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

Publications

Virtual Reality for Pediatric Trauma Education - A Preliminary Face and Content Validation Study.
Fabio Botelho
Said Ashkar
Shreenik Kundu
Tj Matthews
Elena Guadgano
Virtual Reality for Pediatric Trauma Education - A Preliminary Face and Content Validation Study
Fabio Botelho
Said Ashkar
Shreenik Kundu
Tj Matthews
Elena Guadgano
The effect of gestational age on short- and long-term complications following primary esophageal atresia repair
Mathias Johansen
Samuel Wasserman
Jean Martin Laberge
Sam J. Daniel
Thomas Engelhardt
The effect of gestational age on short- and long-term complications following primary esophageal atresia repair
Mathias Johansen
Samuel Wasserman
Jean-Martin Laberge
Sam J. Daniel
Thomas Engelhardt
GAPS phase II: development and pilot results of the global assessment in pediatric surgery, an evidence-based pediatric surgical capacity assessment tool for low-resource settings.
Yasmine Yousef
Sarah Cairo
Etienne St-Louis
Laura F. Goodman
Doulia M. Hamad
Robert Baird
Emily R. Smith
Sherif Emil
Jean Martin Laberge
Mohamed Abdelmalak
Zipporah Gathuy
Faye Evans
Maryam Ghavami Adel
Ki K. Bertille
Milind Chitnis
Leecarlo Millano
Peter Nthumba
Sergio d’Agostino
Bruno Cigliano
Luis Enrique Zea-Salazar … (see 4 more)
Emmanuel Ameh
Doruk Ozgediz
Elena Guadagno
Implementation of a Global Pediatric Trauma Course in an Upper Middle–Income Country: A Pilot Study
Abbie Naus
Madeleine Carroll
Ayla Gerk
David P. Mooney
Natalie L. Yanchar
Julia Ferreira
Karen E. Gripp
Caroline Ouellet
Fabio Botelho
Exploring the digital divide: results of a survey informing mobile application development
Maira Corinne Claudio
Zachary Rehany
Katerina Stachtari
Elena Guadagno
Esli Osmanlliu
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.
ChatGPT: What Every Pediatric Surgeon Should Know About Its Potential Uses and Pitfalls
Raquel González
Russell Woo
A Francois Trappey
Stewart Carter
David Darcy
Ellen Encisco
Brian Gulack
Doug Miniati
Edzhem Tombash
Eunice Y. Huang
Patient-Centered Surgical Care for Children in Low and Lower-Middle Income Countries (LMICs) - A Systematic Scoping Review of the Literature
Riya Sawhney
Kacylia Roy Proulx
Ayla Gerk
Elena Guadagno
Essential surgery delivery in the Northern Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Luc Kalisya Malemo
Ava Yap
Boniface Mitume
Christian Salmon
Kambale Karafuli
Rosebella Onyango
The Impact of Educational Materials on Parental Anxiety and Productivity: A Clinical Trial in Pediatric Appendicitis
Julia Ferreira
Nadia Safa
Fabio Botelho
Robin Petroze
Hussein Wissanji
Pramod Puligandla
Kenneth Shaw
Maeve Trudeau
Sherif Emil
Elena Guadagno
Jean Martin Laberge
Adaptation, Translation, and Validation of a Patient-Reported Experience Measure for Children and Young People for the Canadian Context.
Zanib Nafees
Julia Ferreira
Elena Guadagno
Jo Wray
Agneta Anderzén-Carlsson