Medical Advisory Board (MAB)
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Send by emailThe SB&H Medical Advisory Board (MAB) provides us with the best in medical guidance and support.
It consists of an esteemed group of surgeons, neuropsychologists, clinical nurse practitioners, and scientists under the leadership and direction of noted neurosurgeon Dr. James Drake. We are delighted that these leaders in their fields have chosen to dedicate their valuable time to the Spina Bifida & Hydrocephalus Association of Ontario (SB&H).
MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD CHAIR
Dr. James M. Drake, BSE, MBBCh, MSc, FRCSC, FACS
Neurosurgeon in Chief
Division of Neurosurgery
The Hospital for Sick Children
Dr. James Drake attended Princeton University from 1969 to 1974, receiving a degree in aerospace and mechanical engineering.
He then received his medical education at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, graduating in 1979.
Dr. Paige Terrien Church, MD
Assistant Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Toronto
Staff Neonatologist, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Consulting Developmental Behavioral Paediatrician at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
She is the director of the Neonatal Follow Up Clinic at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the developmental behavioral pediatrician in the spina bifida clinic.
Dr. Michael Cusimano, MD, MHPE, FRCS, DABNS, PhD, FACS
Adjunct Scientist in the Keenan Research Centre of the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital
Professor, Surgery, Education and Public Health, University of Toronto
Dr. Cusimano received his MD and PhD from the University of Toronto, his Masters degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Fellowship in Skull Base and Microvascular Surgery from the University of Pittsburgh. Since 1992, Dr. Cusimano has been a Staff Neurosurgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital with a cross appointment at the Hospital for Sick Children and UHN.
Dr. Abhaya V. Kulkarni, MD, PhD, FRCSC
Division of Neurosurgery
The Hospital for Sick Children
Dr. Kulkarni obtained his MD degree in 1994 and his neurosurgery certification in 2002. He joined the Division of Neurosurgery at Sick Kids in 2003.
Dr. Maureen Dennis, PhD
Senior Scientist
Program in Neurosciences & Mental Health at The Hospital for Sick Children
Dr. Maureen Dennis is a psychologist registered in the Province of Ontario, a Senior Scientist in the Neurosciences and Mental Health Program in the Research Institute of The Hospital for Sick Children, and a Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Ruth Donnelly, PhD, C.Psych.
Dept. of Psychology
The Hospital for Sick Children
Educated at Smith College in Massachusetts and at the University of Toronto. I obtained my Ph.D. in Experimental Cognitive Psychology in 1988.
Herta Yu, RN, MN, APN
The Hospital for Sick Children
5C Ward-Neurosurgery
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Dr. Miles G. Johnston, BSc, PhD
Professor, Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto
Senior Scientist, Neuroscience Program, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Dr. Johnston received a B.Sc. (1974) in Physiology/Pharmacology at the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in the Division of Experimental Pathology (Department of Pathology) at the same Institution in 1979.
Dr. Adrianna Ranger, MD, FRCSC
Pediatric Neurosurgery
London Health Sciences Centre-Victoria Hospital
Dr. Ranger is a Guelph native who graduated from McMaster University medical school in 1993 and completed her residency training in neurology at Western in 1999.
Ms. Andrea Neufeld, MScN, RN, APN
London Health Sciences Centre
Dr. Michael Vassilyadi, MD, CM, MSc, FRCS (C), FACS, FAAP
Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics, University of Ottawa
Division of Neurosurgery
Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Dr. Vassilyadi completed medical school at McGill University and neurosurgical residency at the Montreal Neurological Institute. His Pediatric Neurosurgery fellowship was at the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
Read more about Dr. Vassilyadi
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Dr. Sandrine de Ribaupierre, MD, FRCSC
London Health Sciences Centre
Assistant Professor in the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Western Ontario
Dr. de Ribaupierre earned her MD at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. After a Neurosurgery residency in Lausanne (Switzerland), she completed an epilepsy fellowship in the Fondation Rothschild in Paris (France), then a pediatric neurosurgery fellowship in the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
