Department Promotes Faculty Members to Professor and Associate Professor
Dear Colleagues,
On behalf of Dr. Lisa Allen, myself and our Administration team, I am absolutely delighted to formally share with you the news that 12 members of our Department have been successful in their senior promotion to Professor or Associate Professor. Based on our faculty size, we would normally achieve three to four such promotions annually, so this is a pivotal moment for our Department, because the achievements of these 12 talented individuals express the current strength of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology here at the University of Toronto. Put simply, this collective level of achievement illustrates that we are a world-class Department whose members share today in the success of our 12 colleagues. I hope you will take a moment to read the profile of each and, in due course, congratulate them in person.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Lisa Allen, who as Chair of our Senior Promotions Committee, has inspired her committee to work closely over the past year with our newly promoted faculty. As you can imagine, this has been a huge task, but a pleasurable one, to see so many people receive the public recognition that each deserves. In addition, I would like to thank Dr. Richard Pittini who, as our Vice Chair Education, has worked closely with our two faculty members promoted for their Sustained Excellence in Teaching.
I wish you all a healthy and relaxing summer.
Sincerely,
Dr. John Kingdom
Chair of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
| professors | |
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 | Dr. Howard Berger Dr. Berger is an internationally-recognized expert in the diagnosis and management of diabetes in pregnancy and is described by one of his referees as “Canada’s expert Obstetrician & Gynaecologist on screening for Gestational Diabetes”. Dr. Berger has led a prestigious CIHR team grant for the past 4 years, involving St. Michael’s Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and McMaster University, with a focus on non-communicable diseases in pregnancy, including diabetes. Through his research program, Dr. Berger has authored national and international guidelines for both SOGC and the Canadian and American Diabetes Associations. Dr. Berger’s research extends into many areas of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, with a particular focus on networks to promote quality improvement. Dr. Berger has worked successfully on several patient safety initiatives with CMPA. As the St. Michael’s Hospital Division Head since 2007, he has built both a strong clinical program, aligned with a popular fellowship program in Advanced Obstetrics, in addition to making major contributions to the UofT Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship program. He has many research interests in ultrasound and education, and has developed a strong fellowship level program for ultrasound training. In tandem with all of these achievements, Dr. Berger has successfully developed several regional initiatives to extend clinical expertise in Maternal-Fetal Medicine across the GTA and Southern Ontario. |
 | Dr. Sarah Ferguson Dr. Ferguson is an internationally-recognized expert in several facets of Gynaecologic Oncology, who since 2017 has held the J. Douglas Crashley Endowed Chair in Gynaecologic Cancer Research at UHN. Her work is highly influential in three key areas: in improving surgical techniques for high-grade endometrial cancer via the accurate identification of the pelvic sentinel nodes, in promoting best practices in survivorship and supportive care for women with gynaecologic cancers, and in effecting substantial practice changes in the identification and management of women with hereditary gynaecologic cancers, in particular Lynch syndrome. Dr. Ferguson has been instrumental in developing a comprehensive research program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and has received two national-level nominations for Mentor of the Year for her outstanding contributions to promoting learners in the research environment. She has provided leadership in guideline development and health policy as the Ontario Gynecologic Cancers lead of Cancer Care Ontario. A significant quote from one of her referees reads: “In my judgment, the quantity and quality of the body of her work far exceeds that of the gynaecologic oncology discipline’s norms for Canada.” |
 | Dr. Cynthia Maxwell Dr. Maxwell is internationally recognized for her contributions in the care of women with medical complications during pregnancy, and is the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division Head at Sinai Health System, the largest sub-specialty grouping in Canada. Her work focuses on the care of women becoming pregnant with obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer. Uniquely in Canada she holds American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) certification for pregnancy care. Dr. Maxwell has developed a renowned clinical and research program managing pregnant women with obesity, through which she is now co-lead on two national SOGC guidelines. She is the recent author of a book on managing women with obesity during pregnancy, described by one of her external referees as “the seminal text” for this important subject. Her inter-disciplinary contributions to improve care for pregnant women with inflammatory bowel disease or cancer are equally impressive. Dr. Maxwell is a passionate educator, leading our RCPSC-accredited Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship program for a decade. In addition, she is on the Editorial Board of JOGC, and presently is the inaugural Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer for our Department. |
| Associate professors | |
