Medical Imaging's 2024 Faculty Awards
On November 9, the Department of Medical Imaging held our annual Faculty Awards to recognize the numerous and incredible achievements in teaching by our faculty. Held at Sassafraz in Yorkville, award nominees and other select faculty had the opportunity to catch up and celebrate each other’s successes.
To open the award ceremony, Dr. Linda Probyn, VC, Education, delivered opening remarks to welcome attendees, as well as acknowledged the traditional land on which the University of Toronto operates, before kicking off the awards.
Dr. Mini Pakkal, Fellowship Director, had the honour of announcing the winners of the Outstanding Teacher Awards in Fellowship, of which there were 17 recipients. Unfortunately, not all the award recipients were in attendance, but their names were read aloud to recognize their tremendous performance. The award recipients for Outstanding Teacher in Fellowship were:
- Paula Alcaide-Leon
- Helen Branson
- Govind Chavhan
- Belinda Curpen
- Birgit Ertl-Wagner
- Sandeep Ghai
- Pradeep Krishnan
- Rakesh Mohankumar
- Oscar Navarro
- Tae Bong Chung
- Andrew Common
- Guan Huang
- Satheesh Jeyaraj
- Suzanna Laughlin
- Pejman Maralani
- Manohar Shroff
- Lawrence White
MI’s Chair, Dr. Michael Patlas, was next to the podium to announce the Outstanding Teachers in Residency Awards, of which there were 18 recipients. Unfortunately, not all the award recipients were in attendance, but there names were read aloud to recognize their tremendous performance. The award recipients for Outstanding Teacher in Residency were:
- Afsaneh Alikhassi
- Rajesh Bhayana
- Sangeet Ghai
- Anish Kapadia
- Ania Kielar
- Daniel Mandell
- Rakesh Mohankumar
- Kamaldine Oudjhane
- Angela Atinga
- Eric Bartlett
- Adriano Basso Dias
- Amy Chen
- Ailish Coblentz
- Niamh Coffey
- Ryan Margau
- Ali Naraghi
- Matthew Wu
- Charles Yan
Dr. Rob Moreland, Division Head, Emergency Trauma & Acute Care Radiology & Undergraduate Program Director, presented the Exemplary Contribution to Medical Imaging Undergraduate Education Award, of which there were three recipients. The first recipient of these awards was Dr. Eslie Nguyen, Division Head, Cardiothoracic Imaging, and VC, onSIDE. Dr. Nguyen also serves as a radiologist with the Joint Department of Medial Imaging (JDMI), the Cardiac Imaging Director at Women’s College Hospital, and was the Undergraduate Medical Education Director from 2014 – 2022. On top of this, she is an award-winning educator, having authored practice guidelines, book chapters, peer-reviewed for multiple journals, and frequently speaks at local, national, and international radiology events and conferences. She is also consistently one of the most highly ranked undergrad instructors by MI students year after year.
The second recipient of the Undergrad Awards was Dr. Josee Sarrazin, Associate Professor & Abdominal Radiologist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Dr. Sarrazin has long been involved in undergrad teaching at U of T and currently serves as the educational lead for the abdominal and pelvic ultrasound foundations session, a position she pioneered and has held for 10 years. The session is currently the highest ranked undergrad medical education session by MI students, who receive hands-on experience with numerous patients and ultrasound instructors.
The third award recipient was Dr. Muhammad Munshi, Adjunct Assistant Professor & Radiologist, Trillium Health Partners. Dr. Munshi has a long involvement in resident and medical student training as a Medical Education Lead, serving on both Undergraduate and Residency committees for almost a decade. On top of his work as radiologist and in teaching, Dr. Munshi volunteers internationally as a staff radiologist in Guyana. He received this award for his consistent commitment to teaching over the past almost 10 years and for receiving the highest ratings from medical students.
The next award was the E.L. Lansdown Award, handed out by Dr. Linda Probyn. This award is in honour of Dr. Ted Lansdown, Chair of Radiology from 1974 – 1984, and the recipient is selected by radiology residents as an exemplary teacher. This year’s award recipient was Dr. Ali Naraghi, Assistant Professor. Dr. Naraghi serves as a Radiologist with JDMI in the division of Muskuloskeletal Radiology. This award celebrates his exceptional teaching abilities and his active and ongoing engagement in the education of residents and fellows. Dr. Naraghi has received numerous Outstanding Teacher Awards in both residency and fellowship programs and has amassed an impressive list of honours, including his success as an invited speaker in many education settings and delivering presentations at renowned radiology courses, including those hosted by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) and the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR).
Dr. Probyn presented the Master Teacher Award, recognizing sustained excellence in teaching and longstanding contributions to the Education Program. This year’s award winner was Dr. Mostafa Atri, Professor. Dr. Atri is a radiologist with JDMI and serves as the head of the Section of Ultrasound at UHN and JDMI. An exemplary educator, he is actively engaged in teaching residents and fellows at both the hospital and program level, and his influence as an educator has been underscored by numerous Outstanding Teacher Awards in both Residency and Fellowship. Dr. Atri is also a frequent invited educational speaker and has presented at prestigious radiology courses, included those hosted by the RSNA.
