Behind the Diagnosis
Meet the heart of patient care
Making the correct diagnosis is crucial to patient care and recovery. Pathologists are pivotal in correctly diagnosing disease, especially where it pertains to critical, life-changing illness. Their diagnosis in the lab and discoveries at the research bench set the course for your (sometimes life-saving) treatment. Some people say that they’re the detectives of your health care team.
While you may never meet your pathologist, they are working for you behind the scenes. Meet some of Canada’s leading pathologists:
Dr. Chelsea Maedler MD
Anatomical Pathologist
Find out how pathologists are the detectives of your health care team.
Dr. Martin Trotter MD, PhD, FRCPC
Dermatopathologist
See how pathologists help to make the right diagnosis.
Dr. Meg McLachlin MD, FRCPC
Anatomical Pathologist
Learn how pathologists play a pivotal role in disease prevention
Dr. Serge Jothy MD, PhD, FRCPC
Anatomical Pathologist
French Version
Learn how pathology is about making a diagnosis and understanding the disease.
Dr. Cynthia Hawkins MD, PhD, FRCPC
Neuropathologist
Find out how one pathologist is making a difference in the lives of sick kids through research.
Dr. Brian Cummings MD, FRCPC, FCAP, FASCP
Anatomical Pathologist
Find out how pathologists are the heart of your health care team.
Dr. Catherine Ross MD, FRCPC
Hematopathogist
Learn why all things begin with the right diagnosis.
Dr. David Huntsman
Anatomical Pathologist
Dr. Huntsman’s work in hereditary gastric or stomach cancer and prognostic tissue-based cancer biomarkers has changed the course of diagnosis, treatment, and even prevention in several cancer types, including breast, gastric, and ovarian.
It’s thanks to his team’s work that we know ovarian cancer is not just one disease, that the most serious and deadly form of ovarian cancer actually begins in the fallopian tube and not the ovary – a discovery that launched changes to treatment protocols and genetic counselling which could eventually see deaths by ovarian cancer be reduced by 50 percent within the next 20 years. And it’s his work that resulted in the introduction of a test for gene mutations, which cause a deadly form of genetic gastric cancer, in Canada.
Dr. Sona Sihra
Anatomical Pathologist
Dr. Sona Sihra specializes in anatomical pathology with additional special training in gynecologic pathology. In practice since 2007, Dr. Sihra loves the visual and problem solving aspects of pathology, and believes the pathologist’s role is like being a medical detective.
Dr. Sihra’s greatest achievements are the day-to-day things that help other doctors (family doctors, surgeons etc.) understand their patient’s illness and provide the best treatment. Although Dr. Sihra doesn’t see patients directly, her work impacts patient treatment and she enjoys being a ‘behind the scenes’ member of the team. “At the end of the day it is about providing the best patient care possible,” says Dr. Sihra. “I want to continue to improve and grow as a diagnostic pathologist and teach more in the future.” Dr. Sihra believes it’s important to be active in education, not only of medical students and residents, but of clinicians, patients and the general public.