Leadership Announcement: Dr. Michelle Hladunewich reappointed as Chief, Department of Medicine

We are pleased to share the reappointment of Dr. Michelle Hladunewich as Chief of the Department of Medicine at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for a second five-year term. After a comprehensive review from external consultants and the review committee, Dr. Hladunewich has been unanimously recommended for reappointment, with the review committee citing her outstanding leadership and vision for the department.

Under Dr. Hladunewich’s leadership, the Department of Medicine has seen significant growth and resilience throughout the last five years. Since 2019, the department has been able to increase its staff by 12%, adding 43 additional full-time staff members. Adding these new staff members has allowed the department to achieve a near-perfect gender balance and diversify expertise across numerous specialties.

Dr. Hladunewich has played a pivotal role in leading the Department of Medicine through various accomplishments. Key achievements during the pandemic included the diagnosis of Canada’s first COVID-19 patient, the launch of the LTC+ Program to support local Long-Term Care homes in North Toronto during and post-pandemic, and the establishment of the COVIDEO program, which provided virtual support to over 9,000 COVID-19 patients. Beyond COVID, under Dr. Hladunewich’s guidance the Department welcomed two new divisions - the Division of Hematology and Thromboembolism and the Interdepartmental Division of Palliative Medicine, and launched the SPARK program for Black and Indigenous medical students, reinforcing the Department’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion.

Dr. Hladunewich has also dedicated much of her career to supporting women’s health. As the founder and co-lead of Sunnybrook’s Pregnancy and Kidney Disease Clinic, she is committed to helping women living with renal disease have children. This clinic, along with her complex glomerulonephritis clinic, forms the nidus for her translational research while serving as a training program for nephrology specialists from across the globe, helping them learn and set up similar clinics in their communities. Through this work, Dr. Hladunewich has profoundly impacted the lives of so many women, giving them more options and a renewed hope of having children.

As a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Renal Network Medical Lead for Glomerulonephritis and Specialty Clinics, Dr. Hladunewich continues to show her unwavering dedication to medical education, patient care and research. Her commitment to patient care extends beyond Canadian borders, as she has travelled on 6 medical missions to assist the people of Ukraine where, with her Sunnybrook colleagues and the Canadian Ukrainian Surgical Aid Program, she provides care to military and civilian Ukrainian citizens injured in conflict.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Michelle Hladunewich on her reappointment and thanking her for her continued commitment to leading the Department of Medicine at Sunnybrook.