Dr. Probyn presented this year’s Mentorship awards, including the Excellence in Trainee Mentorship Award, recognizing significant commitment to mentoring residents and fellows. This year’s award recipient was Dr. Sebastian Mafeld, Assistant Professor & Radiology Site Director, Toronto Western Hospital. Dr. Mafeld works as an Interventional Radiologist, training and supervising interventional radiology fellows and overseeing more than 1000 cases annually. He also serves as Resident Supervisor at Toronto Western. In his pursuit to expand access to education in this subspecialty, he has created a dedicated medical elective in vascular and interventional radiology, one of the first of its kind in Canada. Dr. Mafeld consistently supports learners in multiple career stages in the development of their clinical abilities and research projects, as well as maintains current evidence to integrate into his teaching approach to promote a culture of reflective practice and evidence-based medicine.
The second Mentorship Award, the Excellence in Faculty Mentorship, recognizes sustained excellence and commitment to faculty mentorship. The recipient of this year’s award was Dr. Masoom Haider, Professor & Radiologist, JDMI. Dr. Haider holds multiple leadership positions, including Director of Radionomics and Machine Learning Lab at the Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute, the Director of Sinai Health Systems Research MRI Facility and the Co-Director of the Research and Innovation, Artificial Intelligence Centre at JDMI. Dr. Haider routinely demonstrates his excellence in mentorship through promoting learning opportunities and sessions, helping mentees navigate the system and guide collaborators toward success and encouraging independent career development and cultivation of essential leadership skills in his mentees. He also provides mentorship to young students in fields including engineering, physics and technology, expanding the reputation and influence of the medical imaging specialty.
Dr. Andrea Doria, VC, Clinical Practice Improvement (CPi), presented the Award for Excellence in Clinical Practice Improvement, recognizing outstanding leadership or academic contributions aimed at improving the quality of healthcare. This year’s recipient was Dr. Shobhit Mathur, Assistant Professor, St. Michael’s Hospital. Dr. Mathur is a founding member of the Emergency, Trauma and Acute Care service at St. Michael’s, which made 24x7 radiology coverage possible, positively impacting turnaround times. He led the implementation and validation of portable chest radiography through glass doors during the COVID-19 pandemic which enhances safety of both patients and healthcare staff. Dr. Mathur has also worked towards optimization and quality assurance of CT protocols, including contrast injection protocols at the time of pandemic related contrast shortage.
Dr. Michael Patlas presented this year’s Research Awards, starting with the Research Rising Star Award, which recognizes faculty who, within the first 10 years of their faculty appointment, have demonstrated exceptional excellence in research at the local or national level. This year’s recipient was Dr. Christopher Lim, Assistant Professor & Director, Abdominal and Pelvic MRI, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Dr. Lim’s team has successfully built an effective prostate cancer imaging research pipeline, yielding remarkable results including seven publications with Dr. Lim as the first author. Through his collaborative research agreement with IBM Watson Health Imaging, his team has secured a CIHR $1.6 million grant to further their research goals. Dr. Lim also participates as a member of the international LI-RADS Outreach and Education Committee.
The second research award handed out was the Excellence in Research Award, recognizing sustained excellence in research with significant scholarly impact at a national or international level. This year’s recipient was Dr. Birgit Ertl-Wagner, Professor & Radiologist-in-Chief, The Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Ertl-Wagner holds numerous leadership positions including Division Head of Neuroradiology, Associate Chief, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, the Derek Harwood-Nash Chair, and Senior Associate Scientist at the SickKids Research Institute. While she has advanced many research focuses and projects throughout her career, her most recent accomplishments include securing a $60,000 grant from the Garron Family Cancer Centre Grant Competition for imaging-based response assessment in brain tumor patients. Dr. Ertl-Wagner also has 295 publications and an h-index of 55.
The last award of the night, handed out by Dr. Patlas, was the Lifetime Achievement Award, recognizing faculty who exhibit a sustained commitment and contribution in teaching, research, leadership and/or mentorship. There were six nominees for this award, including Drs. Alan Moody, David Mikulis, Mostafa Atri, Roberta Jong, Steve Herman and Tony Hanbidge. The recipient of this year’s award was Dr. David Mikulis, Professor & Director, Functional Neuroimaging Research Lab, JDMI. Dr. Mikulis has held this position with JDMI at University Health Network for over 20 years, with his work primarily focusing on translational research focusing on the application of novel imaging methods into the clinical environment. He established one of the first fMRI labs in Canada in 1993 and is currently involved in developing advanced neurovascular imaging methods with major program arm. Translation of his methods have been achieved locally, nationally and internationally. Dr. Mikulis has also held the position of Co-Director of the Medical Imaging Research Division at U of T for eight years, underscoring his investment in education.
At the end of the awards ceremony, the department paid tribute to our previous Chair, Dr. Alan Moody, with a personalized video full of photos and quotes from those he’s impacted over the years and a heartfelt gift to say thank you for his dedication and commitment to the department for 11 years.
Congratulations to all our award winners of this year’s Faculty Awards!
