Recent Appointments
Vice Dean, Strategy and Governance
Professor Lisa Richardson has been appointed Vice Dean, Strategy and Governance, for a five-year term effective May 1, 2025. In this role, Richardson will lead a new strategic planning process, oversee Faculty governance and policy alignment and will provide leadership oversight for the Offices of Diversity and Inclusion, Indigenous Health, and Access and Outreach. In addition to overseeing Faculty governance structures, such as the Faculty Council and Faculty Affairs Officer, she will also serve as the Dean’s delegate in chair and director searches and appointments.
Special Advisor, Research Partnerships
Professor Rulan Parekh has been appointed Special Advisor, Research Partnerships effective April 1, 2025. This role has been made possible with support from the Temerty Foundation and will drive identification and development of key partnership opportunities across Temerty Medicine, the University of Toronto and the TAHSN hospital network. Parekh is a Professor at Temerty Medicine, a clinician-scientist and an internationally recognized leader in clinical epidemiology and translational research in kidney disease. She also serves as Vice President of Academics at Women’s College Hospital and was the former Associate Chief, Clinical Research at SickKids Research Institute.
Director, Commercialization and Partnerships
Soror Sharifpoor to the role of Director of Commercialization and Partnerships. This new role is intended to lead and coordinate research translation in Temerty Medicine and is part of the vision behind the Temerty donation.
Sharifpoor holds a MASc in Chemical Engineering from Queen's University and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto. She has served as Director, Strategy and Translation at the Translational Biology & Engineering program at the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research and was co-founder of their Entrepreneurship for Cardiovascular Health Opportunities (ECHO). She brings a wealth of experience in research translation and commercialization, as both a mentor and an innovator. This includes providing support for start-ups in her role with ECHO, as well as her role as co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Polumiros Inc.
Associate Director, Technical Operations & Infrastructure, MedIT
Carrie Pajotte has been appointed Associate Director, Technical Operations & Infrastructure, MedIT, effective February 24, 2025.
Pajotte brings with her over 10 years of leadership experience in both the public and private sectors, along with a wealth of expertise in IT management and digital solutions. Her career has spanned a range of high-impact roles, where she has led and mentored teams and spearheaded digital transformation projects that have improved services for countless individuals. Most recently, Carrie managed IT Operations and Digital Solutions at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN. Prior to that, she played pivotal roles in several organizations, including Ontario Health (formerly eHealth Ontario), TELUS Health, and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission.
Executive Director, Toronto Dementia Research Alliance
Professor Carmela Tartaglia has been appointed as the Executive Director of the Toronto Dementia Research Alliance (TDRA), effective February 1, 2025.
Tartaglia is a Neurologist, Professor of Medicine at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and a renowned clinician scientist at the Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases. Her clinical base is at UHN, where she serves as co-director of the Memory Clinic and Clinical Research Medical Lead at Toronto Western Hospital.
Chair and Graduate Chair, Department of Physiology
The Agenda Committee of the Academic Board has approved the extension of Professor Scott Heximer’s appointment as Chair and Graduate Chair, Department of Physiology, for one year from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
Heximer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology and a principal investigator for the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research and holds a Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Physiology, Tier II.
Chair, Department of Physical Therapy
The Agenda Committee of the Academic Board has approved Professor Sara Guilcher’s continuing appointment as Interim Chair and Graduate Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy until June 30, 2025.
Guilcher is an Associate Professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and the Department of Physical Therapy. She has held previous academic leadership roles in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, including Acting Associate Dean, Research and Academic Lead Research Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
Executive Director, Communications and Stakeholder Relations
Linda Quattrin has been named Executive Director, Communications and Stakeholder Relations effective September 16.
As Executive Director, Communications and Stakeholder Relations, Quattrin will act as a senior adviser to the dean and decanal leadership team on critical strategic initiatives, including policy matters, risk mitigation and optimizing academic and administrative operations. Quattrin will continue to serve as the executive lead on Advancement communications, media relations and issues management.
Chair, Department of Physical Therapy
Professor Sara Guilcher has been appointed Interim Chair and Graduate Chair, Department of Physical Therapy, from July 1 to August 31.
Guilcher is an Associate Professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and the Department of Physical Therapy. She has held previous academic leadership roles in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, including Acting Associate Dean, Research and Academic Lead Research Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
Chair, Department of Speech-Language Pathology
Professor Rosemary Martino has been appointed Chair and Graduate Chair, Department of Speech-Language Pathology, for a five-year term effective July 1.
