UHN-Breast Reconstruction Program’s Dr Toni Zhong receives the Community Service Award

Dr. Toni Zhong was recognized for her community service through her work with Women for Women International – an organization that has helped nearly 500,000 marginalized women in countries affected by war and conflict by offering support, tools and access to life-changing skills to move from crisis and poverty to stability and economic self-sufficiency. Dr. Zhong was awarded the Schulich Medicine & Dentistry Alumni of Distinction Award at the Dean’s Gala on October 20, 2018.

Watch the video here https://youtu.be/oa3B02B5Q9M

Wendy Thomas with her husband Julian. Thomas elected to have breast reconstruction after her mastectomy in June 2018.

Breast reconstruction is relatively rare in Canada compared to other countries, even though it’s covered by provincial health insurance. Here, only about 16 per cent of women have immediate breast reconstruction following a mastectomy, compared to about 38 per cent in the U.S., according to the Canadian Cancer Society – though those statistics don’t include women who may choose to have reconstruction months or years after their mastectomy.

But the number is growing, said Dr. Toni Zhong, Thomas’ surgeon and the Belinda Stronach chair in breast cancer reconstruction at the University Health Network in Toronto.

Partly, she said, that’s because people are becoming more aware of how it can help. “We now know that you don’t have to live with a mastectomy defect for the rest of your life and there are options available that can restore your breast to make you feel and look good or certainly better.”

Click here to read the full article by Leslie Young, Health Global News

Dr. Toni Zhong appointed as the inaugural Belinda Stronach Chair in Breast Cancer Reconstructive Surgery at UHN

Dr. Toni Zhong is a graduate of the Plastic Surgery Residency Training Program at the University of Western Ontario and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 2007. Dr. Zhong has won numerous national and international research and young investigator awards and is the recipient of numerous peer-reviewed research grants. Following the completion of her residency, Dr. Zhong was awarded the prestigious Zeiss Canada Microsurgery Scholarship to pursue a year-long Microvascular and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

Her clinical interests extend to all forms of complex reconstruction post-oncologic ablation and treatment of difficult cutaneous malignancies, she is taking a leadership role in building the Breast Restoration Program at UHN as a center of excellence for breast reconstruction in North America. Her research areas of interest include the evaluation of innovative breast reconstruction surgical techniques, including the use of Alloderm in a multi-site randomized trial and development of validated patient-reported outcome instruments designed to evaluate health-related quality of life following specific breast reconstruction surgical procedures.

Dr. Siba Haykal, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon joins the UHN team

Biography

Dr. Haykal graduated from the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine in 2007, and subsequently completed her residency training in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Toronto in 2016. During her residency, she completed a four-year Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine and immunology with a focus on tracheal reconstruction. She obtained numerous grants and awards including a CIHR Vanier Scholarship. Dr. Haykal then pursued fellowship training in microsurgical reconstruction at the Albany Medical Centre in Albany New York where she accepted a position of Assistant Professor. Her practice focused on breast, head and neck and extremity reconstruction. Dr. Haykal joined the University Health Network and the Toronto General Hospital in 2018. She is also cross-appointed to the Division of Thoracic Surgery within the University Health Network. Her clinical focus is on complex oncological reconstruction and microsurgical reconstruction of the breast, head and neck and extremity. Her research focuses on tissue-engineered techniques for tracheal reconstruction and the immunology of vascularized composite allotransplantation. Dr. Haykal has been the recipient of numerous awards for her clinical, academic and research work, and is the author of several peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Zhong helps Acid Attack victim from Bangladesh

Popi Rani Das was tricked into drinking acid by her husband in 2009 in Bangladesh. Earlier this year, surgeons at Toronto General Hospital reconstructed her throat and stomach, using skin taken from her arm

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