Portrait of Dan Poenaru

Dan Poenaru

Associate Academic Member
dan.poenaru@mcgill.ca
Professor, McGill University, Department of Pediatric Surgery
Research Topics
AI and Healthcare
AI in Health
Medical Machine Learning

Biography

Dan Poenaru is a professor of pediatric surgery at McGill University and a senior scientist at the research institute of the McGill University Health Centre. He has a master’s degrees in health professions education and international development, and a doctorate in health strategy and management. Poenaru is a Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (FRQS) and a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)-funded investigator in patient-centered surgical care, head of the McGill CommiSur Lab, director of the Jean-Martin Laberge Fellowship in Global Pediatric Surgery, and a founding member of the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery (GICS).

His current areas of academic interest are technology-assisted surgical communication and medical education, including AI, VR and digital health devices, patient-centred surgical care, and developing global surgical research capacity.

Current Students

Mohsen Amoei
PhD - McGill University
Carmel Daskalo
Master's Research - McGill University
Aylin Erman
PhD - McGill University
Principal supervisor :
Jackie Cheung
Hakima Laribi
PhD - Université de Sherbrooke
Co-supervisor :
Martin Vallières
Website
Github
Olivier Lefebvre
PhD - Université de Sherbrooke
Co-supervisor :
Martin Vallières
Github
Jean Marie Tshimula
Postdoctorate - McGill University
Eve Wang
Master's Research - McGill University
Github

