Department of Surgery Research Day
Monday May 11, 2026
Halifax Convention Center
Schedule
7:30 |
Coffee |
Halifax Convention Centre |
8:00 - 8:15 |
Morning Announcements |
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Dr. Michael Bezuhly Dr. Kim Brooks JUDGES: |
Host Opening Remarks | |
8:15 - 10:00 |
Session I |
Presenter and Abstract |
8:15 |
Balgees Ajlan |
Femoral Access-Site Complicationsong Patients Undergoing Neurointerventional Procedures: A Quality Improvement Project |
8:25 |
Claire Carruthers |
The Utilization of Brachial Plexus Blocks for Distal Nerve Repairs and Transfers |
8:35 |
Allison Lowwen |
Quality Improvement Protocol: Retrospective Chart Review of Delayed Hip Fracture Surgeries (>48 Hours) at the Halifax Infirmary |
8:45 |
Darien McBride |
Preoperative Soluble AXL in Plasma Predicts Futility of Resecting Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma |
8:55 |
Nadim Ammoury |
Knee morphological phenotypes differ by sex and frontal plane kinematics during walking in patients with end-stage knee osteoarthritis. |
9:05 |
Takhliq Amir |
Size-Dependent Growth of the Ascending Aorta in a Large Contemporary Cardiac CT-Based Surveillance Cohort |
9:15 |
Nicholas Cheverie |
Targeted Hyperthermia Induces Immunogenic Tumor Remodeling and Demonstrates Early Clinical Response in Immunotherapy-Refractory Metastatic Melanoma |
9:25 |
Victoria Taylor |
Oncologic outcomes in p16-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas with extranodal extension: A retrospective cohort study |
9:35 |
Peter Wong |
To walk or not? A prospective randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of weight bearing on patient outcomes following first metatarsophalangeal joint fusion |
9:45 |
Adele Orovec |
Predictors of Delay to Colorectal Surgical Cancer Care in Nova Scotia |
10:00 - 10:20 |
MORNING BREAK |
Room C1-C2 |
10:20 - 11:50 |
Session 2 |
Presenter and Abstract |
10:20 |
Methila Biswas Raya |
A Multistage ML-based Delirium Risk Stratification with SHAP-driven Clinical Decision Support for Cardiac Surgery |
10:30 |
Dylan Patel |
Application of the Palliative and Therapeutic Harmonization (PATH) Program for Shared-Decision Making for Severely Frail or Cognitively Impaired Patients Scheduled for Cancer Surgery |
10:40 |
Kassandra Coyle |
Missed Opportunities for Surveillance: Incidence of Prior Aneurysm in Patients Presenting with Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm |
10:50 |
Gizelle Francis |
Functional and Oncologic Outcomes After Transoral Laser and Robotic Surgery for Oropharyngeal Carcinoma |
11:00 |
Haley Glazebrook |
Video-Based Assessment of Surgical Skill in Orthopaedic Surgery: External Reviewer Validation and Evaluator Bias |
11:10 |
Hamza Imtiaz |
Preliminary Analysis of Neural Activity in Patients with Drug-Resistant Epilepsy Using the Percept™ Neurostimulator |
11:20 |
Felix Leathead |
Environmental and Economic Impact Assessment of Cape Breton Thoracic Surgery Clinic |
11:30 |
Jamil Muradov |
Benchmarking Prospective Colorectal Cancer Outcomes in Nova Scotia against an international collaborative |
11:40 |
Lauren Westhaver |
Longitudinal peripheral blood immune profiling to monitor disease progression in glioblastoma |
11:50 - 13:00 |
LUNCH BREAK |
Common Area - Floor ONE |
12:15 - 12:45 |
TRAINEE SESSION WITH KEYNOTES |
TBD -Room C5 "Meet the Keynotes" |
13:00 - 13:45 |
COLLABORATIVE KEYNOTE ADDRESS |
ROOM C1-2 |
13:45 - 14:15 |
INTERDISCIPLINARY TRAINEE PRESENTATIONS (3) |
[7min presentation + 3min Q&A |
14:15 - 14:40 |
Break |
Department of Surgery Room C1-2 |
14:40 - 16:30 |
Session 3 |
Presenter and Abstract |
14:40 |
Suna Jung |
Safety and outcomes of deep brain stimulation for dystonia in young children excluded from the FDA Humanitarian Device Exemption: Analysis of the CHILD-DBS registry |
14:50 |
Ilinca Georgescu |
Updated Results – A Nova Scotia-Based Total Neoadjuvant Treatment Study: Assessing Success of Implementation and Outcomes Data Associated with a Provincially Standardized Algorithm for the Treatment of Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer |
15:00 |
Noah Stevens |
Characterization of NOS1APc Localization and Function in the Mammalian Kidney |
15:10 |
Emmanuel Egwuatu |
Temporal Trends and Site Level Variation in Surgical Management of Degenerative Spondylolisthesis |
15:20 |
Olalekan Olasehinde |
Impact of Multi-Level Educational Interventions on Breast Cancer Care Uptake in Ile-Ife: Applying the WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative Framework. |
15:30 |
Hannah Brennan |
Cost-Efficiency Analysis of Office-Based Endoscopic Biopsies for Laryngopharyngeal Lesions |
15:40 |
Camille Zeitouni |
Better Care Sooner: Assessing Efficiency and Resident Educational Value of Dedicated Plastic Surgery Trauma Clinics |
15:50 |
Joel Bierer |
High-exchange ULTrafiltration to enhance Recovery After pediatric cardiac surgery: the ULTRA Randomized Controlled Trial |
16:00 |
Isabella Mendoza |
Early Airway Epithelial Responses to PM2.5: Implications for Environmentally Driven Lung Cancer Risk |
16:10 |
Gracious Kasheke |
Is the COBRA-OS® 4 French Aortic Occlusion Device Feasible for Partial REBOA? |
16:20 |
Harshal Patel |
Decreasing Wait times in Nova Scotia: A Pilot Multi-Disciplinary Orthopedic Rotator Cuff Assessment Pathway |
16:30 |
Dr. Gail Darling |
Closing Remarks |
17:00 |
AWARD PRESENTATIONS, |
Common Area -Floor 1 |
DOS Research Day Learning Objectives:
- Review and discuss research in the Department of Surgery
(CanMEDS roles: Scholar, Collaborator). - Identify innovative research approaches for impactful health care
(CanMEDS roles: Medical Expert, Health Advocate) - Develop oral presentation skills needed to effectively present scientific research data
(CanMED roles: Scholar, Communicator) - Develop skills related to defending their research results
(CanMEDS roles: Medical Expert, Scholar, Communicator)
Keynote Address:
Dr. Brain Nosek
"Shifting Incentives to Getting in Published to Getting it Right"
Keynote Learning Objectives:
- Review the scholarly norms and values of research.
- Asses the gap between those values and the culture reward system for researchers.
- Learn about strategies that are changing the norms, incentives and policies for researchers and consider applicably to their research