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 | Dr. Tomer Feigenberg Dr. Feigenberg is recognized at the national level for his leadership in the development of regional Gynaecologic Oncology services, including the development of community-based postgraduate training in his sub-specialty. Dr. Feigenberg has steadily built this unique program over the past 7 years, described by one of his external reviewers as “serving as model for future similar developments at other regional sites”. As site lead for the Canadian Clinical Trials Group (CCTG), Dr. Feigenberg has demonstrated the importance of a regional centre in the success of large clinical trials in Gynaecologic Oncology. Dr. Feigenberg has a strong commitment to the full range of learner experiences, including his leadership of summer student research at THP. In addition, he has been instrumental in the development of advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) techniques, and is co-lead for the community of practice in minimally invasive surgery for the Society of Gynecologic Oncology of Canada (GOC). |
 | Dr. Tatiana Freire-Lizama Dr. Freire-Lizama is the founding member of the Maternal-Fetal Medicine Division at St. Michael’s Hospital where, since 2005, she has developed a deep commitment and interest in education both in Obstetrics and in her sub-specialty. She has served as Head of Obstetrics, and as lead for the MORE-OB (Managing Obstetrical Risk Efficiently) program 2005-2018, and is presently a Canadian ALARM (Advances in Labour and Risk Management) instructor. Her expertise extends into continuing medical education, inter-professional education and community education in the area of global health and advocacy for immigrant and refugee women. She is the recipient of many undergraduate teaching awards, culminating in her Master Teacher Award, our highest honour in Obstetrics & Gynaecology. Amongst the many accolades contained within her reviewer letters, one expressed their “great fortune to work closely with Tatiana for the last five years in her role as Director of the Transition to Clerkship (TTC) course and Co-Director of the Transition to Residency course (TTR) for the MD Program”. |
 | Dr. Rachel Kupets Dr. Kupets has achieved national recognition for her dedicated work to enhance the field of cervical cancer screening and prevention in Canada. In her role as Lead Scientist for the Ontario Cervical Cancer Screening program, Dr. Kupets has co-authored the provincial guidelines for both cervical cancer screening and for the management of women with abnormal cervical screening tests that are referred for colposcopy. Through her committee work, she has been instrumental in the development of a colposcopy webinar series, a venue for knowledge translation that reaches over 400 colposcopists across Ontario. Her scientific leadership is actively leading the transition to HPV-based screening. Her work is increasingly recognized internationally, with one example being that she is the elected Canadian member of the American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP) Risk Based Management Guidelines working group. Working as Chair of the Guidelines Committee of the Gynecologic Oncologists of Canada, Dr. Kupets has recently co-authored 5 national guidelines for the management of important gynaecologic oncology conditions. Amongst her reviewers, one from the US credited her with “an outstanding application for promotion to associate professor”. |
 | Dr. Kimberly Liu Dr. Kimberly Liu is nationally recognized for her many contributions to her chosen sub-specialty, into which she graduated in 2008 in tandem with her Master of Studies in Law here at the University of Toronto. Amongst several remarkable contributions, she is co-author of the highly-influential SOGC guideline on Pelvic Examinations by Medical Trainees, which is credited as setting our national standard in Canada. Some of her more recent work includes raising standards of informed consent for oocyte cryopreservation, and consent in third-party reproduction, such that the process is reflective of the new technologies available, while using language that is inclusive of modern family structures, and free of heteronormative, cisgender assumptions. Most recently Dr. Liu is the principal author of the SOGC guideline, Advanced Reproductive Age and Fertility. Dr. Liu has also had notable personal research successes, most recently with her work on endometrial thickness in IVF being published in Human Reproduction as “Editor’s Choice”. Dr. Liu has in addition been our passionate Program Director for the Gynaecologic REI fellowship since 2015. She has just been chosen as the next Division Head of REI at both Sinai Health System and at the University of Toronto. |
 | Dr. Ann Kinga Malinowski Dr. Malinowski has steadily emerged as a national leader for hematologic disorders complicating pregnancy, stemming from the development of a busy referral service developed at Sinai Health System in partnership with colleagues in adult hematology. She has made major scholarly contributions to our understanding and management of pregnant women with sickle cell disease (SCD), immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and venous thromboembolism (VTE). One of her reviewers described her as “the only high risk MFM specialist to have such a focused interest in Canada!” Amongst her broader interests, Dr. Malinowski was recently principal author on a special report entitled “Research standardization tools: Pregnancy measures in the PhenX Toolkit” in AJOG, and is actively involved with the Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) Initiative. She is presently working on 4 outcome sets: for perinatal iron deficiency anemia, for perinatal venous thromboembolism, for perinatal effects of sickle cell anemia and for ITP in pregnancy. Finally, she is our 2020 John R. McArthur Scholar based on her Merit Award application. |
