Department of Surgery
The Department of Surgery focuses on the integration of clinical care, teaching, and research and supports the mission and goals of SickKids.


James Drake, BSE, MB, BCh, MSc, FRCSC
Surgeon-in-Chief
The Department of Surgery focuses on the integration of clinical care, teaching, and research and supports the mission and goals of SickKids.
The Department of Surgery is comprised of six surgical divisions – all involved in, and committed to ensuring that children have the best possible experiences and outcomes in their surgical journey.
The staff of the Department of Surgery provide national and international leadership in highly complex and innovative clinical care, basic, clinical and health outcomes research, undergraduate and postgraduate education, and numerous administrative responsibilities.
Surgical divisions

Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
We're the largest paediatric division of its kind in North America.
Division heads
Research activities
Research activities are coordinated at the SickKids Research Institute under various research programs which range from basic science at the sub-molecular level to organ systems to population health.
The total research funding in fiscal year 2019/20 was $70.1M, of which $63.2M was external funding, with 174 grants held. Perioperative Services (POS) principal investigators directly held 147 grants and controlled $53.3M of funding, while 27 grants and $9.9M were sub granted out to other organizations.
POS held 32 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grants that totaled $23.7M, with an additional nine sub grants totaling $2.1M. Our CIHR success rate in the fall 2019 project competition was 33% compared to 28% for SickKids and 21% nationally.
Contact us
Dr. James Drake, BSE, MB, BCh, MSc, FRCSC, Surgeon-in-Chief
Email: james.drake@sickkids.ca
Phone: 416-813-7794
Staff profile
Laurel A. Brown, MHSc, Director, Strategy & Business Operations
Email: laurel.brown@sickkids.ca
Phone: 416-813-6398
Leslie Jones, Executive Assistant to Dr. Drake
Email: leslie.jones@sickkids.ca
Phone: 416-813-5102
Jeannette So, Evidence Analyst
Email: jeannette.so@sickkids.ca
Phone: 416-813-1920
Dr. Sonya Sivakumar, Leader, Clinical Quality & Data Analyst
Email: sonya.sivakumar@sickkids.ca
Phone: 416-813-6207
Department Fax: 416-813-7369