People

Dr. Arntfield is a professor of Medicine, intensivist, and leader in resuscitative point-of-care ultrasound and transesophageal echocardiography in critical illness. His expertise in portable imaging, ultrasound education, and AI-supported bedside diagnostics is directly relevant to austere trauma imaging and prolonged casualty care.

Dr. Ball is an associate professor in Critical Care Medicine, Medicine, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics, with research interests in trauma, organ donation, and end-of-life care. As a member of the Office of Military Academic Medicine and the CAF Reserve Force, he links military clinical questions with critical care research and trainee mentorship.

Jacqueline Book is Director of Western’s Commercial Aviation Management program in the DAN Department of Management & Organizational Studies. A former Royal Canadian Air Force tactical transport pilot and airline pilot, she brings aviation operations, pilot training, safety, and aeromedical-evacuation relevance to the group.

Dr. Church is an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine and a member of the Office of Military Academic Medicine. His military medicine experience includes anesthetic and perioperative support in deployed Role 3 care, and his academic contribution is especially relevant to simulation, resuscitation, and forward surgical care.

Melissa Côté is a 4th year medical student, former Regular Force Biosciences Officer, and current Canadian Armed Forces reservist. Her research focuses on AI enhanced point of care ultrasound for military and austere environments. She is interested in military medicine and general surgery.

Dr. Devine is an assistant professor in the History of Medicine at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry and an associate research professor in Western’s Department of History. Her scholarship examines Civil War and American medicine, including the prize-winning book Learning from the Wounded: The Civil War and the Rise of American Medical Science.

Dr. Hilsden is an assistant professor and trauma and acute care surgeon in Western’s Division of General Surgery, and he serves as Director of the Office of Military Academic Medicine. He is an active member of the Canadian Armed Forces with deployed military medical experience and brings operational, trauma-systems, and health-services expertise to the group.

Dr. Kao is a professor of Medicine and critical care physician whose research includes trauma, large-data analysis, and prediction modelling. A retired Navy Captain and former senior critical care advisor to the Surgeon General, he held Canada’s first Chair in Military Critical Care Research and remains central to Western’s military critical care legacy.

Dr. Lanius is a professor of Psychiatry and director of Western’s posttraumatic stress disorder research unit. Her work on the neurobiology and treatment of PTSD, dissociation, and trauma-related disorders anchors the group’s operational stress, moral injury, and post-traumatic conditions stream.

Benson Law is a 4th-year medical student and military reservist interested in general surgery. His research is focused on trauma injury patterns and hemorrhage control.

Dr. McAlister is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Surgery and the founding director of Western’s Office of Military Academic Medicine. A retired Canadian Armed Forces lieutenant-colonel and historian of military medicine, he contributes experience in deployed surgery, institutional military-medical history, ethics, and academic program development.

Dr. McKellar is the Jason A. Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine, a research chair in Western’s Department of History, and a professor jointly appointed with the Department of Surgery. Her work focuses on the history of medicine and health care, especially medical technology, instruments and devices, surgery, and medical biography.

Dr. Parry is a professor of Surgery and Critical Care Medicine with major expertise in trauma, acute care surgery, and critical care. His clinical and academic experience in trauma systems, complex abdominal reconstruction, and outcomes research supports the group’s battlefield trauma and mass-casualty streams.

Dr. Richardson is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and holds the Tanna Schulich Chair in Neuroscience and Mental Health. He is a leading clinician-researcher in military and veteran mental health, serving as consultant psychiatrist at the Operational Stress Injury Clinic and director of the MacDonald Franklin OSI Research Centre.

Dr. Sener is a surgeon-scientist, City-wide Chief of Urology, and holder of the Andrew Lazarovits Chair in Immunobiology and Transplantation. His laboratory studies transplant organ preservation, gasotransmitter biology, inflammation, and ischemia-reperfusion injury, providing strong translational overlap with trauma and vascular-protection research.

Dr. Sirek is a family physician and Western faculty member with a major interest in aerospace and space medicine. His work on space-medicine systems, medical licensing, and remote care connects naturally to aviation medicine, austere care, telemedicine, and distributed operational health systems.

Dr. Smith is an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery with training in family medicine, general surgery, and vascular surgery. A long-serving Canadian Armed Forces officer and Afghanistan veteran, he studies vascular trauma, combat medicine, and technologies that may improve care after hemorrhage, occlusion, and delayed reperfusion.

Dr. Van Doormaal has contributed to military-relevant simulation and trauma education at Western, including chest-tube training and realistic trauma-team scenarios. His work strengthens the group’s education stream by linking operational training needs with simulation, crisis-resource management, and practical procedural teaching.

Dr. Vance is Distinguished University Professor and J.B. Smallman Chair in Western’s Department of History, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He teaches and writes on military history, Canadian history, social memory, the First World War, commemoration, and prisoners of war.

Captain Watson is a reservist who serves with 23 Field Ambulance and is listed by the Office of Military Academic Medicine as Officer Commanding of Close Support Company. His operating-room, PACU, and field-ambulance experience adds practical nursing, perioperative, and military-health-services expertise to the group.

Dr. Zheng is an associate professor and scientist with appointments spanning Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Surgery, and Microbiology and Immunology. Her research in circular RNA, transplant immunology, dendritic-cell biology, and ischemia-reperfusion injury provides a mechanistic platform for candidate anti-IRI therapies.