McMaster Surgeons receive $14 million in funding for a revolutionary new study
McMaster University researchers Drs. Mohit Bhandari and Sheila Sprague, alongside Dr. Gerard Slobogean of the University of Maryland, have received more than $14 million in funding as they prepare to launch a new research program in fracture management. The program, Program of Randomized Trials to Evaluate Pre-operative Antiseptic Skin Solutions in Orthopaedic Trauma (PREP-IT), is a joint initiative coordinated by the Centre for Evidence-Based Orthopaedics at McMaster University and the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland. This massive study will recruit almost 10,000 participants and these trials will take place at more than 20 hospitals across North America. Upon completion, PREP-IT will provide significant evidence to guide the prevention of surgical site infections as well as infections in open fractures. Funding was granted by the U.S. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the United States Department of Defense, the Physicians’ Services Incorporated Foundation and the McMaster Surgical Associates.
Social media and surgery
Dr. Anil Kapoor, professor with McMaster University’s Department of Surgery, generated major buzz online last spring when he and a team of surgeons live-streamed a kidney transplant over Facebook. “The donor surgery and the transplant surgery both went off without a hitch,” Dr. Kapoor said in a statement after the surgery. “Both patients are doing fantastic, with the transplant working immediately and the kidney functioning well.” During the educational live-stream, which took place at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, doctors fielded questions from online viewers, opening up the curtain to the wonderful, live-saving operations that occur in hospitals everyday. The ground-breaking online event received mainstream media coverage from national news outlets like the CBC
McMaster home to surgical foundations boot camp
A few years ago, McMaster’s Department of Surgery implemented an innovative, new program that prepares surgical trainees for residency. The two-week course, which rapidly develops surgical skills via a series of technical and non-technical simulations, workshops and lectures, is now going into its third year of making our residents some of the most prepared in the world.
Investing in children’s vision
Dr. Kourosh Sabri and the McMaster Paediatric Eye Research Group (McPERG) recently unveiled their Eye Mac vision-screening project. This multidisciplinary approach to vision screening will put trained screening volunteers in local schools, raise eye-health awareness among children through education and connect kids with local eye doctors. Dr. Sabri is also spearheading a similar initiative, Operation Blue Sky, in which he and his team will make vision screening available to children living in Indigenous communities.
Celebrating 50 years of surgical excellence
The McMaster University Department of Surgery closed out 2017 by celebrating its 50th anniversary. Paying homage to the department’s origins and looking ahead to its future, hundreds of current and former faculty, staff, residents, fellows and friends gathered at the Sheraton Hotel in Hamilton, Ontario for a nostalgic night of good fun.
New grant will help optimize patient health before surgery
Dr. Waël Hanna, a thoracic surgeon and assistant professor with McMaster University’s Department of Surgery, recently procured a Hamilton Academic Health Sciences Organization (HAHSO) grant worth upwards of $182,000. This funding will be used by Dr. Hanna and his team to establish an all-new preconditioning program designed to optimize patient health before they undergo major lung surgery.
Dr. Sheila Singh inducted into the Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada recently inducted the 2017 class of innovators into the College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists, and among them was McMaster University’s Dr. Sheila Singh. The College is comprised of a handpicked selection of top mid-career scholars and artists in Canada and, each year, a new cohort is invited to join. Dr. Singh, a pediatric neurosurgeon for McMaster’s Department of Surgery, was inducted into the College for being a highly accomplished clinician scientist and an internationally recognized scholar in the areas of stem cell biology and cancer research. “The College is a unique institution that is able to respond to the challenges of today through broad creativity and innovation,” said Cynthia Milton, President of the College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists. “The 2017 cohort certainly reflects this vision of engaged knowledge for the social good.” Dr. Singh is the first McMaster surgeon and only the eighth McMaster faculty member to be inducted into the College.
