LMP faculty promotions 2020
We are pleased to congratulate the faculty members in LMP who received approval for promotion effective July 1, 2020.
These promotions are richly deserved and a testament to the significant academic contributions and impact of these individuals.
Promotion to Professor
Ozgur Mete
University Health Network
Excellence in CPA
Dr. Mete is internationally recognized for his exceptional scholarly activities in endocrine pathology.
He is highly regarded by the international and national communities for his expertise in the diagnosis of endocrine neoplasms, including tumors of the pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands. Since 2015, he has built on his earlier work which has now been adopted as an international classification system.
He has published over 170 papers. His expertise has led to several prominent leadership appointments in the field. Most recently he was selected as Editor of Endocrine Pathology, a leading journal in the field. In addition, his contributions to teaching and mentoring undergraduate, postgraduate and pathology colleagues have received considerable recognition.
Gino Somers
Hospital for Sick Children
Excellence in CPA
Dr. Somers is internationally recognized for his excellent academic activities in pediatric sarcomas.
He has built a translational research program focused on disease mechanisms and diagnostic assays for pediatric tumours, in particular sarcomas. His ongoing research uses molecular and cell biology techniques.
Dr. Somers was one of the first researchers to initiate molecular studies on these tumours to allow for reclassification of some of these malignancies as specific types of sarcomas. His research identified a subset of pediatric tumours having a specific and previously unidentified translocation, the CIC-DUX4 fusion transcript, which indicates tumours with significantly more aggressive behavior and poor outcome and which requires a different treatment protocols than to Ewing’s Sarcoma. Realizing this, he started investigating other pediatric tumours for genetic alterations. To facilitate these studies, he helped develop and validate a NanoString sarcoma fusion transcript assay for diagnostic use.
He has over 100 papers and is the President of the Society for Pediatric Pathology.
Promotion to Associate Professor
Michelle Downes
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Excellence in CPA
Dr. Downes has attained a national reputation, and is now growing her international reputation, for her exemplary professional practice in Genitourinary (GU) Pathology.
Her work on diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in urologic malignancy, particularly prostate and bladder cancers, has resulted in significant contributions to professional practice.
She is also advancing the discipline through her educational workshops at national and international meetings and by writing a guideline on the use of next generation sequencing in oncology.
Sandra Fischer
University Health Network
Excellence in CPA
Dr. Fischer is a nationally recognized Gastrointestinal‐Liver Pathologist who has made significant contributions to advance pancreatic adenocarcinoma research and helped establish the University of Toronto’s reputation as a world leader in clinical trials for this deadly disease.
Her contributions include developing the Fischer study protocol for genomic analysis, and detecting and validating GATA6 as a pancreatic cancer biomarker, both of which have gained international attention.
Jonathan Gubbay
Public Health Ontario
Excellence in CPA
Dr. Gubbay has built a national reputation in the field of emerging viral pathogens and the study of the molecular epidemiology of viral infections.
As a Medical Microbiologist and Deputy Chief of Microbiology at Public Health Ontario Laboratory, he led the provincial laboratory response to emerging viral pathogens including the influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, avian influenza A(H7N9), Middle East Respiratory Virus coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Ebola, Chikungunya, and Zika virus.
He assessed new diagnostic technologies and applied this information to better understand their clinical utility and define the appropriate testing algorithms to be used for emerging viral pathogens. His work in this area has been published in leading journals in microbiology, infectious diseases and public health.
Dr. Gubbay has also made significant contributions to the molecular epidemiology of viral pathogens.
His scholarly achievements have improved clinical management and aided in prevention as well as the response to infectious diseases nation-wide.
Jennie Johnstone
Public Health Ontario/ Mount Sinai Hospital
Excellence in CPA
Dr. Johnstone has built an outstanding research program in infection prevention and control.
She is recognized nationally for her excellent quality, rigorous clinical trials which results in scholarly contributions that inform evidence-based best practice.
This led her to develop a research program that addresses four key questions:
- does discontinuing VRE infection control practices lead to an associated change in rate of VRE bacteremia;
- are outcomes different between patients with VRE bacteremia versus vancomycin susceptible Enterococci;
- what are risk factors for VRE bacteremia and
- what health service costs are associated with VRE bacteremia.
Her important findings have changed infection control and prevention management.
Dr. Johnstone currently co-leads the PROSPECT Trial which is a multi-center, multi-national trial evaluating whether administration of probiotics reduce ventilator associated pneumonia and other infections in critically ill, mechanically ventilated patients. Referees noted that this study has the potential to change the way in which ventilated patients are treated.
Bo-Yee Ngan
Hospital for Sick Children
Excellence in CPA
Dr. Ngan is distinguished as an academic pathologist who is recognized for his diagnostic excellence in rare and unique childhood diseases.
His contributions led to sustained output of high quality publications in pediatric pathology.
He has also advanced the practice of diagnostic pediatric pathology through education.
His activities have led to an improvement in diagnosis and clinical management of children’s diseases and these accomplishments are acknowledged by his peers in the international paediatric pathology community.
Samir Patel
Public Health Ontario
Excellence in CPA
Dr. Patel is nationally recognized as an expert in antimicrobial resistance and vector borne zoonotic diseases.
He has established a leading-edge research program in the areas of antibiotic-resistant organisms surveillance and detection, particularly in carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriacea and HACEK bacteria (a group of gram-negative bacteria linked to infective endocarditis), and vector borne-zoonotic diseases, mainly in Lyme disease and tick surveillance, that has had remarkable clinical impact.
Some of these include:
- the establishment of the first Canadian voluntary surveillance program for CPE cases in Ontario to counter the lack of mandatory reporting
- development of a lab screening algorithm to detect CPE isolates suitable for use in front line labs
- being a vital contributor in revising best practice and guidance documents to include CPE in screening, testing and surveillance in healthcare settings
- development of an enhanced tool for standardized case management of Lyme disease with the goal of improving surveillance
- participating in the development of a Public Health Ontario – Health Quality Ontario clinical guidance document for the management of tick bites, and diagnosis and management of Lyme disease.
Clinton Robbins
Toronto General Research Institute
Excellence in Research
Dr. Robbins has made significant research contributions that advances our knowledge of vascular diseases.
He is recognized as a rising star in the areas of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and abdominal aortic aneurysms.
He has also done pioneering work investigating the molecular and cellular biology of normal arteries.
His novel findings led to the delineation of inflammation as one of the mechanisms that regulate the development of atherosclerosis and aortic aneurysms.
He has published over 50 papers in leading journals.
Rita Selby
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and University Health Network
Excellence in CPA and Teaching
Dr. Selby has built a national reputation and is also known internationally as an expert in coagulation medicine.
Her excellent scholarly activities in quality assurance and standard setting, as well as capacity building through education, have improved clinical practice.
She has authored/ co-authored consensus practice review standards and guidelines available through the Institute for Quality Management in Health Care and the Clinical & Laboratory Standards Institute.
In addition to these, Dr. Selby developed a curriculum for a multi‐site coagulation laboratory rotation for the Adult Hematology program at the University of Toronto in 2009. In addition, she worked with the Hematopathology Program, to design a longitudinal coagulation lab rotation for the entire duration of their 4‐year residency.
She also co-developed the first academic Hemostasis and Thrombosis Fellowship at UofT; co-authored and co-edited Bloody Easy: Coagulation Simplified, the go‐to manual on coagulation for laboratory professionals and trainees across Canada.