Portrait of Dan Poenaru

Dan Poenaru

Associate Academic Member
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

PhD - McGill University
Master's Research - McGill University
PhD - McGill University
PhD - McGill University
PhD - McGill University
Principal supervisor :
Master's Research - McGill University
PhD - McGill University
PhD - McGill University
PhD - Université de Sherbrooke
Co-supervisor :
PhD - Université de Sherbrooke
Co-supervisor :
Master's Research - McGill University

Publications

Adapting Perioperative Care for Neurodivergent Children - A Scoping Review
Spandana Veeravalli
Maia Michaud
Judy Colton
Brenda Bourdeau
Samantha Sacks
Lindsay Hales
Elena Guadagno
Advocacy for Children With Surgical Diseases in Nigeria: National Policy Status, Gaps, and Solutions
Justina O. Seyi-Olajide
Ayla Gerk
Elena Guadagno
Adesoji Ademuyiwa
Emmanuel A. Ameh
Child- and Proxy-reported Differences in Patient-reported Outcome and Experience Measures in Pediatric Surgery: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Zanib Nafees
Siena O'Neill
Alexandra Dimmer
Elena Guadagno
Julia Ferreira
Nancy Mayo
Investigating the Effect of Providing Required Training to Mothers of Children with Surgery and Its Effect on Mothers' Anxiety
Julia Ferreira
Nadia Safa
Fabio Botelho
Robin Petroze
Hussein Wissanji
Pramod Puligandla
Kenneth Shaw
Maeve Trudeau
Elena Guadagno
Jean Martin Laberge
Sherif Emil
Machine-learning-assisted Preoperative Prediction of Pediatric Appendicitis Severity
Julia Ferreira
Waseem Abu Ashour
Elena Guadagno
Etienne St-Louis
Sherif Emil
Enhancing Surgical Safety in Conflict Zones: Implementing the WHO Checklist in North Kivu
Jacques Fadhili Bake
Claude Kasereka Masumbuko
Zacharie Tsongo Kibendelwa
Background: The WHO Surgical Safety Checklist (WHO Checklist) has been shown to effectively reduce surgical complications worldwide. However… (see more), implementing this checklist in conflict-affected regions like North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), presents unique challenges. This study investigates the utilization of the WHO Checklist in hospitals across North Kivu to identify barriers and opportunities for improvement. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted across 11 hospitals (5 urban and 6 rural) in North Kivu. Surveys were administered to healthcare professionals, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses, to assess their knowledge, usage, and perceptions of the WHO Checklist. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26. Results: The response rate was 80.3%, with a majority (59.2%) from urban hospitals. The use of the WHO Checklist was inconsistent; 60.1% reported it was not utilized in the operating room. No significant differences in checklist usage were found between urban and rural hospitals (p=0.516). Training significantly correlated with the completion rate of checklist phases (p0.001) but not with overall usage (p=0.057). Furthermore, there were no significant differences regarding the need for further training to
Delays in Care for Children With Low Anorectal Malformations in Southwestern Uganda.
Felix Oyania
Caroline Q. Stephens
Sarah Ullrich
Meera Kotagal
Daniel Kisitu
Francis Bajunirwe
Doruk Ozgediz
Effectiveness of primary repair for low anorectal malformations in Uganda.
Felix Oyania
Sarah Ullrich
Zane Hellmann
Caroline Q. Stephens
Meera Kotagal
Sarah Jane Commander
Amy M. Shui
Martin Situma
Charles Newton Odongo
Olivia Kituuka
Francis Bajunirwe
Doruk Ozgediz
GAPS Phase III: incorporation of capacity based weighting in the global assessment for pediatric surgery
Yasmine Yousef
Emmanuel Ameh
Luc Malemo Kalisya
Innovative transfusion strategies for blood deserts in disaster settings
Ayla Gerk
Robert Glatter
Clinical Care Trajectory Assessment of Children with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia and Neurodevelopmental Impairment
Alexandra Dimmer
Gabriel Altit
Sabrina Beauseigle
Elena Guadagno
Louise Koclas
Katryn Paquette
Ana Sant’Anna
Adam Shapiro
Pramod Puligandla
Virtual Reality for Pediatric Trauma Education - A Preliminary Face and Content Validation Study
Fabio Botelho
Said Ashkar
TJ Matthews
Elena Guadgano