Division Directors

Dr. Susanna Mak is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Cardiology. She is the Director of the Anna Prosserman Heart Function Clinic and also the Director of the Harold & Esther Mecklinger and the Posluns Family Cardiac Catheterization Research Laboratory at Mount Sinai Hospital. In this facility, Dr. Mak performs her studies of cardiovascular physiology, as well as specialized investigations for advanced heart failure patients. As a clinical cardiologist, she is a heart failure specialist at the Anna Prosserman Heart Function Clinic, which is the longest serving Heart Failure Clinic in Toronto. Dr. Mak received her PhD from the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto and is an expert in the assessment of hemodynamics and heart chamber function in humans. Dr. Mak’s research interests include the contrasts between the cardiovascular physiology of men and women, the pathophysiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension and heart failure, and the quality of care for patients with acute and chronic heart failure.

Dr. Mak has recently launched a clinical research program to precisely phenotype the cardiovascular physiologic contributions to dyspnea. Known as the BREATH (Breathlessness Revealed using Exercise to Assess The Hemodynamic response) program, Dr. Mak has received funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Ontario Research Fund. The program aims to provide state of the art diagnostics for syndromes of breathlessness related to aging, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and pulmonary hypertension.

Dr. Stephen Betschel is a clinician-teacher and associate professor in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, and a staff clinical immunologist and allergist in the Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology at St. Michael’s Hospital and Division of Respirology at University Health Network. Dr. Betschel also holds courtesy appointments at Michael Garron Hospital and St. Joseph’s Health Centre.
 
Upon earning his medical degree at McMaster University, Dr. Betschel went on to pursue his residency training in internal medicine, and fellowship in clinical immunology and allergy, at the University of Toronto. Additionally, Dr. Betschel was a Doctor of Philosophy candidate in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and identified critical virulence factors associated with Group A Streptococcus ‘flesh eating disease’.
 
Dr. Betschel’s extensive service to the medical community is demonstrated through various leadership positions locally, nationally and internationally. Dr. Betschel served for 14 years as the training program director in Clinical Immunology and Allergy at the University of Toronto. He currently serves as the chair of the Canadian Hereditary Angioedema Network and has served as a medical advisor to Canadian Blood Services, Hemaquebec, INESSS, CADTH, Immunodeficiency Canada, HAE Canada, and the Canadian Immunodeficiency Society. He has been a member of the National Specialty Committee for over a decade and currently serves as chair of the Royal College of Canada Examination Board in Clinical Immunology and Allergy. 
 
Dr. Betschel’s focus is on rare diseases and occupational allergy. He is the lead author on the Canadian and International Guidelines for Hereditary Angioedema and serves on the steering committee for the World Allergy Organization HAE guidelines. He is director of the Adult Primary Immunodeficiency Clinic at St. Michael’s Hospital where his pharmacoecomonic research was instrumental in recently obtaining a multi-site MOH Funded program for home-based subcutaneous immunoglobulin therapy.

Dr. Peter Wu is a Clinician in Quality and Innovation and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine. He completed Core Internal Medicine training at the University of Toronto, then a Chief Medical Residency year at Toronto General Hospital, followed by subspecialty training in Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology. He has been recognized with several teaching awards, many of which were trainee-nominated, and has held a number of educational roles. These include Site Director, Associate Program Director and most recently Interim Program Director of the Core Internal Medicine Program.

His additional leadership roles in Quality and Patient Safety include past Chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee at the University Health Network (UHN), and current Medical Director of Quality and Safety at UHN. His scholarly work, disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and leadership roles, focuses on optimizing educational models, improving safe medication practices through pragmatic ward-based quality improvement studies, and highlighting important drug safety topics. 

