James Rutka

James Rutka, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS, FAAP, is a neurosurgeon from Toronto, Canada.

Dr. Rutka’s clinical practice is at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He is currently the R.S. McLaughlin Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto, Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Neurosurgery, and the Director of the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre.

Education and Training

Dr. Rutka was born in Toronto, Canada. He attended Princeton University in 1977 and obtained his MD from Queen’s University in 1981. After graduating, he received the following training:

• Internship; McGill University (1982)
• Neurosurgery Training Program; University of Toronto
• Post-doctoral Research Fellowship; Brain Tumor Research Centre, University of California, San Francisco (1984-87)
• PhD, Experimental Pathology; University of California, San Francisco (1987)
• Clinical Fellowship, Microvascular Neurosurgery; Nagoya University, Japan, under the supervision of Dr. Kenichiro Sugita (1990)
• Post-doctoral Research Fellowship, Molecular Immunology; Juntendo University, Tokyo (1990)

Dr. Rutka assumed his appointment with the University of Toronto’s Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery in 1990. Since then, he has been on surgical staff at The Hospital for Sick Children in the Division of Paediatric Neurosurgery.

Current Appointments

Dr. Rutka currently holds the following positions:

• R.S. McLaughlin Professor and Chair; Department of Surgery, University of Toronto
• Director; Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre at the University of Toronto (1998 – present)
• Editor-in-Chief; Journal of Neurosurgery
• Professor; Department of Surgery, University of Toronto
• Senior Scientist; Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children
• Staff Surgeon; Division of Neurosurgery, The Hospital for Sick Children

R.S. McLaughlin Professor and Chair

Following an international search led by Dean Catharine Whiteside of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Dr. Rutka was installed as the R.S. McLaughlin Chair of Surgery in April 2011.

In Dr. Rutka’s first message as Chair, he stated his vision and direction:

“My vision for the Department of Surgery, stated quite simply, is to bring us to a stage where we are recognized continentally and internationally as world leader in surgery using the traditional metrics that are applied to such rankings including peer reviewed publications, grant capture, surgical expertise, education and innovation. To accomplish this task, we will need to focus our efforts on enhancing the curricula of our medical students, residents and fellows; we will need to recruit and retain the best and brightest faculty; we will need to continue to raise additional funds for new Chairs, initiatives and programs; and we will need to work diligently within and outside the Toronto Central LHIN to garner the strong international reputation that we so deserve.”

Dr. Rutka is currently addressing these changes through the Department of Surgery’s Strategic Plan, Transforming Surgery: Beyond the Cutting Edge 2012-2017. It can be read online: http://surgery.utoronto.ca/about/strategic-plan.htm

Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre at the University of Toronto

Collaboration with CRP-Santé Luxembourg

Dr. James Rutka travelled to Luxembourg on March 7, 2013, to visit the Norlux Neuro-Oncology Research Laboratory in Luxembourg City. There, he signed a collaborative document celebrating the research collaboration agreement between the Labatt BTRC and CRP-Santé. This new initiative brings forward the international recognition and scientific expertise of CRP-Santé throughout the Norlux-Neuro-Oncology Laboratory, and its partner in Bergen, Norway, which represents one of the widest European research centres focusing on Glioblastoma multiforme. The collaboration between SickKids and CRP-Santé will be from now on an opportunity to set up exchanges of scientists, expertise and materials and to conduct joint research projects in the areas of advanced basic science and applied translational research.

Journal of Neurosurgery

In 2013, D. Rutka was appointed as the 7th Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurosurgery. He is the first Canadian neurosurgeon to hold this position.

Previous Appointments

From 1999-2010, Dr. Rutka served as the Dan Family Chair in Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto. In 1998-1999, he served as the Harold Hoffman Chair in Pediatric Neurosurgery at The Hospital for Sick Children.

International Outreach

In the spring of 2013, Dr. Rutka traveled with fellow neurosurgeon Dr. Mark Bernstein of the Toronto Western Hospital to Ukraine to help implement the Ukraine Pediatric Fellowship Program in fellowship with the Hospital. The program provides physicians from Ukraine with the opportunity to participate in paediatric specializations and intensive training at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto as well as in their medical centres in Ukraine. This program will help ensure that Ukrainian children with complex and specific health issues are better able to access the care they need in their home country. The medical director of the Ukraine Pediatric Fellowship Program is Dr. Myroslava Romach.

Distinctions

Dr. Rutka has been awarded with several distinctions and prizes throughout the course of his career.

• Fellow; American Surgical Association (2013 – Present)
• Fellow; Royal Society of Canada (2011 – Present)
• President; World Academy of Neurological Surgery (November 2011-13)
• President; American Academy of Neurological Surgery (October 2011)
• President; American Association of Neurological Surgeons (May 2010)
• Honoured Guest; Annual Meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (2009)
• Knight of the Order of Smile; Kawaler Orderu Usmiechu (2006)

References

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