Airway Reconstruction and Image-Guided Innovation

Peter Kim with his wife Jennifer and son William

Peter Kim is a paediatric general and thoracic surgeon whose clinical practice includes tracheal reconstruction, airway surgery, vascular reconstruction, and minimal access operations on the lung, biliary tract and intestines. His cases in the week of this interview included surgical treatment of bronchomalacia, creation of a pelvic pouch and laparoscopic bowel and lung resections. He takes great pride in the airway reconstruction team (ART) comprised of ENT (Vito Forte, Paolo Campisi), anaesthesia (Helen Holtby), critical care (Peter Cox, Desmond Bohn), general surgery (Priscilla Chiu), pulmonary medicine (Felix Ratjen) and cardiac surgical colleagues (Glen Van Arsdell, Chris Caldarone).

Peter's research program includes a basic science program investigating molecular mechanisms in congenital malformations of the hindgut and foregut supported by CIHR. Peter's applied research emphasizes the development of new technology in collaboration with industry. He is developing catheter-based and robotic smart tools based on automated autonomy, in collaboration with MDA Corporation. He is working on imaging with Philips Research USA to develop magnetic resonance and ultrasound-based technologies for paediatric and fetal surgical application. The third component of his applied research is in simulation, working in collaboration with L-3 Mapp of Montreal (manufacturer of simulators for NASA).

Peter is setting up an incubator for the development of advanced surgical instruments applicable to all surgical specialties with initial focus on paediatric needs. The plan is to develop sustained funding rather than the usual single cycle paradigm of grant support by creating a company in collaboration with industry partners. This program (the Center for Image-Guided Innovation and Therapeutic Intervention; www.CIGITI.com) has been guided by Chair Richard Reznick, Jim Wright, Surgeonin- Chief at the Hospital for Sick Children, and Janet Rossant, head of the HSC research institute. He has active ongoing engagement of clinical team members Walid Farhat, Sharifa Himidan and Jim Drake. Peter is

building process and structure by hiring Thomas Looi, an MBA engineer, and three PhD theme leaders, Edward Huang, Nikoo Saber and Harmanpreet Bassan who will catalyze interaction between surgeons and engineers. Collaboration strategy for these projects has been developed over the past two years. He currently holds over $3.5 million in grants from the Ministry of Research and Innovation and $5.4 million from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation for this initiative. Peter's management skills were enhanced by attendance at the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care Advanced Health Leadership Program at the Rotman School of Management, led by Professors Brian Golden and Joseph D'Cruz.

Recent accomplishments (featured in The Toronto Star April 30, 2009 edition) include a significant populationbased health systems initiative leading the development of the fetal alert network (FAN) (www.fetalalertnetwork.com), to improve access to care, surveillance and education about birth defects in Ontario. This provincial program ($5.4 million over 5 years) in co-leadership with Greg Ryan and Rory Windrim, David Chitayat of the Mount Sinai Hospital has helped well over five thousand pregnant mothers and babies with anomalies to date, providing timely care and appropriate place while reducing wait time and cost. The FAN has become a critical building block of the overarching materno-fetal provincial strategy led by ADM Adelsteinn Brown of the MOHLTC of Ontario in transforming our health care and health care system.

Peter completed his medical training at McGill University, a PhD in immunology at the University of Toronto, and surgical training, including paediatric surgery fellowship at U of T. He completed post-doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in molecular biology. He has mentored a number of graduate students, clinical and research fellows over the years, and takes a great pride in their success. PhD student Wei Cheng has since been appointed as department head and Chair of Paediatric Surgery at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Research fellow Masayuki Obatake has been appointed as Surgeon-in-Chief in Nagasaki, Japan and clinical fellow Patricio Herrera has become department head of thoracic/airway surgery in Santiago, Chile.

Peter is married to Jennifer, an attorney specializing in corporate and commercial law. Together they have a nine-year-old son William. They ski and travel together. Peter's younger brother Harry Kim is a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon, currently the head of research at the Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Peter is currently reading Chasing Daylight by Eugene O'Kelly and Margaret Atwood's Payback.

M.M.