IMS Faculty Highlights

New IMS Member Promoted to Full Member

Dr. Mark Boulos is a stroke & sleep neurologist, associate professor, and clinician-investigator in the Division of Neurology at the University of Toronto and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, as well as the Medical Lead for the Sunnybrook Sleep Laboratory. Dr. Boulos oversees a research program that investigates the association of sleep disorders with TIA/stroke, dementia, and other neurological disorders.

Dr. David Cescon is a breast medical oncologist and clinician-scientist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. His research integrates laboratory and clinical studies that are focused on the identification of breast cancer therapeutic vulnerabilities and determinants of drug response and resistance.

Dr. Helen Cheung is an abdominal radiologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and an assistant professor in Medical Imaging with a research interest in the use of imaging biomarkers for cancer research. Her main research focus is the use of MR biomarkers to predict biology and long-term outcomes in colorectal liver metastases.

Dr. Sage is an assistant scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto. His research is focused on artificial intelligence and novel medical devices that guide surgical decisionmaking during lung transplantation.

Dr. Robert Grant is a clinician investigator and a medical oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. He applies machine learning to electronic health record and high-dimensional biological dataset to improve outcomes for patients with cancer.

Dr. Brigitte Zrenner is a clinicianscientist with the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention and the Mood and Anxiety Ambulatory Services. Her research interests include mechanism of pathophysiology in major depressive disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder and translational development of individualized brain stimulation protocols.

Dr. Kate Nelson leads the IDEA lab (Integrating Data, Experience and Advocacy) at SickKids which develops strategies to navigate medical uncertainty for children with lifethreatening illnesses. Our current focus is on children with medical complexity from neurologic conditions.

Dr. Kazuyoshi Aoyama is an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. He is a staff anesthesiologist at the Hospital for Sick Children and an associate scientist at SickKids Research Institute. Aoyama’s main research interest is Health Services Research.

Dr. Amin Madani’s research focus is in surgical expertise and the optimization of performance in the operating room, including the development of technologies and innovations that incorporate artificial intelligence, computer vision, and advanced simulation.

Dr. Osnat C. Melamed, is a family and addictions physician at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. She is also an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. As a clinician-scientist, her research explores tobacco addiction, gender-related intersections with substance use, mental health, and physical health. She specifically investigates the efficacy of digital health tools like apps and chatbots for smoking cessation.

Dr. Hung’s research focuses on characterizing individual molecular profiles related to complex disease etiology and progression. Dr. Hung has expertise in integrative multi-omics data science based on machine learning analytics using high-dimensional data for disease prediction. She has been leading several large-scale international studies, including aero-digestive tract cancer, pancreatic cancer, and childhood cancers. In addition, Dr. Hung is leading work on early life determinants on complex diseases in longitudinal cohort studies.