Healthy Beginnings

ONTARIO FETAL CENTRE CELEBRATES FIRST ANNIVERSARY WITH NEW OPERATING ROOM.

This pioneering centre for maternal-fetal medicine marked another milestone with the opening of a new state-of-the-art operating room, allowing for even more highly specialized procedures to be delivered in Ontario. Launched last year in partnership with The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), the Ontario Fetal Centre’s team of surgeons repair rare conditions in-utero, including heart defects, spina bifida and twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome, which results in one twin getting more nutrient-rich blood from the placenta than the other. With the new operating room in the Slaight Family Labour and Delivery Unit, access to advanced fetal therapies for women across Canada will increase dramatically.

REVOLUTIONARY NEW PRENATAL TEST ON THE HORIZON

Comprehensive screening for genetic abnormalities could be as easy as a Pap smear, thanks to a safe, non-invasive new prenatal test being developed by Mount Sinai’s genetic specialists. Thanks to a multi-million dollar investment in research funding, the NIPD (non-invasive prenatal diagnosis) procedure will offer pregnant women a risk-free alternative to amniocentesis and chorionic villi sampling, and be performed as early as five or six weeks’ gestation. Dr. David Chitayat, Head of our Prenatal Diagnosis and Medical Genetics Program, and Dr. Elena Kolomietz, Co-Head of our Division of Diagnostic Molecular Genetics, hope to have a prototype ready for clinical trials within three years.

Towards Sinai 100

DR. SHOO LEE: A LEADER IN NEONATAL CARE

Dr. Shoo Lee has revolutionized the care of mothers and babies at Mount Sinai Hospital and around the world. During his tenure as Paediatrician-in-Chief and Director of the Maternal-Infant Research Centre at Sinai Health, Dr. Lee designed the Family Integrated Care program for the Newton Glassman Charitable Foundation Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where the tiniest, most fragile babies benefit greatly from involving parents as partners in care. He has also championed research innovation through the Canadian Neonatal Network, a collaboration between 30 hospitals and 17 universities. The Sinai 100 chair established in Dr. Lee’s name caps a nearly 40-year career dedicated to excellence in research, clinical care and training. “I hope it will build upon Mount Sinai’s legacy as a leader in improving outcomes and care, and explore new frontiers in achieving those goals,” he says.