Congratulations to Shiran Isaacksz, Vice President, Altum Health & UHN Connected Care, for being named one of "The 50 Most Influential Torontonians of 2021" by Toronto Life magazine.
The magazine annually ranks Torontonians who are influencing positive change in the world. This year, the list shines a spotlight on the many individuals who steered the province through COVID-19.
Shiran identified gaps within provincial vaccine rollout plans and aimed to bring vaccines to the public through accessible pop up vaccination clinics. Shiran worked closely with the city to target COVID-19 hotspots and bring vaccines to local communities through clinics in apartment lobbies, sports courts, churches, shopping malls, and TTC stations and more.
Shiran was named one of Toronto's most influential people alongside Phillip Anthony, with whom he co-led Toronto's Mobile Vaccine Strategy. Mobile vaccination efforts led to 500,000 vaccinations across the city, including the Toronto Vaccine Day at Scotiabank Arena, where the record of 27,000 people was reached in a single day.
In this role at UHN, Shiran is helping to drive a better experience for patients and providers through his leadership of Altum Health, Connected Care, and the International program. Shiran has more than 20 years of experience leading complex and large-scale transformational healthcare programs.
Congratulations to Dr. Brad Wouters, UHN's Executive Vice President of Science and Research, for receiving the 2021
CCRA Award for Exceptional Leadership in Cancer Research from the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance (CCRA).
The award recognizes a leader who has made exceptional contributions to fostering transformative cancer research in Canada. Specifically, the award honours Dr. Wouters contributions to strengthening the position of UHN as a world‐renowned healthcare and research organization, his research on the tumor microenvironment and hypoxia, and his advocacy work to ensure continued federal support for cancer research during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Dr. Wouters is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Hypoxia and the Tumor Microenvironment. His research focuses on the importance of hypoxia as a driver of aggressive tumor growth and resistance to radiotherapy and drug treatments. The overarching aim of his research is to identify the molecular pathways that promote hypoxia tolerance and drive cancer development in order to develop new anticancer therapies – especially those that can be tailored to individual patients.
As a co-leader on various multidisciplinary and national cancer initiatives, Dr. Wouters is committed to encouraging meaningful collaboration between scientists and clinicians. His collaborative model for discovery and translation has advanced the field of molecular cancer biology and meaningfully improved the health of patients in Canada and worldwide. In addition to being an exceptional leader, he is also a tireless advocate for cancer research. His efforts at the early stages of the pandemic played an essential role in maintaining Canada's position in the fight against cancer. He led an advocacy campaign to support hospital research programs that had been inadvertently excluded from the federal COVID-19 support program. The result was a $450 million commitment from the government of Canada that enabled the continuation of countless research studies and activities at UHN.
Read more about the award
Dr. Heather Ross, Division Head, Cardiology, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Scientific Lead, Ted Rogers Centre of Heart Research and Professor of Medicine, Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Musculoskeletal has been awarded a
Special Honorary Degree from Queen's University.
A former graduate of Queen's, Dr. Ross was chosen for this esteemed honour by the university faculty, students, and alumni for her outstanding contribution to her field and community. Dr. Ross was awarded her honourary degree during a small televised ceremony broadcast from Queen's. She was praised for her "unapologetically holistic and humanistic approach to her clinical work, teaching, and research," and celebrated as "a healer… who cites the inner strength of her patients as the impetus to push herself to new heights and to reflect on how precious life truly is."
Congratulations, Dr. Ross!
Congratulations to Dr. Pam Ohashi, who recently received a
York University Alumni Award!
Dr. Ohashi received the "Tentanda Via" award for an alumna/us who has demonstrated innovative, unconventional, and daring leadership and success, reflecting the university's motto, "The way must be tried."
Dr. Ohashi graduated with an Honours Bachelor of Science from York in 1982. She now serves as the Director of the Tumour Immunotherapy Program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
She also studied at the University of Toronto with Dr. Tak Mak and completed her post-doctoral training at the University of Zurich.
Dr. Ohashi's research involves understanding T-cell tolerance and strategies to promote tissue-specific immune responses while bridging these findings into clinical trials. She helped establish the immunotherapy program at PM, work that brought together leading clinical, academic, and industrial players in the field.
Dr. Timo Krings, Diagnostic and Interventional Staff Neuroradiologist, Krembil Brain Institute & Joint Department of Medical Imaging and Professor of Radiology and Surgery, David Braley Chair of Interventional Neuroradiology, Program Director of the INR Fellowship Program, has received a Gold Medal of the British Society of Neuroradiologists (BSNR).