Publications

Improving Pediatric Trauma Education by Teaching Non-technical Skills: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Fabio Botelho
Ayla Gerk
Jason M. Harley
Dan Poenaru
2024-02-01
Journal of Pediatric Surgery (published)
doi.org
The State of Artificial Intelligence in Pediatric Surgery: A Systematic Review
Mohamed Elahmedi
Riya Sawhney
Elena Guadagno
Fabio Botelho
Dan Poenaru
2024-02-01
Journal of Pediatric Surgery (published)
doi.org
Using Artificial Intelligence to Label Free-Text Operative and Ultrasound Reports for Grading Pediatric Appendicitis.
Waseem Abu-Ashour
Sherif Emil
Sister Mary Emil
Dan Poenaru
2024-02-01
Journal of Pediatric Surgery (published)
doi.org
Exploring the digital divide: results of a survey informing mobile application development
Maira Corinne Claudio
Zachary Rehany
Katerina Stachtari
Elena Guadagno
Esli Osmanlliu
Dan Poenaru
Introduction Mobile health apps risk widening health disparities if they overlook digital inclusion. The digital divide, encompassing access… (see more), familiarity, and readiness, poses a significant barrier to medical interventions. Existing literature lacks exploration of the digital divide's contributing factors. Hence, data are needed to comprehend the challenges in developing inclusive health apps. Methods We created a survey to gauge internet and smartphone access, smartphone familiarity, and readiness for using mobile health apps among caregivers of pediatric patients in tertiary care. Open-ended questions solicited feedback and suggestions on mobile health applications. Responses were categorized by similarity and compared. Developed with patient partners, the survey underwent cognitive testing and piloting for accuracy. Results Data from 209 respondents showed that 23% were affected by the digital divide, mainly due to unfamiliarity with digital skills. Among 49 short text responses about health app concerns, 31 mentioned security and confidentiality, with 7 mentioning the impersonal nature of such apps. Desired features included messaging healthcare providers, scheduling, task reminders, and simplicity. Conclusions This study underscores a digital divide among caregivers of pediatric patients, with nearly a quarter affected primarily due to a lack of digital comfort. Respondents emphasized user-friendliness and online security for health apps. Future apps should prioritize digital inclusion by addressing the significant barriers and carefully considering patient and family concerns.
2024-01-01
Frontiers Digit. Health (published)
doi.org
The evidence mismatch in pediatric surgical practice
Marina Broomfield
Zena Agabani
Elena Guadagno
Dan Poenaru
Robert Baird
2023-11-18
Pediatric surgery international (Print) (published)
doi.org
Defining Feasibility as a Criterion for Essential Surgery: A Qualitative Study with Global Children’s Surgery Experts
Alizeh Abbas
Henry E. Rice
Dan Poenaru
Lubna Samad
2023-10-14
World Journal of Surgery (published)
doi.org
Leveraging ChatGPT to Democratize and Decolonize Global Surgery: Large Language Models for Small Healthcare Budgets
Fabio Botelho
Jean Marie Tshimula
Dan Poenaru
2023-09-10
World Journal of Surgery (published)
doi.org
Determinants of Access to Essential Surgery in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Luc Malemo Kalisya
Ava Yap
Boniface Mitume
Christian Salmon
Kambale Karafuli
Dan Poenaru
Rosebella Onyango
2023-08-01
Journal of Surgical Research (published)
doi.org
Assessing the inclusion of children’s surgical care in National Surgical, Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plans: a policy content analysis
Sabrina Wimmer
Paul Truche
Elena Guadagno
Emmanuel Ameh
Lubna Samad
Emmanuel Mwenda Malabo Makasa
Sarah Greenberg
John G Meara
Tonnis H van Dijk
Dan Poenaru
Objective While National Surgical, Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plans (NSOAPs) have emerged as a strategy to strengthen and scale up surgical h… (see more)ealthcare systems in low/middle-income countries (LMICs), the degree to which children’s surgery is addressed is not well-known. This study aims to assess the inclusion of children’s surgical care among existing NSOAPs, identify practice examples and provide recommendations to guide inclusion of children’s surgical care in future policies. Design We performed two qualitative content analyses to assess the inclusion of children’s surgical care among NSOAPs. We applied a conventional (inductive) content analysis approach to identify themes and patterns, and developed a framework based on the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery’s Optimal Resources for Children’s Surgery document. We then used this framework to conduct a directed (deductive) content analysis of the NSOAPs of Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia. Results Our framework for the inclusion of children’s surgical care in NSOAPs included seven domains. We evaluated six NSOAPs with all addressing at least two of the domains. All six NSOAPs addressed ‘human resources and training’ and ‘infrastructure’, four addressed ‘service delivery’, three addressed ‘governance and financing’, two included ‘research, evaluation and quality improvement’, and one NSOAP addressed ‘equipment and supplies’ and ‘advocacy and awareness’. Conclusions Additional focus must be placed on the development of surgical healthcare systems for children in LMICs. This requires a focus on children’s surgical care separate from adult surgical care in the scaling up of surgical healthcare systems, including children-focused needs assessments and the inclusion of children’s surgery providers in the process. This study proposes a framework for evaluating NSOAPs, highlights practice examples and suggests recommendations for the development of future policies.
2023-04-01
BMJ Open (published)
doi.org
Picture Cards Versus Physical Examination: A Proof-of-Concept Study to Improve the SOSAS Survey Tool.
Adesoji Ademuyiwa
Benedict C. Nwomeh
Dan Poenaru
Justina O. Seyi-Olajide
Iyabo Y. Ademuyiwa
Tinuola O. Odugbemi
Ogechi Abazie
Oluwaseun A. Ladipo-Ajayi
Olufemi Bankole
Olumide A. Elebute
Babasola Okusanya
Felix M. Alakaloko
Eyitayo O. Alabi
Ayomide Makanjuola
Shailvi Gupta
Tu Tran
Amanda Onwuka A
Emily R. Smith
Riinu Pius
Ewen Harrison … (see 1 more)
Christopher O. Bode
2023-04-01
Journal of Surgical Research (published)
doi.org
Definitive Care for Severely Injured Children in Quebec
Mélyssa Fortin
Zoe Atsaidis
Brent Hopkins
Etienne St-Louis
Elena Guadagno
Debbie Friedman
Dan Poenaru
2023-01-01
Injury (published)
doi.org
Exploring trust development in families of children towards surgical and emergency care providers: A scoping review of the literature.
Olivia Serhan
Alexander Moise
Elena Guadagno
A. Issa
Dan Poenaru
2023-01-01
Journal of Pediatric Surgery (published)
doi.org