Unity Health Toronto’s October Honour Roll
Every month, staff, researchers, physicians, learners and teams across Unity Health Toronto celebrate important honours, achievements and awards. Congratulations to all who’ve been recognized in October!
Sign up for the Unity Health Toronto newsletter, a monthly update on the latest news, stories, patient voices and research emailed directly to subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 St. Michael’s Our Shared Values Awards and Spotlight on Sustainability. Emergency Department nurses, including Valerie Sample, Kelly Silva, Anna Walczek, Kerri Penney, Robin Landry and Christina Unger, won the Human Dignity Award. Melissa Joy Vitug, a clinical assistant in Stroke and Neurology, won the Compassion Award. The Research Pharmacy team, including Laura Parsons, Ann Dowbenka and Gitana Ramonas, won the Excellence Award. Megan Buccholz, team leader from the Apheresis Program, won the Excellence Award. Beth Misner, administrative assistant with the Cardiac Surgery team, won the Community Award. Zizi Putra, administrative lead for the REACH School Network, won the Inclusivity Award. The St. Michael’s Academic Family Heath Team won the Spotlight on Sustainability.
The St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation celebrated the 10th Angels Den competition, by awarding $700,000 in funding to St. Michael’s scientists. Dr. Darren Yuen won the Keenan Award for Medical Discovery. Drs. Alun Ackery and Christopher Witiw won the Odette Award for Health System Innovation. Drs. Claudia dos Santos and Amin Ektesabi won the Canada Life People’s Choice Award. Dr. Vitor Mendes Pereira won the Sarah McComb Award for Cancer Research. Congratulations to all the winners and competitors!
The Toronto Regional Arthoplasty collaborative (TRAC) program was recognized by the Ontario Health System Quality & Innovation Awards and received the Improved Value and Sustainability Award. TRAC is a cross-hospital partnership between several Toronto hospitals, including Unity Health Toronto. TRAC aims to reduce the backlogs in hip and knee replacement surgery by leveraging unused weekend operating room capacity.
Dr. Prabhat Jha, scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital, has been named as the new Nuffield Professor of Population Health at the University of Oxford. Jha will also head the Nuffield Department of Population Health at Oxford when he starts the appointment in September 2025.
Dr. Hagar Labouta, scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital, has been appointed to the Keenan Professorship in Medical Discovery, a hospital-university endowed professorship for a five-year term. Labouta’s research focuses on nanomedicine, drug delivery and biomedical engineering. Congratulations!
Dr. Seema Marwaha, physician and researcher at St. Michael’s, led a Royal Society of Canada webinar about strengthening Canada’s health research system after the pandemic. The webinar included a discussion on what actions must be taken to build resiliency in Canada’s research ecosystem. It included several panelists, including Dame Sally Davies from the University of Cambridge. Well done!
Dr. Arthur Slutsky, critical care physician and former VP of Research and Innovation, was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame. Slutsky was recognized for being a changemaker in the area of critical care and respiratory medicine, as well as his trailblazing 18-year run as vice-president of Research at St. Michael’s. Congratulations!
Dr. Janet Smylie, scientist and physician at St. Michael’s Hospital and director of the Well Living House Action Research Centre, for being elected as an international member to the National Academy of Medicine. Smylie was elected based on her internationally-recognized research that’s resulted in tangible benefits for Indigenous communities. The National Academy of Medicine noted her immense contributions, including “advancing Indigenous knowledge translation, unmasking urban Indigenous health inequities and improving recognition of health systems’ responses to racism.” Congratulations on the well-deserved recognition!
Dr. Katalin Szaszi, scientist at the Keenan Research Centre at St. Michael’s Hospital, has been appointed to the Keenan Professorship in Translational Medicine, a hospital-university endowed professorship for a five-year term. Szaszi’s research focuses on epithelial biology and pathophysiology, and the role of certain proteins in animal models of kidney diseases. Congratulations!