Dr. Laurent Brochard is the Interdepartmental Division Director, Critical Care, at the University of Toronto. He is a full professor and clinician-scientist in the Division of Critical Care at St. Michael’s Hospital. He was previously working in Geneva as head of the Intensive Care Unit of the Geneva University Hospital, in Switzerland for three years. Most of his career took place at Henri Mondor Hospital, Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris, and at Paris EST University, France. He has a strong involvement in research, and especially clinical research about mechanical ventilation. He has been editor-in-chief of the journal, Intensive Care Medicine, from 2001 to 2007 and is currently serving as deputy editor for the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. He is leading a European Research Network dedicated to clinical studies in mechanical ventilation called REVA.

Dr. Vincent Piguet trained at the School of Medicine, University of Geneva, graduating in 1995. He spent two years doing research in virology and immunology at the Salk Institute in San Diego, USA before obtaining his MD and PhD in 2000/2001 and specialist certification in dermatology and venereology in 2004 from the Swiss Medical Association. He received a prestigious fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation in 2003 and was subsequently promoted to assistant and then associate professor at the University of Geneva.

In 2010, Dr. Piguet joined Cardiff University in the UK as Professor and Chair of the Department of Dermatology and Wound Healing. He was also appointed consultant dermatologist at the University Hospital of Wales. In 2011, he obtained UK certification in dermatology and in 2014 became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. In 2011, he was appointed director of the School of Medicine Institute of Infection and Immunity and in 2015, director of the School of Medicine Division of Infection and Immunity. In 2017, he was appointed as full professor and Department Division Director, Dermatology, in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Division Head, Division of Dermatology, Women’s College Hospital.

Dr. Piguet has authored more than 145 publications in the fields of dermatology, dendritic cells, HIV, immunology and vaccination in a range of highly cited peer review journals such as Cell, Immunity, The Lancet, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Blood, and Nature Medicine. He has received numerous grants (including as principal investigator from the Human Frontier Science Program and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) to further his research including in the areas of HIV and mucosal transmission, psoriasis and melanoma.

Dr. Piguet’s laboratory will be housed in the Medical Sciences Building and his clinical and administrative offices will be based at Women’s College Hospital.

Originally from New Brunswick, Dr. O'Connor completed Medical School at Queen's University, a 5 year residency in Emergency Medicine and a Fellowship in Palliative Medicine at The University of Ottawa. Currently, she is a practicing Emergency and Palliative Physician at the University Health Network, and serves as the Deputy Medical Director of the UNH Emergency Departments. Her teaching and research interests are in improving symptom management skills and goals of care conversations in the Emergency Department. She is also the proud mom of two young children.

Dr. Jacqueline James completed her MD in internal medicine, subspecialty training in endocrinology and metabolism, and Master’s of Education at the University of Toronto. She is a clinician-educator and professor in the Department of Medicine and has been a proud member of the community of clinical teachers and educators at the University of Toronto since joining the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism in 1995. 
 
Dr. James has made excellent and sustained contributions to the Faculty of Medicine through a variety of educational leadership roles throughout her career and she has provided outstanding academic service in support of the MD program, postgraduate, continuing professional development and interprofessional education.  She was the recipient of University of Toronto Colin R. Woolf Award for Excellence in Course Coordination in 2005, for her work with the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, the Department of Medicine Teacher of the Year Award in 2014 in recognition of her contributions to the Department’s educational mission, and the Faculty of Medicine  W. T. Aikins Award for Course or Program Development and Coordination in 2017 in recognition of outstanding contributions to the MD Program.

Dr. James was director of the Faculty of Medicine Wightman-Berris Academy from 2006 to 2017, and has been  Vice-President, Education, Sinai Health System since 2011. As past chair of the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, Care and Education Committee, she led the development and funding of educational and research programs for health professionals throughout the Toronto region. She is passionate about bringing individuals across all health professional disciplines, clinical and academic sites with a common goal of improving healthcare delivery through providing outstanding educational and research experiences for the next generation of  clinicians and investigators.  

Her goal as division director will be to continue to nurture and support the already highly successful diabetes and metabolic research programs across the university, while building on existing strengths in endocrinology and endocrine oncology to grow research endeavours in these areas. She will also aim to strengthen the quality of person-centred care through innovation and collaboration across all affiliated university sites.

