Our Mission


Our mission is to provide comprehensive, quality care in a timely manner to patients with surgical diseases of the neurological  system, and to further the education, professional  development and mentorship of all levels of learner and colleague, both within the neuroscience community and without.

 

Our vision is to become a highly-regarded academic unit in North America, promoting excellence in clinical work; research; program development; collaboration; and education (i.e. post-graduate medical education, undergraduate medical education and continuing professional development). 

Our Faculty

Dr. Alysa Almojuela

Dr. Alysa Almojuela

Bsc., MD, FRCSC
Dr. Jason Beiko

Dr. Jason Beiko

BA(Hons.), MSc, PhD, MD, FRCSC
Dr. Neil Berrington

Dr. Neil Berrington

MMed, FRCS, FCS(SA)
Dr. Anthony Kaufmann photo

Dr. Anthony Kaufmann

MD, BSc (Med), MSc, FRCPC
Dr. Perry Dhaliwal

Dr. Perry Dhaliwal

MD, MPH, FRCSC
Dr. Marshall Wilkinson

Dr. Marshall Wilkinson

B.Sc. (Hon.), M.Sc., Ph.D
Dr. Joseph Silvaggio

Dr. Joseph Silvaggio

BSc, MD, FRCSC
Zeiler_photo

Dr. Frederick Zeiler

BSc, MD, PhD, CIP, FRCSC
Dr. Patrick McDonald

Dr. Patrick McDonald

MD, MHSc, FRCSC
Dr. Drapeau's photo

Dr. Annie Drapeau

MD, MSc, FRCSC (she/her)

Dr. Mohammed Suheel Abdul Salam

MD

History of Department

The history of neurosurgery in Winnipeg dates back to 1927, when Drs. Alexander Gibson and Oliver Waugh performed the first craniotomies at Winnipeg General Hospital. Dr. Waugh, a general surgeon by training, narrowed the focus of his practice to neurosurgery in 1939 and was joined by Dr. Hugh Cameron, another general surgeon, not long after.

1927- 1939

Manitoba's first specialty-trained neurosurgeon, Dr. Dwight Parkinson, was recruited to Winnipeg in 1950, when he became Head of the Section of Neurosurgery. Dr. Parkinson pioneered the surgical treatment of carotid-cavernous fistulae and wrote seminal papers on the surgical anatomy of the lateral cavernous space (cavernous sinus).

1950

Dr. Parkinson was joined by Dr. Rankin Hay (who eventually succeeded him as Section Head) in 1957, and by Dr. Norman Hill, a former Grey Cup-winning Winnipeg Blue Bomber, in 1958, to form what would be the nucleus of the Section of Neurosurgery for the next several decades.

1957 - 1958

The Section of Neurosurgery now consists of ten full-time members covering the full spectrum of neurosurgical subspecialties, including epilepsy, vascular, pediatric, spinal, skull base and tumor neurosurgery. All neurosurgical services are consolidated at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre, comprising the Winnipeg General Hospital and Children's Hospital. With the opening of the Winnipeg Centre for Gamma Knife Surgery in 2003, the Section of Neurosurgery at the University of Manitoba became the first Canadian centre to offer stereotactic radiosurgical procedures with the Gamma Knife.

2003 - Current Day