Meet our Instructors:

Dr. Avery Nathens

Dr. Avery Nathens is currently the Chief of Surgery and Trauma Medical Director at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Canada’s largest Level 1 trauma centre, and Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto. He is an attending trauma surgeon and epidemiologist with a focus on trauma system design. He is co-chair of the Ontario Trauma Advisory Committee and Medical Director of Trauma Quality Programs, American College of Surgeons. His research interests include trauma system effectiveness and quality of trauma care. He holds the DeSouza Chair in Trauma Research and has published over 350 peer-reviewed manuscripts including many landmark works on trauma care in Lancet, NEJM and JAMA. He has been the recipient of several million dollars of research funding from the NIH, Canadian Institutes of Health Research and many other agencies.

Sharon Ramagnano

​Sharon Ramagnano is an RN with almost 25 years’ experience. After 5 years of working in a community emergency department She moved to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Emergency/Trauma unit where over the years she worked as a staff nurse, charge nurse, clinical care leader, emergency medicine research coordinator, clinical educator and advanced practice nurse. During this time Sharon also taught nursing at the university and college level. For 3 years Sharon also worked for the Ministry of Health at Trillium Gift of Life as the Director for Policy, Education and Professional Practice in Transplant for the Province of Ontario. Her last position at Sunnybrook was the Manager for Trauma services at Sunnybrook where she was in charge of trauma program initiatives including trauma quality improvement, trauma registry, performance, program planning and development, the International P.A.R.T.Y. Program, Office for Injury Prevention, Regional trauma program development, and new initiatives such as Stop the Bleed. As of early 2019 Sharon is now the Manager of the Emergency Department at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie Ontario.  

Dr. Barbara Haas, Trauma Surgeon

Dr. Barbara Haas is trauma surgeon and ICU physician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. In addition, she holds positions as Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto, as a Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute, and as an Adjunct Scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). Dr. Haas is the Trauma Education Lead at Sunnybrook.

Dr. Bourke Tillmann, Trauma Team Leader, ICU Intensivist

Dr. Bourke Tillmann is a Clinical Associate in Critical Care Medicine and a Trauma Team Leader at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He is currently studying health care resource utilization at the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation with a focus on trauma systems. His clinical interests include intensive care, trauma, and cardiac arrest.

Dee Naidu, Physician Assistant, Division of General Surgery

Will Thomas-Boaz, APN Emergency and Trauma

Dr. Luis Teodoro da Luz, General and Trauma Surgeon

Dee completed her Physician Assistant education and training at McMaster University in the fourth graduating class of 2013. Since joining the Sunnybrook team in the Division of General Surgery, she has helped to pave the path for the PA profession through her leadership role as Professional Lead of the Physician Assistant group. Dee's clinical work has inspired her to pursue a Masters Degree in Public Health to connect the gap between patients and their communities. As part of her degree, Dee is concurrently fulfilling a practicum placement with Sunnybrook's Office of Injury Prevention, working closely with the P.A.R.T.Y. Program and Stop The Bleed.

Will Thomas-Boaz is the Advanced Practice Nurse for the Emergency Department (ED) and Trauma Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.  He has been a Registered Nurse since graduating from McMaster University in 2005.  He started his career in California working in a non-profit community hospital and moved back to Ontario to work at Sunnybrook in 2008. Will has spent his entire nursing career in the ED setting and was a mentor to new staff, triage nurse, and charge nurse at Sunnybrook before moving into the role of the Advanced Practice Nurse. Will has a Master’s of Nursing degree with a teaching focus and enjoys his current work in quality improvement, professional practice, and education.
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Dr. Luis Teodoro da Luz is a general and trauma surgeon focusing on resuscitation of severely injured trauma patients at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Dr. da Luz also holds positions as Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto, and as a Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. He is also the Head Trauma Team leader at Sunnybrook. His research focus is on trauma hemorrhage and coagulopathy, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and quality improvement in trauma.