Her general endocrinology practice is based at Mount Sinai Hospital and she has a special interest in caring for people with Type 1 diabetes transitioning to adult care. 

Dr. Laura Targownik graduated from the University of Manitoba Medical School in 1997 and completed her residency training in Internal Medicine in 2000. She then went to University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to complete a 3-year fellowship in Digestive Diseases while also obtaining a Master’s of Science (Health Services) from the UCLA School of Public Health.

Since 2003, Dr. Targownik has been a full-time faculty member at the University of Manitoba in the Section of Gastroenterology where she currently holds the rank of Associate Professor. She is also an Associate of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and is the Associate Director of the IBD Research and Clinical Centre. Prior to joining the Department of Medicine as Division Director for Gastroenterology & Hepatology, she was the Chief of the Section of Gastroenterology at University of Manitoba.

Dr. Targownik is a nationally recognized researcher in IBD and has held funding from Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, the American College of Gastroenterology and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. She is currently an Associate Editor for the American Journal of Gastroenterology and has served on the Examiner’s Board on the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada for Gastroenterology.

Dr. Targownik is a member of numerous research consortia, including the Canadian IBD Research Consortium, the Canadian Gastrointestinal Epidemiology Consortium and the Canadian IBD Transitions in Care Network. She is also the chair for Equity and Diversity for the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology where she is spearheading several initiatives with the aim of improving the representation of women in positions of leadership and influence in gastroenterology. She has authored or co-authored over 120 articles in peer-reviewed publications. Her current focus of research is in using secondarily collected data sources to evaluate the costs and benefits of medications used in IBD.

Dr. Brian Wong is a staff general internist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Professor in the Department of Medicine and Director of the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (CQuIPS) at the University of Toronto. He completed his MD and subsequent specialty training in General Internal Medicine (GIM) at U of T and served as Chief Medical Resident at Sunnybrook in 2006. After completing his residency training, he undertook a research fellowship in quality improvement and patient safety (QIPS) funded by CIHR and the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation.

As a Clinician Educator, he has garnered an international reputation championing the introduction of QIPS into medical education. He chaired the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Expert Working Group at the Royal College and authored a consensus report that informed the eventual integration of QIPS into CanMEDS 2015. He has led several major QI training programs at U of T, including the Faculty-Resident Co-Learning Curriculum and the Certificate Course in QIPS and EQUIP. Together, these programs have trained over 2,000 residents and faculty in QIPS. His 110 peer-reviewed publications include articles co-authored with 45 GIM divisional members across all the major teaching sites at U of T.

Dr. Barbara Liu is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is also the Executive Director of the Regional Geriatric Program of Toronto (RGP) and leads a network of 23 hospitals in the delivery of specialized geriatric services. In Ontario she has been leading the implementation of senior friendly hospital/senior friendly care  framework in collaboration with decision makers, hospitals and front-line providers.  Through her clinical work and administrative leadership, she is deeply committed to the care of older people and the vision of “Better health outcome for frail seniors”.

Dr. Michelle Sholzberg received her MDCM and residency training in Internal Medicine at McGill University, completed additional postgraduate training in Hematology at the University of Toronto and a research hemostasis fellowship in Toronto and internationally. Dr. Sholzberg has a Master of Science from the University of Toronto in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research and was awarded the Claire Bombardier award for career promise as a scientist. She is a clinician-scientist with a focus on coagulation, the Division Head of Hematology-Oncology and the Medical Director of the Coagulation Laboratory at St. Michael’s Hospital. She is also the Director of the Hematology-Oncology Clinical Research Group and Co-director of the Hematology-Immunology Translational Research Theme of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute. Currently, she is involved in the study of: prediction tools for perioperative and traumatic bleeding, the intersection of women’s health and bleeding disorders, treatments for iron deficiency anemia, new treatments for immune thrombocytopenia and the management of COVID-19 coagulopathy.

