recognizes teachers whose outstanding skills have been personally identified by their students. In 2017, Dr. Kulkarni achieved the Outstanding Contribution to Cancer Education Award from the Princess Margaret Cancer Education Program which recognizes the outstanding contribution and commitment to Cancer Education. The Toronto Breast Imaging conference, now in its fourth years under Supriya’s direction, is rapidly becoming one of the most prestigious breast imaging meetings in the country.
Dr. Kulkarni has been closely involved with a number of local, provincial and national groups in the development of guidelines for the provision of high quality breast imaging. With Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) and Ontario Breast Screening program (OBSP) she Chairs the Transgender People screening group and is part of the overarching policy steering committee. She is the regional breast imaging lead for the Toronto Central Regional Cancer Program, Health Sciences North and the North east LHIN and is involved in providing advice and leadership at the provincial level to the OBSP in partnership with CCO. She has also been significantly involved in working groups addressing the use of pre-operative MRI, High risk MRI screening and informed choice and shared decision making. Dr. Kulkarni's first textbook “Breast Imaging Essentials” was published in May 2020 with over 1300 digital copies sold in less than 2 months.
She is a board member of the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging (CSBI-CAR) and involved in advocacy and guideline development for breast imaging across Canada. She is also the Divisional Lead of Breast Imaging at the University department.