Message from the Co-Directors
Colleagues,
As we approach the end of our academic year, we would like to celebrate our successes for 2025/2026. The U of T Spine Program continues to foster city-wide collaborations within the University and affiliated hospitals, while taking the lead in several key initiatives and garnering a respected academic footprint locally, nationally, and globally. Collaboration and inter-professional multi-disciplinary knowledge exchange remain key elements to our success. The Program has continued to provide, and indeed continues to expand, its full and rich calendar of academic activities in both online and in-person formats. This has increased engagement from alumni and the spinal community throughout Canada and across the globe.
On Monday, June 1st, our Program proudly celebrates the 18th Annual Spine Academic Day (SpineFEST) of 2026, a signature event where our spinal community gathers to showcase achievements and share the latest in clinical, scientific, and educational advancements. We are thrilled to welcome this year’s Tator-Hall Keynote Lecturer, PD Dr. med. Klaus Schnake, Chief Physician and head of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Spinal and Scoliosis Therapy at the Malteser Waldkrankenhaus St. Marien in Erlangen, Germany, and a multidisciplinary team lead treating complex spinal disorders in adults and children. He is a specialist in orthopedics, trauma surgery, sports medicine, and spine surgery, holding excellence certification from the German Spine Society and frequent Top-Medician recognition. Schnake began his medical training at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and has extensive research and clinical experience. He is the Chairperson of the AO Spine Research Commission since 2024. We look forward to his keynote address on thoracolumbar spine trauma, drawing on his expertise in the field.
The U of T Spine Program continues to build on its strong educational foundation to deliver a comprehensive curriculum in cognitive, procedural, and clinical spine training. Through collaborations among Toronto Academic Health Science Network hospitals, including Toronto Western Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Unity Health Toronto, Scarborough Health Network and SickKids, the Program supports fellows from Canada and around the world with intensive one- and two-year university fellowship opportunities in spine surgery as well as subspecialty areas and research. The Program also remains strongly committed to advancing citywide fellowship education through ongoing centralized courses, collaborative initiatives, faculty mentorship, and a well-established standardized case-log program.
To formally recognize Spine Surgery as a distinct discipline within the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC), we have collaborated with national colleagues to develop an Area of Focused Competence (AFC) in spine surgery, which was formally launched by the Royal College in June 2025. During this past academic year, universities across Canada, including ours, are commencing the process of attaining Royal College accreditation to deliver this Diploma Program. A Royal College AFC Spine Surgery working group, including leadership and representation from the U of T helped the College establish three foundational documents: a Trainee Portfolio outlining core training requirements, a Clinical Training Requirements (CTR) document representing the national curriculum, and Standards of Accreditation for university training centres. There are both adult as well as pediatric streams and a pathway for the College designation for fellows who herald from Canadian trained as well as internationally trained orthopedic or neurosurgical specialty backgrounds. There will also be a Practice Eligibility Route for spine surgeons in practice. This past year, we have worked closely with our University’s Post Graduate Medical Education Office to direct steps towards applying for Royal College Accreditation. We are indebted to our Program faculty and fellow trainees for their engagement, support, and involvement in these efforts. Our Program Governance structure is evolving from a Program Council with Research and Education Subcommittees towards a Program as well as Competence Committee, which will further support the AFC by building upon our well-established Program foundation. Special thanks to Drs. Albert Yee, Jeremie Larouche, Michael Fehlings, Scott Paquette, Brad Jacobs, Hamilton Hall, and Ms. Nadia Jaber for promoting national engagement with academic spine programs and fellowship directors over the past several years. This competency-based diploma will enhance surgical education and formally recognized advanced spinal surgical training at the national as well as global level.
This year, we launched our academic calendar of events on August 19th with a welcome dinner for our incoming fellows and provided an updated on our citywide research opportunities. Many thanks to our young leads Drs. Michael Hardisty, Karlo Pedro, and Josh Plener for their success in providing a well-rounded research exposure to our fellows. Many thanks to Drs. Carlo Ammendolia, Karl Zabjek, and Michael Hardisty for their valued role in establishing and sustaining the research update over many years.
On November 20th and 21st, the U of T Spine Program, in collaboration with the Canadian Spine Society (CSS), successfully launched the inaugural National U of T–CSS Fellow Surgical Skills Course, led by Drs. Stephen Lewis, Christopher Nielsen, and Bradley Jacobs. The course delivered an immersive, hands-on educational experience in advanced spine surgery, providing fellows with the opportunity to perform both anterior and posterior approaches using state-of-the-art instrumentation while gaining practical exposure to cutting-edge surgical techniques. Over the two days, participants engaged in complex procedures including deformity correction, minimally invasive techniques, and trauma-focused surgery through a dynamic combination of cadaveric labs, case-based discussions, and interactive faculty-led sessions.