Martino is Professor and Coordinator of Graduate Studies in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology where she previously served as Associate Chair. She is cross-appointed to the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery and the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute (RSI) and is a Senior Scientist at the Krembil Research Institute, UHN.
Martino held the Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Swallowing Disorders (2013-2023). Her research focuses on understanding swallowing impairment, dysphagia, and her work informed practice guidelines related to dysphagia in patients diagnosed with stroke, gastroenterological diseases and head and neck cancer. She developed the TOR-BSST© dysphagia screening tool. Martino is also a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and an advisory member for the American Head & Neck and the Dysphagia Research Societies. Dr. Martino was President of the Dysphagia Research Society and is regarded as an international leader in running large multi-site clinical trials and developing outcome measures specific to dysphagia.
Professor Moira Kapral has been appointed Chair of the Department of Medicine for a five-year term beginning September 1. She will concurrently hold the Sir John and Lady Eaton Chair of Medicine.
Kapral is Professor and Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Temerty Medicine with a cross-appointment to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health as well as the Lillian Love Chair in Women’s Health and Director of the Women’s Health Program at the University Health Network (UHN) and a Senior Scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute and ICES. Kapral obtained her MD and MSc in Clinical Epidemiology at U of T. She completed her residency training in Internal Medicine at UofT and served as Chief Medical Resident at UHN.
Kapral’s peer-reviewed publications include more than 250 articles in top-ranked journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Nature Reviews Neurology, Canadian Medical Association Journal, Neurology, JAMA Neurology and Stroke. She has been recognized for her dedication to education and mentorship with numerous awards, including Temerty Medicine’s W T Aikins Award for Teaching and, more recently, the Department’s Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Teaching and UHN’s Scott-Vellend Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching.
Academy Director, Scarborough Academy of Medicine
Dr. Caroline Chan has been appointed Director, MD Program, Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH) effective May 13, 2024, for a five-year term.
The Academy Director is responsible for academic and administrative matters pertaining to the Scarborough Academy of Medicine (SAM) and will work collaboratively with the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus and at Scarborough Health Network (SHN) to advance undergraduate medical education in Scarborough.
At SHN, Chan is the simulation co-lead for faculty development of emergency physicians as well as clinical operations research co-lead. She is an MD Council member at SHN emergency department and faculty mentor. She has taught medical education at various levels from undergraduate medicine to faculty development. In 2023, she received the DFCM Early Career Excellence in Teaching Emergency Medicine and DFCM Excellence in Quality Improvement in Emergency Medicine Award in 2022.
Chan graduated from U of T's MD Program in 2010. She completed her family medicine residency at SHN before doing an emergency medicine fellowship at Western University before returning to Scarborough for a point-of-care ultrasound fellowship.
Executive Assistant to the Dean
Marcella Fiordimondo will join the Office of the Dean, Temerty Medicine, as the Executive Assistant to the Dean starting February 1, 2024.
With close to two decades of experience at Temerty Medicine, Marcella brings a wealth of administrative expertise and operational proficiency to our team. She has held key roles supporting several decanal portfolios including PGME, Post MD Education, Inclusion & Diversity, and most recently, the Vice Dean, Strategy & Operations.
Interim Chair and Graduate Chair, Department of Physical Therapy
Professor Kara Patterson has been appointed Interim Chair and Graduate Chair, Department of Physical Therapy, from January 1 to June 30, 2024, or until a new chair is appointed. She takes over from Professor Susan Jaglal, who concluded her term as Chair on December 31, 2023.
Professor Patterson received her PhD in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Toronto in 2010, having earned her master’s degree in 2006. She joined U of T in 2013 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2020. She is also a Senior Scientist at KITE – Toronto Rehabilitation Institute at UHN.
Chair, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Professor Kellie Murphy has been appointed Chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology for a five-year term beginning January 1, 2024.
Murphy is a Professor and Vice Chair of Research & Innovation in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Temerty Medicine and is cross-appointed to the Institute of Health Policy Management & Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. She is Head of Clinical Research for the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at Mount Sinai Hospital and a Clinician Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute.
Murphy obtained an MD at the University of Wisconsin - Madison before completing her residency in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She completed a fellowship in maternal fetal medicine at the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and an MSc in epidemiology at the Graduate School of Public Health of Columbia University. She completed additional maternal-fetal medicine residency training at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. As a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, Murphy is internationally recognized for her life-saving antenatal corticosteroid therapy research.
