Dr. Alp Sener appointed Chair/Chief of Urology
Following a successful search process, the Department of Surgery is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Alp Sener as Chair/Chief, Division of Urology for the period July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2024.
Dr. Sener completed his MD and PhD at the University of Calgary followed by a residency in Urology at Western University. He subsequently completed a fellowship in multi-organ transplantation at the University of Maryland Medical Centre and was one of two recipients of the prestigious American Society of Transplant Surgeons/Novartis Fellowship in Transplantation in North America. While there, he was awarded a Schulich Resident Research Career Development Grant. Dr. Sener was appointed as the first Schulich Clinician Scientist and as Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery in 2009 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016. He also holds a cross appointment to the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Western University and Scientist appointments with the Lawson Health Research Institute, the Center for Human Immunology, and the Matthew Mailing Center for Translational Transplant Studies.
Dr. Sener’s research focuses on the innate and adaptive immune responses in graft rejection as well as in developing novel methods of mitigating transplant graft injury using endogenous small molecules. His laboratory has pioneered the use of hydrogen sulphide in minimizing ischemia-reperfusion injury associated with transplantation, as well as in discovering its therapeutic potential against renal cell carcinoma, and its role in diminishing tissue fibrosis following chronic urinary obstruction. He has more than 90 publications in the peer-reviewed literature and currently holds more than half a million dollars in peer-reviewed grants as PI.
Dr. Sener has received numerous awards for both research and teaching, including the Dean’s Award of Excellence for Junior Faculty in 2014; the Vanguard Prize from the American Society of Transplant Surgeons; and a Research Excellence award from the Canadian Society of Transplantation. He has won eight teaching awards at the University. Dr. Sener is an ambassador for transplantation at our Academic Health Science Centre and has participated in several public activities to raise awareness for organ donation and the Multi-Organ Transplant Program. His clinical accomplishments also include performing the first single incision, robot assisted living donor nephrectomy operation in Canada with Dr. Patrick Luke.
Dr. Sener was appointed Director of the Renal Transplant Fellowship Program in 2009; Research Committee Chair for the Department of Surgery in 2012; and Program Director for the Urology Training Program in 2014. He spearheaded the creation and implementation of the Department of Surgery Strategic Plan for Research and formed a new national organization for Research Committee Chairs in Departments of Surgery across Canada, which has led to several national inter-institutional collaborations and development of best-practices. Dr. Sener continues to make contributions to surgical research and education through his leadership roles on several national and international Urology (Urologic Society for Transplantation and Renal Surgery, American Urological Association and Canadian Urological Association) and Transplant (Canadian Society of Transplantation and American Society of Transplant Surgeons) organizations.
Dr. Sener follows in the footsteps of another highly accomplished leader, Dr. Hassan Razvi, who has led the Division of Urology for the past 14 years. Dr. Razvi not only recruited and mentored Dr. Sener; he is responsible for the Division’s outstanding international reputation for research, education, and clinical care in Urology.
The Department would like to thank Dr. Razvi for his many years of exceptional service and congratulate Dr. Sener on his appointment to this key leadership role.