Physician Lead, Infection Prevention and Control and Infectious Disease physician.

Dr. Johnstone is an Associate Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, and Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Her research is focused on prevention of healthcare associated infections, including vancomycin resistant enterococci, ventilator associated pneumonia and COVID-19.

Dr. Eitan Amir is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Medical Oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, where he also serves as the Head of the Solid Tumour Oncology Program. Previously, Dr. Amir served as the Vice-Chair of the Cancer Research Ethics Board at University Health Network, as the Director of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Medical Oncology and Hematology Fellowship program and as the Cancer Care Ontario Systemic Therapy Lead for Toronto Central South.

Dr. Amir’s clinical interests are the treatment of breast cancer and toxicities of anti-cancer drugs. His academic interests include clinical trial methodology, meta-analysis and outcomes research. Dr. Amir completed his medical degree, internal medicine and medical oncology training at the University of Manchester, UK. He then completed a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Toronto. He has over 300 publications, as well as numerous published abstracts and book chapters.

Dr. Reich is a nephrologist at University Health Network, Toronto General Hospital and a senior scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute. She is an associate professor at the University of Toronto and holds the Gabor Zellerman Chair in nephrology research. Dr. Reich is an internationally recognized clinician and researcher in glomerulonephritis (GN), with a focus on IgA nephropathy and the mechanisms associated with disease progression.  Her work has been consistently supported by peer-reviewed funding from agencies including the Kidney Foundation, the CIHR and NIH. 

Dr. Reich co-directs the Toronto GN Registry, and established the first national network to study GN. She has contributed to more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, including the International Society of Nephrology guidelines for treatment of GN. She is passionate about educating the next generation of clinicians and researchers and she served as co-director of the American Society of Nephrology annual GN course. She is most proud of the cohort of post-graduate trainees she has mentored to establish independent careers as expert clinicians and researchers across Canada, the US and in international centres including India, Thailand and Australia.  

Dr. David Tang-Wai is a professor in neurology and geriatric medicine at the University of Toronto. He received his MD degree from McGill University. He completed his neurology residency and behavioral neurology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Tang-Wai is the co-director of University Health Network Memory Clinic, former program director of the adult neurology residency program at UofT, and currently the Department Division Director for the Division of Neurology. He is also an active member of the Toronto Dementia Research Alliance. He has received multiple teaching awards and nominations from undergraduate and postgraduate trainees. Dr. Tang-Wai's research interests include the progressive aphasias, the atypical presentations of Alzheimer's disease – especially posterior cortical atrophy, normal pressure hydrocephalus, and the autoimmune encephalitis.

Dr. Saary is an Occupational Medicine specialist and expert in extreme environments. An Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, she also holds a PhD in Medical Science and MSc in Clinical Psychology. In addition to working with Unity Health Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital, she oversees aerospace medicine education initiatives at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She serves as Chair of Aerospace Medicine at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and is a Past President of the Occupational Medicine Specialists of Canada. Professor Saary is a consultant to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Space Agency. She was recently named one of the ‘Top 25 Women in Defence’ by Esprit de Corps magazine. She has represented Canada internationally in both Occupational and Aerospace Medicine roles.

Dr. Ebru Kaya graduated from her residency training in palliative medicine in the UK and immigrated to Canada in 2006. She is a mother, a wife, a doctor and an educator whose passion is in non-cancer palliative care. Dr. Kaya is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and is the Program Director for the Royal College residency training program in palliative medicine at the University of Toronto. She is also the co-director for the Clinical Fellowship program for the Division and the Palliative Care Site Lead for the Toronto General Hospital. Dr. Kaya was co-recipient of a Temerty Faculty of Medicine Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Medical Education this year. She has made important contributions to palliative care at the national level in the Canadian Society for Palliative Care Physicians, where she has served as Treasurer and currently is President-Elect.

She currently divides her time between provision of clinical services, teaching, and in her leadership roles for UHN, the Division of Palliative Medicine and the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians.

