by Dr. Mingyao Liu

After a long and grey winter, I’m sure we are all warmly welcoming the Spring season, which represents a fresh start for many. The Spring 2024 issue of the IMS Magazine coincides nicely with this theme – this issue highlights advances in surgery, which allows many individuals to have a new beginning with their health. 

This issue features IMS faculty that are working to improve the landscape of surgeries across Canada. Dr. Kazuhiro Yasufuku and Dr. Gelareh Zadeh are making great strides towards the development of non-invasive techniques for diagnosing and treating lung and brain cancers, respectively. Dr. Vitor Pereira shares how his team has pioneered the use of robotic-assisted surgery for neurovascular conditions such as stroke and aneurysms. Lastly, Dr. David Gomez is ensuring equitable access to healthcare among Canadians by working to address the surgical backlog across the country and investigating how to best improve wait times. 

We also put the spotlight on 3 individuals within the IMS community that have made wonderful contributions to the natural, academic, and professional environments here at the University. Carly Davenport, a student at IMS, shares her motivations behind creating Birdsafe UofT, an initiative that aims to protect other life forms that share the campus with us. Ergi Duli discusses his involvement with IMS throughout his graduate studies and what shaped him to becoming the student leader he is today. Dr. Pascal Tyrrell shares his journey about his career path that led him through both academic and industry jobs, providing reassurance to students that a career is not always linear. Lastly, this issue shares highlights from the 13^th Annual Ori Rotstein Lecture in Translational Research. 

On behalf of the IMS community, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the new faculty joining IMS and members that have been promoted this year. I would also like to thank the Editors-in-Chief Kyla and Iciar, as well as the journalists, editors, photographers, and design team for putting together another exciting issue of the IMS Magazine. I hope you enjoy reading about the incredible accomplishments our community has made! 

Sincerely,

Dr. Mingyao Liu

Director, Institute of Medical Science