The Gold Medal is the highest honour of the BSNR for Lifetime Achievements in Interventional Neuroradiology. Dr. Krings received the award during his Brian Kendall Lectureship at the BSNR Annual Scientific Meeting on Nov. 18 in London, England.
Dr. Krings studied medicine in Aachen, Germany and Harvard Medical School. After residency training, he completed a neurointerventional fellowship with Professor Pierre Lasjaunias in Paris and subsequently joined the Neuroradiology division of the University of Toronto (U of T) as a diagnostic and interventional Neuroradiologist in 2008.
Focusing his research efforts on Imaging and Treatment of Neurovascular Diseases, Dr. Krings has published more than 470 peer reviewed articles with an H-Index of 73, in addition to approximately 40 book chapters and four books on interventional neuroradiology, and neurovascular anatomy, neurovascular imaging and stroke.
Dr. Krings's leadership in the field of Neuroradiology is bolstered by his distinguished grants and awards, including the Scientific Award of the European Society of Neuroradiology, the Lucien Appel Prize, and the Founders Award in Interventional Neuroradiology of the ESNR. For the development of the Neuroradiology Program in Toronto he won the Anderson Award of the Wightman-Berris Academy and was granted the Edward Lansdown Award for outstanding teaching in the Residency Program at U of T.
Congratulations, Dr. Krings!
The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is the recipient of the 2021 COVID-19 Innovation Award from the Cancer Quality Council of Ontario (CQCO). The centre received this award for creating the Virtual Nurse-Led Clinic, which uses a standard assessment triage algorithm to provide proactive symptom management and care coordination for cancer patients who test positive for COVID-19.
Before the clinic, ambulatory cancer patients were required to self-identify COVID-19 or cancer symptoms and self-report the symptoms to various public health or hospital telephone triage lines. This resulted in fragmented care for patients who did not necessarily receive symptom management support specific to cancer patients with COVID-19. By closely monitoring the high-risk population and minimizing the traffic and exposure for other patients and healthcare workers, the clinic ensures safe, timely and accurate care for COVID-19 positive cancer patients.
Congratulations to all team members who contributed to making this initiative such a success.
The Quality and Innovation Awards are hosted by the Cancer Quality Council of Ontario in partnership with Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) and sponsored by the Canadian Cancer Society. The awards recognize and encourage the development of initiatives that have led to significant improvements in delivering cancer care to patients across Ontario.
The COVID-19 Innovation Award was created to recognize innovative initiatives developed or adapted in response to the pandemic to improve the performance of cancer care in the province.
Congratulations to Stephanie Kandel, clinical assistant, otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery Clinic, Dr. Mark Minden, Senior Scientist and staff physician, hematology, and Carolyn Wong, registered nurse, palliative care, who are the winners of the 22nd annual Gerald Kirsh Humanitarian Awards.
The awards were presented at a virtual ceremony hosted by the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and the Kirsh family on Nov. 17.
After experiencing exceptional care while undergoing treatment at the Princess Margaret, the late Gerald Kirsh along with his wife, Paula, and their children, Jennifer, Jeff and Joel, wanted to do something to honour staff and volunteers in a meaningful way. Through the award's nomination process, patients and families have the opportunity to thank staff and volunteers who provide outstanding, compassionate care.
The three winners were chosen from among a group of 15 staff and volunteers of the Princess Margaret nominated by patients, their families and fellow staff members for their exemplary service.
Fellow nominees included: Jessy Abed (radiation therapist), Marisona Almazan (administrative assistant, Medical Oncology), Dr. John de Almeida (surgical oncologist), Dr. Bernard Cummings (radiation oncologist), Julia Dong (registered nurse, clinical research coordinator), Isabel Vergara - Hugo (patient screener), Joanna Javor (radiation therapist), Dr. Dennis Kim (Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology, staff physician), Khush Ninawat (Breast Clinic, patient flow coordinator), Melanie Robson (administration referral coordinator), Dr. Lillian Siu (Senior Medical Oncologist), Sabrina Stajer (administrative assistant, Medical Oncology), and Dwayne Williams (unit clerk Medical Radiation Oncology). All staff and volunteers at The Princess Margaret are eligible to be nominated for a Gerald Kirsh Humanitarian Award. To learn more or nominate someone, please visit The
Kirsh Awards or email
kirshawards@thepmcf.ca.