The inaugural course welcomed 44 fellows from several national institutions. In addition to trainees from local fellowship programs, participants joined from the University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, University of Calgary, McGill University, University of Ottawa, Western University, McMaster University, and the University of Manitoba. Special thanks are extended to the Co-Directors of the U of T Spine Program, Drs. Michael Fehlings and Albert Yee, as well as Program Manager Ms. Nadia Jaber, whose leadership and dedication were instrumental in the success of this milestone initiative in spine education and training.
We also extend our sincere appreciation to the invited faculty who played a vital role in teaching and mentorship, including Dr. Jeremie Larouche from Calgary, Dr. Ahmed Aoude from Montreal, Dr. Jay Toor from Winnipeg, and local faculty surgeons, Dr. Frank Jiang and Dr. Simon Harris.
The Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury Management and Classification Course continues to run each year having adopted a dynamic hybrid learning model. The course this year was held on Jan 19th and integrated pre-recorded lectures, online instructional modules, as well as an in-person practicum followed by interactive case-based discussions. This comprehensive format provided an excellent platform for teaching both clinical and research expertise in TSCI care. Special thanks to Dr. Sukhvinder Kalsi-Ryan and Ms. Nadia Jaber for designing and establishing this outstanding hybrid model, and for their leadership in delivering a successful hybrid educational experience. We also gratefully acknowledge the course faculty, Drs. Michael Fehlings, Jetan Badhiwala, Jeff Wilson, Julio Furlan, and Dr. Mamad Khazaie for their valued clinical and research knowledge.
On March 23rd, we progressed the residents’ surgical education in our annual Royal College Mock Oral Course, designed to prepare senior neurosurgery and orthopedic surgery residents for their Royal College examinations. This year, we had 10 orthopedic surgery residents and 2 neurosurgery residents prepped for their examination in Spring. Special thanks to Drs. Jetan Badhiwala, and Luke Reda for their valued leadership. We extend our thanks to Drs. Colby Oitment, Frank Jiang, and Karlo Pedro, and to our fellows, Drs. Celina Nahanni, Bandar Alzahrani, and Vanessa Giddins for taking part in teaching and prepping our residents.
We are pleased to have continued the annual Pediatric Spine Deformity Surgery course for its 4th year on April 27th. Many thanks to Dr. David Lebel for chairing and organizing the course and to SickKids educators Mr. Mike Vandenberk (RNT), Ms. Jennifer Dermott, and Dr. Mark Camp for their outstanding teaching material. The Pediatric Spine Deformity Surgery Course was very well received, bringing together an outstanding faculty and engaged participants in an excellent interactive discussion, and collaborative learning. The fellows particularly valued the practical breakout sessions, expert-led presentations, and the exciting debate session led by Drs. Ahmad Alelaumi, and Nadav Rinott.
The recently introduced course on Non-Operative Treatment of Spine Disorder, now in its 2nd year, was held on December 11th in a successful hybrid model. Thanks to Dr. Ammendolia for his leadership in establishing this course, and Dr. Josh Plener for his valued contribution to our Program. The Nonoperative Management of Spine Disorders Annual Course was very well received for its comprehensive, evidence-based approach and highly interactive format. Fellows appreciated the fusion of pre-course learning, hands-on demonstrations, and case-based discussions, which provided practical insights into contemporary non-operative spine care and fostered meaningful multidisciplinary collaboration and learning.
Throughout the academic year, our Program hosts several world-renowned professors via our well-established Hospital-Based Visiting Professorship Series, as well as in collaboration with affiliated hospitals and University programs. Jointly organized by the U of T Spine Program, UHN, and the University of Toronto Collaborative Program in Neuroscience, The Tator-Turnbull SCI Symposium continues to be, under the chairpersonship of Dr. Michael Fehlings, a flagship academic event jointly organized by the U of T Spine Program, UHN, and the U of T Collaborative Program in Neuroscience, bringing together leading clinicians, researchers, trainees, and patient advocates in the field of spinal cord injury. This year’s symposium was highlighted by the distinguished keynote address, “Making Hard Choices—Viewed from Different Perspectives,” delivered by Dr. Naomi Kleitman, Senior Vice President of Grants and Research at the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation, whose internationally recognized leadership, as well as lifelong contributions to spinal cord injury research and translational science, both inspired attendees and enriched the program’s multidisciplinary discussions.
