Every month, staff, researchers, physicians, learners and teams across Unity Health Toronto celebrate important honours, achievements and awards. Congratulations to those who have been recognized this month!

Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi

Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi, a general internal medicine physician and scientist at MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, has been appointed as the Baxter and Alma Ricard Chair in Inner City Health by the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s. This is his second five-year term in this chair. Congratulations!

Dr. Gianluigi Bisleri

The University of Toronto’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine hosted a talk with Dr. Gianluigi Bisleri, cardiac surgeon at Unity Health, on Feb. 10. Bisleri spoke about advancements in heart surgery and his role as a leader in minimally-invasive cardiac surgery. He was recognized for his contributions to the field with a letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a certificate from MP Marco Mendicino. Congratulations!

Dr. Yvonne Bombard

Dr. Yvonne Bombard, a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute,  received funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research for her study on genetic testing of at-risk family members. A second study on which she is a co-investigator also received funding. This research will examine re-engineering health policy decision-making for equitable allocation of resources. Congratulations!

First row: Drs. Christine (Tina) Fahim, Nav Persaud and Fahad Razak. Second row: Drs. Sakina Rivzi, Tom Schweizer and Subodh Verma. Bottom row: Drs. Christopher Witiw, Darren Yuen and Haibo Zhang.

Scientists from St. Michael’s were awarded close to $2.5 million in grant funding in the CIHR Fall 2022 Project Grant competition. Congratulations to the awarded projects:

  • What happened and why? Exploring the development, implementation and impact of COVID-19 public health policies in Ontario using a health equity lens, led by Dr. Christine (Tina) Fahim, a scientist in the Knowledge Translation Program
  • Effect of healthy food vouchers on blood glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes: a randomized controlled trial, led by Dr. Nav Persaud, a scientist at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions
  • Investigating variation in the inpatient allocation of scarce COVID-19 therapeutics: Equity and Clinical Outcomes, led by Dr. Fahad Razak, a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute
  • An fMRI study investigating pain processing to understand mechanisms of suicide risk, led by Dr. Sakina Rizvi, a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute
  • The central autonomic network and post-concussion outcome: investigating brain-heart interactions, led by Dr. Tom Schweizer, a scientist at the Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science
  • Combination SGLT2i – GLP-1RA treatment for the reversal of pro-vascular regenerative cell exhaustion, led by Dr. Subodh Verma, a scientist at the Keenan Research Centre
  • Effects of Surgical Intervention on Work and Earnings for Patients with Degenerative Conditions of the Spine, Hip and Knee in a National Canadian Cohort, led by Dr. Christopher Witiw, a surgeon and investigator at St. Michael’s
  • YAP and TAZ: novel regulators of collapsing glomerulopathy, led by Dr. Darren Yuen, a scientist at the Keenan Research Centre
  • Aiming at a novel target in endotoxin-associated lung damage: The Ig domain 3 of ICAM-1, led by Dr. Haibo Zhang, a scientist at the Keenan Research Centre
Dr. David Mazer

Dr. David Mazer, an anesthesiologist at St. Michael’s and scientist at the Keenan Research Centre, has been appointed to the Cara Phelan Chair in Critical Care by the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s.

We celebrated the recipients of the Our Shared Values Awards at Providence Healthcare. The awards recognize those staff members who go above and beyond to embody Unity Health’s values of human dignity, compassion, excellence, community and inclusivity. This year’s recipients include Marnellie Hilao for the Human Dignity Award, Marry Ninan for the Compassion Award, Janet Richards for the Excellence Award, Niala Dookie for the Community Award and Pamela Rose for the Inclusivity Award. Congratulations to all of the winners, well done!

Congratulations to Dr. Barathi Sreenivasan, a physician at Providence, who received a teaching award at the Sunnybrook Department of Medicine Annual Day.

Dr. Anne Stephenson

Dr. Anne Stephenson, a respirologist and researcher at St. Michael’s, has received the Cathleen Morrison Award and the Robbie Award from Cystic Fibrosis Canada. Congratulations!

Dr. Shazeen Suleman

Dr. Shazeen Suleman has been awarded a New Investigator Research Grant from the SickKids Foundation and CIHR. Suleman, physician lead at the Compass Clinic and scientist with the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, examines what makes healthcare more accessible for newcomer children, and designs and evaluates programs to support children experiencing social or economic marginalization. Congratulations!

Unity Health Toronto logo

 Unity Health Toronto received the Provincial Eligible Approach Rate Award from Ontario Health (Trillium Gift of Life Network [TGLN]) for demonstrating leading practices by facilitating a discussion between Ontario Health (TGLN) and eligible patients at end of life and families. Congratulations to each team that supports organ donation at Unity Health.