Research

Overview

The Department of Surgery considers research to be a foundational pillar of our commitment to advancing the study and clinical application of surgery. Our commitment is to research that impacts – using sustainable and collaborative research practices to create strategic, impactful research that changes the practice and application of surgical technique.

Mohit Bhandari
OONT, CM, MD, PHD, FRCSC

Canada Research Chairs

Mohit Bhandari, Canada Research Chair in Musculoskeletal Trauma and Surgical Outcomes

Trauma is the leading cause of death in the first four decades of life, surpassed only by cancer and atherosclerosis as the major cause of death in all age groups. For every death attributable to trauma, three patients survive but are permanently disabled. With over 60 million injuries per year in North America, approximately 50 per cent require medical care, of which 8.7 million patients are temporarily disabled. Trauma-related care costs over 100 billion dollars annually. Yet, despite these staggering costs, only four cents for every dollar is spent on trauma research.

The care of patients with musculoskeletal injuries has been guided by physician opinion since quality research in this area has been limited. Mohit Bhandari and his colleagues at McMaster University are changing the paradigm of eminence-based practice to evidence-based practice.

In his search for evidence, Bhandari has been co-leading a collaborative multicentre randomized trial of alternative operative techniques in patients with tibial shaft fractures – the most common long fracture. The study is setting a benchmark in the conduct of orthopaedic trials worldwide.

As the Canada Research Chair in Musculoskeletal Trauma and Surgical Outcomes, Bhandari has developed a research program that meets the need for high quality surgical research aimed at answering clinical questions of international importance.

His research includes the design and conduct of large, multicentre randomized trials that evaluate interventions in patients with musculoskeletal injuries. In addition, his program explores the methodological issues specific to the conduct of surgical trials and involves the application and evaluation of evidence-based methods to guide the care of patients with musculoskeletal trauma. In the process, his program is attracting and educating new surgical trainees as career academic surgeons.

Source: Canada Research Chairs Chairholders Profiles

Sheila Singh, Canada Research Chair in Human Cancer Stem Cell Biology

It was while Sheila Singh was in medical school that two little boys with brain tumours, both named Christopher, sowed the first seeds of her interest in research. Both were five years old and treated with the best current therapies. One flourished. The other died.

Singh says the boy who died left her a legacy of questions: Why should two small boys with the same disease fare so differently? What is different about each individual’s tumour?

As a scientist in McMaster University’s Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute, Singh now spends her life trying to find the molecular and genetic answers to these questions.

She’s discovered an abnormal stem cell, the brain tumour initiating cell (BTIC), that may drive the formation of brain tumours. It’s the first isolation of cancer stem cells in the central nervous system, a discovery with important implications for understanding how brain tumours start.

Most important to Singh’s research is the idea that only a small population of cancer stem cells, and not every cell in a brain tumour, is capable of generating and propagating. Current approaches to brain tumours focus on every cell in the tumour rather than on the rare tumour stem cell and this may explain the poor response of brain tumours to current treatments. Future therapies that target the BTIC could better halt the growth and propagation of tumours.

Singh and her team will continue to search for better surface markers for the BTIC, making it possible to isolate the cell even more specifically and easily. Her work will offer insight into patient prognosis, as patients with a higher proportion of BTICs may have a shorter survival and worse prognosis. Her studies will form the basis for future trials of therapy directed against the BTIC.

Source: Canada Research Chairs Chairholders Profiles

Endowed Chairs and Professorships

Endowed chairs and professorships encourage the advancement of innovative and critical research initiatives across many disciplines and recruit esteemed leaders equipped with vision and potential.

Yaron Shargall, Mortgage Intelligence/GMAC Residential Funding of Canada Chair in Thoracic Surgery

The chair is being supported by a donation from Mortgage Intelligence and GMAC Residential Funding of Canada for Shargall’s focus on:

The field of thoracic surgery, for addressing scientific uncertainty and advancement
Establishing and maintaining a world class program in thoracic surgery
Contributing to the body of scholarship in the area of thoracic surgery through clinical work, teaching and research
Participating in the development, implementation and evaluation of curricular innovations in undergraduate (MD), postgraduate (thoracic surgery residency) and continuing health education

Juravinski Thoracic Surgery Professorship

The Juravinski Thoracic Surgery Professorship focuses on thoracic oncology surgery and evidence-based care in thoracic surgery.

Susan Reid, John A. Bauer Chair in Surgery

The chair is being supported by the estate of Bertha T. Bauer in honour of her brother John A. Bauer, a Hamilton physician, for Reid’s research focus on developing academic programs and contributing to the body of scholarship in surgery.

Research Executive

The Research Executive is a core group of highly active researchers chosen to serve as high-level advisors on research matters. They provide expertise in basic science, clinical trials, knowledge translation and research education. Their role is to develop major research initiatives within the department.

Mohit Bhandari

Professor & Chair

Department of Surgery

(905) 525-9140 x 44648 bhandam@mcmaster.ca McMaster Experts Profile

Michelle Ghert

MD, FRCSC

Professor (Part Time)

Orthopaedic Surgery

(905) 521-2100 x 64089 ghertm@mcmaster.ca

Research

Overview

Expandable List

Mohit Bhandari, Canada Research Chair in Musculoskeletal Trauma and Surgical Outcomes

Sheila Singh, Canada Research Chair in Human Cancer Stem Cell Biology

Expandable List

Yaron Shargall, Mortgage Intelligence/GMAC Residential Funding of Canada Chair in Thoracic Surgery

Juravinski Thoracic Surgery Professorship

Susan Reid, John A. Bauer Chair in Surgery

Information Box Group

Mohit Bhandari

Michelle Ghert

Richard Whitlock

Marko Simunovic

Sheila Singh

Information Box Group

Karen Bailey

Mohit Bhandari

Luis Braga

Forough Farrokhyar

Christian Finley

Shawn Forbes

Michelle Ghert

Michael Gupta

John Harlock

Andre Lamy

Jehonathan Pinthus

Theodore Rapanos

Kourosh Sabri

Sheila Singh

Achilleas Thoma

Kaiyun Yang