 | Dr. Taymaa May Dr. May has attained her national reputation based on her work focusing on: improving outcomes for women with advanced ovarian cancer, encouraging surgical innovation in gynaecologic oncology and in addressing the distinct surgical needs of young women and children with rare gynaecologic cancers. She has led several national research initiatives that have demonstrated significantly improved progress-free and overall survival with primary aggressive cytoreductive surgery. Dr. May is the co-founder of an innovative Multidisciplinary Gynecology Oncology Annual Lecture Series (MyGoals), funded through an educational grant from the RCPSC, and is now Chair of the Annual General Meeting for the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (GOC). Dr. May has attained national recognition in the performance of advanced surgical techniques, specifically for ovarian cancer patients, fertility sparing surgery for young women with gynaecologic cancer, and the surgical management of rare gynaecologic cancers. Dr. May is very involved with advanced surgical education at the fellowship level, having developed complex hands-on simulation labs for cytoreductive surgery, laparoscopic skills and robotic surgery. |
 | Dr. Ally Murji Dr. Murji has developed his national reputation as a leader in the subspecialty domains of Advanced Pelvic Surgery and Minimally Invasive Gynaecologic Surgery (MIGS). In 2015 he launched an Advanced Gynaecologic Surgery fellowship, attracting talented individuals from across Canada to develop their skills and contribute to a highly productive research program. In tandem, Dr. Murji has been instrumental in the inception and growth of the national specialty society CanSAGE that focuses on advanced surgical methods in gynaecology. His commitment to surgical education is illustrated by the development of care algorithms to manage Caesarean scar pregnancy, internal iliac artery and uterine artery ligation, and hysteroscopic repair of Caesarean scar niche/isthmocele). Dr. Murji has extended his interests by contributing to the Placenta Percreta team at Sinai, with contributions to the new national SOGC guideline in 2019, and demonstration of bladder invasion by the placenta in NEJM in 2019. Based on his expertise, Dr. Murji is now an editorial board member of JOGC. For his research productivity, Dr. Murji received a three-year Dean’s Excellence award in 2018, which supports both his research program and the Gynaecology Surgical Quality Scorecard, a quality improvement network which functions across 8 GTA Hospitals. In November 2019, he received the SOGC Carl Nimrod Educator of the Year Award for the University of Toronto. |
 | Dr. Rajiv Shah Dr. Shah is a committed clinician teacher who has invested deeply in many aspects of the MD program curriculum at the University of Toronto, including the development of the Longitudinal Integrated Curriculum (LInC) program, an initiative active during the period 2016-18. As a core specialist, Dr. Shah has become a very versatile teacher, emerging as a subject expert in the area of care for vulnerable populations. These interests include patients with HIV, trans and non-binary patients, immigrants and patients with food insecurity. Dr. Shah served as our undergraduate MD program director 2013-18, during which time he translated many of his teaching initiatives into the online repository (The Hub) as case-based learning materials. During his tenure, he developed the core curriculum for our specialty in the new Foundations curriculum for year 1-2 students, and was most successful in the development of our comprehensive community-based learning network for our clinical clerks. Dr. Shah has worked consistently on his goals with a series of summer students, resulting in a number of national level publications in JOGC, and international-level presentations related to undergraduate MD education. |
 | Dr. Jacqueline Thomas Dr. Thomas has attained a national level reputation based largely on three areas of expertise. First, she has been instrumental the development of services and standards related to care in early pregnancy. In 2003, she opened Canada’s first early pregnancy complications clinic, through which she has influenced the development of similar services in many Canadian centres. Based on her expertise, Dr. Thomas co-authored the SOGC guideline on Ectopic Pregnancy and Pregnancy of Unknown Location. Second, over a 12-year period, and in tandem with serving as site residency program coordinator, she created and developed the highly acclaimed RCPSC examination preparation program for PGY5 residents, the first of its kind in Canada. Her widely-admired efforts led Dr. Thomas to twice receive the CREOG National Faculty award for leadership in resident education, and she is amongst our highest-decorated Department members for Annual Teaching Awards. Thirdly, she is widely known for her skills in promoting excellence in clinical practice through many highly-regarded Continuing Medical Education courses. As an example, her “Everyday Gynaecology” course, held annually now for 10 years, attracts over 350 participants. She is described as “a renowned speaker” by one of her referees. Her extensive high-quality contributions in CME have resulted in her receiving the Chair’s Awards for Excellence in Continuing Medical Education Course Coordination as well as for Continuing Medical Education Teaching, our only faculty member to ever have been given both awards. Dr. Thomas has several impactful research interests; for example, her work on cervical preparation prior to hysteroscopy has set the standard of care in Canada. |
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