About the Authors
Ayed M. AlQahtani, ME
Ayed M. AlQahtani is a registered mechanical engineer and he received his BS in mechanical engineering at King Saud University, Riyadh. He is highly experienced in the field of engineering, facility management, project management, and operations works. In addition to exposure and actual hands-on experience in the field of plant engineering in accordance to Saudi Government policy and regulations, he has also gained knowledge and experience in different areas of work including: general management, engineering design, facility management, project management, contracts management, human resources, operation administration, and supply chain management. Currently, he is working as executive director of Operation/Strategic Construction Program Director at King Fahad Medical City and responsible for the implementation of safety maintenance operation compliance to national and international facility management standards of a safe functional practices at King Fahad Medical City, ensuring an effective and efficient environment for patients, staff, and other individuals. He also manages the operational modernized building construction of the National Neurosciences Institute, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cardiac Center, Proton Therapy Centre, Cochlear Implant Center, and the laboratories and offices of the Central Services Building.
Hamidreza Azimian, PhD
Hamid is currently a robotics senior project manager at the Center for Image-Guided Innovation and Therapeutic Intervention at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He received a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, in 2012, an MSc in electrical engineering from K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2006, and a BSc in electronics engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2004. His areas of interests include robotics, mechatronic systems, and model-based control and optimization. He has published several articles and is a reviewer for the Control Engineering Practice journal, Journal of Robotic and Intelligent Systems, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, and IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems.
Georges Azzie, MD
Georges Azzie is a pediatric surgeon at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, and an associate professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto. His scholarly interests revolve around education, surgical simulation, and global surgery and international health.
Pavan Brahmamdam, MD
Pavan Brahmamdam is a fellow in Pediatric General and Thoracic Surgery at the Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. He then completed a general surgery residency at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical School. During his residency, he also completed a 2-year National Institutes of Health–funded research fellowship studying the immunological effects of sepsis at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. Before his fellowship in Toronto, he also completed a surgical critical care fellowship at Wayne State University and Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. His main research interests are in perioperative care, quality improvement, and the role of simulation in surgical training.
Paolo Campisi, MD
Dr Paolo Campisi joined the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto in July 2004 and currently holds the rank of associate professor. He earned his medical degree from the University of Western Ontario and completed his residency training at McGill University. He then returned to Toronto to complete a fellowship in pediatric otolaryngology at The Hospital for Sick Children. Dr Campisi holds a master's degree in both pharmacology and otolaryngology and has an interest in disorders of the head and neck, airway, voice, and saliva management. He is the clinical director of the Center for Pediatric Voice and Laryngeal Function, a subspecialty clinic designed for the care of children with voice disorders and the Saliva Management Clinic at the Holland-Bloorview Children's Rehabilitation Center. Dr Campisi served as the director of undergraduate education for the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, University of Toronto, from 2005 to 2012 and as the Pediatric Otolaryngology Fellowship Director from 2007 to 2012. In July 2012, he was appointed the director of postgraduate education for the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, University of Toronto. In 2015, he was appointed vice chair of education. He has a strong interest in medical education and has worked with Dr Vito Forte in the development of an otoscopy simulator.
Elvis C.S. Chen, PhD
Dr Elvis C.S. Chen obtained his PhD in computer science from Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, in 2007. He works in the field of image-guided interventions by applying techniques in robotics and computer graphics to the field of surgery. His research interests include: joint kinematics, ultrasound-guided needle interventions, tool calibration and tracking, and vision-guided laparoscopy. Currently, he is a research associate at Robarts Research Institute with a cross-appointment with Western University (Canada). He was the organizer and editor for Augmented Environment for Computer-Assisted Interventions (2011 and 2012).
Carling L. Cheung, BCmpH, MESc
Carling L. Cheung is currently a medical student at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Before that, she completed a bachelor's of computing specializing in biomedical computing at Queen's University, and a master's in engineering science specializing in biomedical engineering at the University of Western Ontario. She worked at SickKids in the Center for Image Guided Innovation and Therapeutic Intervention laboratory for 3 years as a project manager in medical imaging, with a focus on creating and validating realistic physical models for surgical and medical education.
John E. Davies, BSc, BDS, PhD, DSc
John E. Davies, who trained as an oro-maxillo-facial surgeon, is a professor of Dentistry and Biomaterials at the University of Toronto. Davies received his DSc from the University of London in 1998 for his sustained contributions over a period of 20 years, to the field of biomaterials, and was the 2002 recipient of the Society for Biomaterials Clemson Award for Basic Science. He was elected a Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering in 2000. In the mid-1980s, he devised the first in vitro biological methods to study the mechanisms of bone bonding to bioactive ceramics. His work has led to an understanding of the mechanisms by which bone grows on implant surfaces and within tissue engineering scaffolds. He has developed ceramics that can be resorbed by osteoclasts (this technology has also been adopted by the Canadian Space Agency to investigate the cellular mechanisms of microgravity-induced osteopenia. See the Tomorrow Today Web site for a feature article about Bone Loss in Zero Gravity), calcium phosphates that stimulate increase in local bone mass, scaffolding materials for bone regeneration, and extraembryonic cells as a potential source of cell-based connective tissue repair.
Jen Hoogenes, PhD candidate
Jen Hoogenes is a current PhD candidate in the Health Research Methodology Program within the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She completed a bachelor's and master's of science in Health Behavior/Health Education at the University of Michigan. She is currently a research coordinator within the Department of Surgery at McMaster University with a primary focus on surgical education, residency training, and research methodology.
Amanda Farah Khan, MSC, MD/PhD candidate
Amanda Farah Khan is an MD/PhD student at the University of Toronto in the Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering. She received both her bachelor's (health sciences) and master's degrees (medical biophysics) from the University of Western Ontario. In 2015, she was bestowed with the most prestigious award given to graduate students, the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, in recognition of both her academic and research history and future potential as a leader. Her research interests include medical simulation and surgical education.
Hani Lababidi, MD, FCCP, FACP
Dr Lababidi is a senior consultant in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at King Fahad Medical City (KFMC) in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He is an expert in medical simulation and he is currently the director of the Center for Research, Education & Simulation Enhanced Training (CRESENT) at KFMC. Besides the various leadership positions, he chaired or participated in key hospital committees and functions. He has special expertise in hospital accreditation and information management. Dr Lababidi received his MD from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and then did his internal medicine, pulmonary, and critical care training in the United States. He holds American Board in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine certification. His academic and leadership career began as assistant professor of...