Director, Integrated Physician Scientist Training Program
Professor Nicola Jones has been re-appointed Director, Integrated Physician Scientist Training Program for a second five-year term.
Jones was first appointed to the role in 2018, with responsibility for recruiting, training, retaining, and sustaining the next generation of physician scientists across the continuum of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Medical Education in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. The Director of IPSTP leads the MD/PhD program and the Royal College of Physician and Surgeons of Canada Clinician Investigator Program and provides academic oversight for the Comprehensive Research Experience for Medical Students (CREMS) program and the Graduate Diploma program.
She is a Professor of Paediatrics and Physiology at the University of Toronto, Senior Scientist in the Cell Biology Program and staff physician in the Division of GI/Hepatology and Nutrition at SickKids. Jones is also the Director of Education for the McLaughlin Centre whose goal is to advance genomic medicine through research and education, and is the inaugural Founder and Director, of the CIHR-funded Training the Next Generation of Researchers in GI and Liver (TRIANGLE).
Chair, Decanal Promotions Committee
Professor Upton Allen has been appointed Chair of the Decanal Promotions Committee effective September 1, 2023. Allen is a Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), where he is also a Senior Associate Scientist in the Research Institute. In addition to being a general infectious diseases specialist, he is actively involved in clinical and research activities relating to immunocompromised patients, notably those who have undergone organ and stem cell transplantation. He leads research studies addressing different aspects of COVID-19 including vaccine responses and the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 among African Canadians.
The Governing Council has approved the appointment of Trevor Young as Vice-President and Provost for a five-year term, effective January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2028. Professor Young — an internationally recognized scholar on bipolar disorder and the molecular basis of mood disorders — is currently the Dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and Vice-Provost, Relations with Health Care Institutions at the University of Toronto.
Interim Dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine
Professor Patricia Houston has been appointed Interim Dean of the Temerty Faculty of Medicine from September 1 to December 31, 2023, while Professor Trevor Young is on administrative leave prior to taking up the role of Vice-President & Provost as of January 1, 2024. Houston is currently the Vice Dean, Medical Education and a Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology & Pain Medicine. She has served in a number of leadership roles both in the University and at St. Michael’s Hospital (Unity Health Toronto).
University Professor Daniel Drucker is one of three new University Professors appointed for 2023. The title is the University’s highest and most distinguished academic rank. The University recognizes unusual scholarly achievement and pre-eminence in a particular field of knowledge through this designation. The number of such appointments does not generally exceed two per cent of the tenured faculty. Its very exclusivity stands to underline the highly prestigious nature of the University Professor designation.
Chair, Department of Medical Imaging
Professor Michael N. Patlas has been appointed Chair of the Department of Medical Imaging for a five -year term beginning July 1, 2023. He succeeds Professor Alan Moody who completes his second term as Chair on June 30, 2023.
Patlas joins the University of Toronto from McMaster University, where he currently serves as Professor and inaugural Director of the Division of Emergency / Trauma Radiology in the Department of Radiology. He is also a radiologist for the Ontario Breast Screening Program and a staff radiologist at Hamilton General Hospital. An emergency and abdominal radiologist, Patlas is internationally recognized for his research.
Chair, Department of Medical Biophysics
Professor Laurie Ailles has been appointed Chair of the Department of Medical Biophysics for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2023. She succeeds Professor Thomas Kislinger who completes his term as Chair on June 30, 2023.
Ailles is an Associate Professor and Chair of Admissions in the Department of Medical Biophysics. She is a Senior Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMCC), UHN where she chairs the Princess Margaret Cancer Biobank steering committee and is a member of the PMCC Senior Advisory Group. Her cross-disciplinary cancer research program centres around patient-derived tissues and models, which have led to the establishment of resources that are now shared with laboratories around the world.
Professor Jen Gommerman has been appointed Chair of the Department of Immunology for a 5-year term beginning October 1, 2023. She succeeds Professor JC Zúñiga-Pflücker who completes his second term as Chair on September 30, 2023.
Gommerman received her PhD in Immunology from the University of Toronto in 1998 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School in 2000. She worked as a staff scientist in industry at Biogen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, before joining the University of Toronto as an Assistant Professor in 2003. She was promoted to Professor in 2015, and has previously served as the department’s Associate Chair of Graduate Studies, and Acting Chair.
Professor Gommerman, who currently holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Tissue-Specific Immunity, has (co)authored more than 110 journal articles and has received grants from CFI, CIHR and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, among others. Her research is in the field of Neuroimmunology - how the nervous and immune systems interact in both health and disease.
