Dr. Christopher Schlachta appointed Site Chief of Surgery, University Hospital
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Christopher Schlachta as Site Chief of Surgery at LHSC, University Hospital and the Department of Surgery, Western University, effective July 1, 2020 until June 30, 2023. Dr. Schlachta succeeds Dr. Douglas Naudie, who served in this role since 2014.
Dr. Schlachta received his undergraduate and medical degrees from McGill University, followed by a general surgery residency at Western University, and a fellowship in Advanced Minimally Invasive Surgery at the University of Toronto. Dr. Schlachta joined the faculty at the University of Toronto and held the role of Division Head of General Surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital before being recruited to London to serve as Medical Director of Canadian Surgical Technologies & Advanced Robotics (CSTAR) since 2005. He currently chairs the Department of Surgery’s Innovation & Robotics Committee and sits on the Board of the Ontario Bariatric Network as the regional lead for bariatric surgery. He is Program Director of the Schulich Advanced GI MIS Fellowship, recently certified by the Fellowship Council.
In 2019, Dr. Schlachta was elected to the position of 2nd Vice President, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) and is Chair of the SAGES Technology Council. He has previously served as President of the Canadian Association of General Surgeons, Chair of the Canadian Surgery Forum, and Governor of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Schlachta has served as a reviewer for the Translational Research Institute: Human Exploration Research Opportunities (HERO) program at NASA, Section Editor of Advanced GI Disease for the journal Surgical Endoscopy, and the editorial board of the Journal of Laparoendoscopic and Advanced Surgical Techniques.
He has received grant funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Ontario Research Fund, AMOSO, PSI Foundation, and NSERC amounting to $4.2 million as a lead investigator and $8.2 million in collaboration. Dr. Schlachta has received numerous awards in honour of his contributions to surgical education and research, including Distinguished Educator Award from the University of Toronto’s Surgical Skills Centre, Vanguard Awards for technology patents and licensing by World Discoveries, the John H Duff Award from the Division of General Surgery, and the Department of Surgery’s Academic Merit Award. Dr. Schlachta has published more than 120 articles in the peer-reviewed literature, eight book chapters and a textbook. He has given many keynote presentations on the topic of surgical technology. In 2012, he was selected by the Canadian Medical Association to receive the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Schlachta on his appointment as Site Chief, University Hospital, Department of Surgery, and in thanking Dr. Naudie for his many years of outstanding service in this role.
Sincerely,
Emil Schemitsch, MD, FRCSC
Richard Ivey Professor and Chair
Department of Surgery
