Research
The mandate of the Division of Paediatric Surgery is to, first and foremost, provide excellence in paediatric surgical care across southwestern Ontario. As part of this mandate, research into paediatric surgical problems helps us achieve clinical excellence. Our current research interests span across all surgical specialties with an emphasis on translational studies that take bench research to the clinical setting in order to improve patient care. To support this initiative, the Division has recently joined the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) consortium which provides researchers with a secure, intuitive database platform to facilitate data collection and collaberative paediatric surgery research projects with over 850 institution in 71 counties.
Paediatric Robotic Surgery Program
The Division is committed to innovation and the advancement of minimally invasive paediatric surgical treatments. The Paediatric Robotic Surgery Program was initiated in 2013 and is led by Dr. Sumit Dave and Dr. Andreana Bütter. Drs. Dave, Bütter and Merritt are certified surgeons in the use of the da Vinci ® Surgical System after completing training at CSTAR. To date, close to 40 paediatric surgeries have been successfully completed using the da Vinci robot, including the first robotic ureteric reimplantation in Canada. CSTAR has been and continues to be an essential asset in this endeavour, allowing our surgeons to use simulation training to increase the use of minimally invasive surgical techniques in paediatrics.