Acting Chair, Dept. of Nutritional Sciences
Professor Richard Bazinet has been appointed Acting Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, while Professor Deborah O’Connor is on administrative leave.
Bazinet received his PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto in 2003 and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (Brain Physiology and Metabolism Section). He joined the Department of Nutritional Sciences as Assistant Professor in 2006, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2012 and Professor in 2020. He currently serves as the Department’s Associate Chair, Research and Innovation, and holds the Canada Research Chair in Brain Lipid Metabolism.
Dr. Molly Zirkle has been appointed as the Director, SAMIH Medical Education Expansion as of June 1, 2023
The Director, SAMIH Medical Education Expansion will work collaboratively with internal U of T partners and with hub hospital leadership in developing and implementing plans for all academic and administrative matters regarding the medical educational programs (MD/PGME) associated with SAMIH.
Zirkle graduated cum laude from Yale University School of Medicine and completed her residency at the Harvard Combined Otolaryngology Training Program. She is a staff surgeon at St. Michael’s Hospital and an Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Toronto. Zirkle holds a Master’s in Education from OISE and served as Director of the FitzGerald Academy from 2010-2021. Currently, she is the Acting Director of Career Advising Services for the MD program. Zirkle has an appreciation of the shaping influences of medical education on future doctors and strives to create a constructive and welcoming space for all learners, patients, and colleagues.
Chair, Dept. of Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences
Professor Peter Kertes has been appointed Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2023.
Kertes is a Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences and an Associate member in the Institute of Medical Science at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. He is an affiliate scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute and served as Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at the John and Liz Tory Eye Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre from 2010 to 2021. He also holds appointments at The Hospital for Sick Children and Kensington Health. Kertes obtained his MD at McGill University before completing residency at the University of Ottawa and a 2-year vitreo-retinal surgical fellowship at Louisiana State University in New Orleans. He also holds an AB in molecular biology from Princeton University.
Chair, Dept. of Pharmacology & Toxicology
Professor Ali Salahpour has been appointed Chair and Graduate Chair of the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, for a five-year term, effective May 1, 2023.
Salahpour is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and has served as Interim Chair since July 1, 2022. He previously served as both Associate Chair and Acting Chair. He completed his BSc and PhD in Biochemistry at University of Montreal, and a post-doctoral fellowship at Duke University.
Medical Education Black Health Theme Lead
Professor Mireille Norris has a been appointed Medical Education Black Health Theme Lead effective March 1.
Norris is an Internist and Geriatrician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. She is the Education Director for the Sunnybrook Hospitalist Training program which she created and implemented at Sunnybrook in 2005. She was appointed Faculty Lead for Black and Indigenous medical learners by the department of medicine and is also the site lead for postgraduate geriatric medicine at Sunnybrook.
Associate Dean, Learner Affairs
Professor Tony Pignatiello has been reappointed Associate Dean, Learner Affairs for a five-year term effective February 1, 2023.
Pignatiello was appointed as Associate Dean, Health Professions Student Affairs in in 2018. In 2021, in his expanded role as Associate Dean, Learner Affairs, Pignatiello assumed responsibility for oversight of an integrated Office of Learner Affairs (OLA). Pignatiello is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. For the last 20 years, Pignatiello has also been the Medical Director of the Provincial Pediatric Tele-Mental Health Services with the Ministry of Health, administered out of the Hospital for Sick Children where he is on staff.
Executive Director, Advancement, Temerty Medicine and AVP, Advancement Relations with Health Care Institutions
Darina Landa, Executive Director, Advancement at Temerty Medicine, has been named the inaugural Assistant Vice President, Advancement Relations with Health Care Institutions for the University.
As Executive Director, Advancement for Temerty Medicine and AVP, Advancement Relations with Health Care Institutions, Landa will continue to lead Temerty Medicine’s ambitious advancement programs, while taking on increasing responsibility for management of the University’s relations with TAHSN partner foundations, providing leadership and professional advice to senior advancement and other University leaders with respect to hospital foundation relationships and engagement strategies.
Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology
Professor Laura Dawson has been appointed Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, effective January 1, 2023.
Dawson is a Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and the Institute of Medical Science. She is a radiation oncologist and upper gastrointestinal cancer multi-disciplinary site lead at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, UHN. She is a member of the palliative radiation oncology program. She previously served as a radiation oncologist at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dawson obtained her MD at the University of Toronto before completing a fellowship in conformal radiation at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is the immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and previously served as the society’s President.