Program Directors
Dr. Aleksa Cenic
MD MSc FRCSC
Dr. Cenic completed an undergraduate BSc in Medical Physics at McMaster University, then went on to complete an MSc in Medical Biophysics at the University of Western Ontario. Thereafter, he completed his Medical School and Neurosurgery residency training program at McMaster University. He then completed his Spine Fellowship at the University of Calgary under Dr. John Hurlbert. Upon fellowship, he worked as a Staff Neuro-Spine Surgeon at the University of Calgary. Dr. Cenic returned to Hamilton as a full-time staff in 2011, and since has become an Associate Professor at McMaster. As an academic Neurosurgeon, with a predominant Spine practise, Dr. Cenic focuses on degenerative, oncological, and traumatic disorders of the spine. His practise also includes Minimally Invasive Spine procedures. As a member of the Residency Program Committee and Director of the Spine Fellowship program, Dr. Cenic is intimately involved in training future surgeons.
Dr. Daipayan guha
MD PhD FRCSC
Dr. Guha is a Canadian board-certified neurosurgeon specializing in adult spinal surgery. He completed his neurosurgical residency from the University of Toronto, from 2012-2020, during which time he also completed a PhD developing and validating a novel spinal image guidance technology. After this, he completed a clinical fellowship in complex and minimally-invasive spinal surgery, during which time he was also appointed as junior faculty, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center from 2020-2021. He began his appointment as an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at McMaster University in November of 2021. His clinical focus is on image-guided and minimally-invasive approaches to the full spectrum of spinal disorders, including cervical spine surgery, spine oncology, spine trauma, intradural pathologies, degenerative pathologies as well as deformity and revision surgery. His research interests are in the development and validation of novel technologies to streamline surgical workflow and enhance trainee education.
Faculty
Dr. Brian drew
MD FRCSC
I am an Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Hamilton General Hospital. I have a subspecialty interest in spine surgery. I graduated from McMaster University Orthopaedic Residency Program in June 2002, and became a fellow with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in July 2002. I then went on to complete a combined orthopaedic and neurosurgery spine fellowship program at the University of Calgary. I completed the program in June of 2003, and was hired on staff at the Hamilton General Hospital in October of 2003. I am an Associate Clinical Professor at McMaster University. I am the former Clinical Teaching Unit Director at the Hamilton General Hospital. I was formerly the head of neurosurgery at the Hamilton general hospital. I was formerly the Physician Chief of Spine Surgery at the Hamilton General Hospital from July 1 2023 to December 21 2023. I was formerly Head of Service of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Hamilton General Hospital from 2013 until September 1 2021. I am currently licensed to practice in the province of Ontario. I am a member of the Canadian Orthopaedic Association, Canadian Spine Society, and the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners.
Dr. Markian Pahuta
MD PhD FRCSC
Dr. Pahuta is a fellowship-trained spine surgeon. He completed his medical school at the University of Toronto and residency training at the University of Ottawa. He then completed a combined orthopaedic and neurosurgical spine fellowship at the Toronto Wester Hospital. His practice is based at the Hamilton General Hospital with a focus on cervical spine surgery, spinal oncology, complex reconstruction including deformity correction, and revision surgery.
Dr. Pahuta’s research interests include decision analysis and quality-of-life assessment for spinal disorders, with a focus on cervical myelopathy and metastatic spine diseases. He obtained a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Ottawa. He is actively involved in national and international research initiatives.
Dr. Edward kachur
MD FRCSC
Dr Kachur completed an undergraduate BSc degree at the University of Toronto. He then went on to complete his MD degree and Neurosurgery residency at Western University in London , Ontario. Following this he completed a one year Spine Fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr Kachur has been a full time staff Neuro-Spine Surgeon at Hamilton General Hospital since 2003. He is an Associate Professor at McMaster University. Dr Kachur focuses on degenerative , traumatic and oncological disorders of the spine including intradural tumors . He has a particular research interest in degenerative cervical myelopathy. He is involved with teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate medical trainees.
Dr. Mohammad Zarrabian
DC, MD, FRCSC
Dr. Mohammad Zarrabian is the current Head of Spine Surgery at Hamilton Health Sciences. He is a double fellowship-trained spine surgeon, having completed neurosurgical and orthopedic spine surgery fellowships at the Mayo Clinic and Toronto Western Hospital, University of Toronto. He completed medical school at Queen’s University and his residency at the University of Manitoba. Additionally, he holds a chiropractic degree from the National University of Health Sciences and a degree in economics from the University of Toronto. His clinical focus includes complex spine cases such as degenerative conditions, minimally invasive procedures, and oncology. Dr. Zarrabian has been an invited guest speaker and has presented research at both national and international meetings in the fields of surgery and alternative and complementary medicine.