The U of T continues collaborative efforts with Chinese delegation in a series of Symposium on Current Concepts in Musculoskeletal Tumour Treatment and Research which this year occurred on August 8th. The event, chaired by Drs. Albert Yee and Ed Chow, was a highly successful collaborative academic event collectively organized by the U of T Spine Program, the University of Toronto Division of Orthopedic Surgery, Toronto Sarcoma group, UHN/Princess Margaret Hospital, and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Odette Cancer Centre). The symposium brought together clinicians, researchers, and trainees from disparate disciplines to share advances in musculoskeletal tumor care, multidisciplinary treatment strategies, surgical innovation, and translational research, fostering meaningful collaboration and knowledge exchange across the academic spine and oncology communities.
This year we also welcome and congratulate Dr. Nir Lipsman who assumed a key University leadership role as the Dan Family Chair of the Division of Neurosurgery. Dr. Lipsman has pioneered several first-in-Canada and world-first clinical trials for neuromodulation innovation. His internationally recognized expertise as a surgeon-scientist complements the outstanding academic productivity of our University Division. He, alongside Dr. Jefferson Wilson (who assumed a Division Head of Spine Surgery leadership role at Sunnybrook this May) as well as Dr. Raj Rampersaud are working in collaboration with province-wide surgical colleagues and the Ministry of Health to actively advance initiatives that improve spinal care triage in response to growing population needs and prolonged wait times for specialist consultation. Key efforts include expanding centralized intake systems and optimizing the role of Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) to address current gaps in clinical care, thereby complementing ongoing enhancements to the provincial Degenerative Spine Quality-Based Procedures (QBP) program and Provincial Neurosurgical as well as urgent spine accelerated care pathways. Broader provincial priorities remain centered on regionalized care models, streamlined central intake processes, and strategies targeting wait time management, alongside ongoing efforts to bolster workforce recruitment, retention, system capacity, and operational efficiency.
We are proud of our 2025–2026 spine fellows who have successfully completed fellowship training after a year of dedication and hard work. Congratulations to Drs. Nadav Rinott, Ahmad Alelaumi, Nitish Agarwal, Andres Rodríguez Buitrago, Muhammad Ali Akbar, Abdulrahman Almalki, Ryo Nogami, Vincent Ye, Mohammad Almalki, Celina Nahanni, Bhushan Thombre, Bandar Alzahrani, Rajesh Kumar, Vanessa Giddins, and Ran Ankory. We extend our warmest wishes for furthering success in their professional journeys and look forward to their ongoing involvement in our Program as esteemed alumni.
As we close another remarkable academic year, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the University of Toronto Department of Surgery Spine Program Council, our dedicated educators, and our trainees for their unwavering commitment and exceptional contributions to the ongoing success of our Program. We are privileged to draw on the diverse and specialized expertise of our members, and we deeply value the enduring support from the Department of Surgery as well as the Divisions of Neurosurgery and Orthopedic Surgery. We thank Dr. Carol Swallow (Chair, Department of Surgery), Dr. Najma Ahmed (Vice-Chair, Education) Dr. Peter Ferguson (Chair, Orthopedic Surgery), and Dr. Nir Lipsman (Chair, Neurosurgery) for their steadfast leadership, support, and advocacy for our University-Wide Program.
We also gratefully acknowledge the continued support of our industry partners, whose generosity and collaboration play an important role in advancing our educational mission. Our sincere thanks to our Strategic Partner, Medtronic, and our Educational Partners, DePuy Synthes, Stryker, and Bioventus for their ongoing commitment to excellence in both spine surgical education and clinical research.
Special thanks to Ms. Nadia Jaber, our Program Manager, whose outstanding expertise in education Program organization, information technology, and communications remains integral to the growth and innovation of our Program. Her leadership has been vital in implementing new models for delivering academic content, ensuring we remain adaptable and impactful. We also thank our dedicated volunteer, Ms. Jane Lee and Zuhal Olomi for their valued assistance with fellow case log management and Program coordination.
With sincere appreciation, we celebrate another outstanding year in the U of T Spine Program and wish everyone a safe, restful summer and a successful start to the 2026–2027 academic year.
Enjoy SpineFEST!
Sincerely,
Michael Fehlings & Albert Yee
Co-Directors, U of T Spine Program
June 1, 2026