Dr. Mark Bayley is Program Medical Director & Physiatrist-in-Chief at UHN-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. He is also a Professor at the University of Toronto in the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Bayley has held a number of health system leadership roles including Chair of the Stroke Evaluation Committee at Corhealth Ontario, Brain injury committee at Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation, the Canadian Stroke Best Practices committee and the Vice Chair of the GTA Rehab Network. His work has helped to redesign rehabilitation systems in Canada.

He has led large randomized controlled trials including the Stroke Canada Optimization of Rehabilitation by evidence (SCORE), Fluoxetine to open the Window of Stroke Recovery (FLOW) study, the Getting on with Life after stroke and the EVREST (Efficacy of Virtual Reality Exercises using Wii gaming technology in STroke Rehabilitation). He is very interested in implementing evidence at a health system level in the areas of stroke and brain injury, initially through development of stroke rehabilitation guidelines, then a leadership role in development of Canadian Stroke strategy, a smartphone app to determine post-stroke arm rehabilitation, and guidelines for concussion and traumatic brain injury. He is also actively involved in research to promote neurological recovery.

Dr. Chung-Wai Chow is a transplant respirologist at the Toronto Lung Transplant Programme, Ajmera Multi-Organ Transplant Programme, University Health Network. She completed her MD and PhD studies at the University of Toronto in Adult Respiratory Medicine and Cell Biology, respectively before a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Molecular Cell Biology at the Max Planck Institute, Germany as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. She is a clinician-scientist in the Division of Respirology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and is cross-appointed to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto.

Her research is focused development and assessment of novel techniques to assess lung function with a focus on chronic airway diseases, air pollution, allograft function following lung transplantation, and development of machine learning techniques to improve diagnostic acumen. She is leading several large prospective studies that compare respiratory oscillometry with spirometry in different patient populations. Her research is supported by grants from the CIHR, NSERC, NIH, and the Lung Health Foundation.

She is Chair of the Lung Health Foundation Research Advisory Committee, President of the Humboldt Association of Canada and Chair of the University of Toronto Institute of Medical Sciences Awards Committee.

Dr. Heather McDonald-Blumer completed her internal medicine and rheumatology training at the University of Toronto. Following initial community rheumatology practice, she transitioned to a full-time academic appointment in the Department of Medicine in 2004.

Dr. McDonald-Blumer is a member of the Division of Rheumatology at Mount Sinai Hospital/University Health Network. Her clinical interests include osteoporosis and inflammatory joint disease. She is the associate director of the Osteoporosis Program at University Health Network and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee and Chair of the Guidelines Committee for Osteoporosis Canada.

She has been an active member of the rheumatology community locally and nationally, having served as the University of Toronto Program Director for Rheumatology as well as Chair of the Specialty Committee in Rheumatology and Chair of the Examination Board for Rheumatology for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Her work has advanced rheumatology training across the country through curricular innovations. In recognition of these contributions, Dr. McDonald-Blumer was awarded the Royal College Program Director of the Year Award as well as the inaugural Canadian Rheumatology Association Teacher/Educator of the Year Award.

From 2009-2016, Dr. McDonald-Blumer was the Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program in the Department of Medicine. She was awarded the William Goldie Award for medical education and the Teacher of the Year Award to recognize the impact of her work and leadership within the internal medicine program. Complementing her local role, she was the Vice-Chair of the Canadian Association of Internal Medicine Program Directors during 2015-2016, a group working to share best educational practices in internal medicine training within the Royal College competency based medical education framework.

Since 2016, Dr McDonald-Blumer has returned to her rheumatology roots and is currently the Division Director for Rheumatology at the University of Toronto. In additional to her clinical work and educational role as Director for Competence-by-Design for the Department of Medicine, her greatest professional rewards come from facilitating, supporting and celebrating the work of the members of the division as they advance clinical care, provide unparalleled rheumatology educational experiences and further research activities to benefit patients with rheumatic disease.