Dr. Francesco Carli

Dr. Francesco Carli
MD, MPhil, FRCA, FRCPC
Clinical Director

Biography

Dr. Francesco Carli is Professor of Anesthesia and Associate Professor in the School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition at McGill University. Dr. Carli’s research interests are in the areas of surgical stress and prehabilitation.

Dr. Carli is a founding member of the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) society, an international organization that trains clinicians in implementing evidence-based multidisciplinary perioperative programs aiming at accelerating the recovery process following major surgery.

Dr. Carli is a founding member of POP, a Principal Investigator in prehabilitation research and clinical director of the prehabilitation clinic. As a clinical director he plays a key role in patient prehabilitation pathway generation.

Janius

Dr. Janius Tsang, MD, MSc
Clinical co-director

Biography

Dr. Janius Tsang obtained her medical degree from the University of Calgary in 2004 and completed her residency training in Anesthesiology at McGill University in 2009. While working in the community setting, she was inspired by the pioneering work of the perioperative program team. To further her involvement, she returned to McGill University in 2021 to pursue a Masters’ degree in Experimental Surgery. Since 2020, she also works as a staff anesthesiologist in the Department of Anesthesia at the Montreal General Hospital and teaches trainees about preparing patients for surgery. She is additionally the clinical co-director of the prehabilitation clinic, where she assists the team in creating the best pathway to optimize patients.

Amal

Dr. Amal Bessissow, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Director of MUHC Preoperative Clinic
Internal Medicine Consultant

Biography

In 2012, Dr. A. Bessissow obtained Royal College of Physician of Canada Fellowship in Internal Medicine and in 2015, she obtained Royal college of Physicians of Canada Fellowship in General Internal Medicine. As of July 2015, she holds the position of assistant professor of internal medicine at McGill University Health Centre. Dr. Bessissow is currently the medical director of the preoperative clinic at the MUHC and the director of the general internal medicine/postoperative consult service at the MGH. At the prehabilitation clinic, Dr. Bessissow is involved in optimizing medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, anemia) during and after the prehabilitation period in surgical patients.

Do Jun

Do Jun Kim, MSc
Clinical Leader and Physiotherapist

Biography

DJ has a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and Physiotherapy. He has been working with cancer patients for more than 20 years, doing assessments, prescribing home exercise programs, supervising exercise, and providing patient education at the prehabilitation clinic. DJ has the responsibility of managing the clinical prehabilitation team. He is also working in the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) unit at the Montreal General Hospital, MUHC.

Roni Zaks

Roni Zaks, MSc Student
Project Manager and Kinesiologist

Biography

Roni Zaks, an accredited member of the Quebec Kinesiologists Federation, completed his B.Sc. at Concordia University in Kinesiology and Clinical Exercise Physiology in 2022. He is currently pursuing a M.Sc. in Experimental Surgery at McGill University. As a clinical kinesiologist, Roni’s roles include patient assessment, home exercise prescription, supervised exercise training, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and educating patients at the prehabilitation clinic. Roni has the additional responsibility of managing and developing an innovative portal for patients that will be undergoing the prehabilitation pathway.

No avatar

Noa Yaakoba-Zohar, RD, MSc
Nutritionist

Biography

Noa Yaakoba-Zohar completed her M.Sc. in Human Nutrition at McGill University in 2020 and is an accredited member of the Ordre des diététistes-nutritionnistes du Québec. Since her graduation, Noa has worked as a clinical nutritionist at the MUHC in diverse areas including trauma and traumatic brain injury, thoracic surgery, and internal medicine. At the prehabilitation clinic, Noa’s role includes evaluation of patients’ nutritional status, diagnosis of nutritional conditions, implementation of various nutritional interventions, and patient education.

Linda

Dr. Linda Edgar, MSc, PhD
Relaxation and Coping Volunteer

Biography

Linda volunteers at prehabilitation clinic teaching relaxation techniques and coping strategies to the patients. Linda is a retired nurse with both a Masters and PhD in Nursing. She has conducted several funded research projects on coping, distress and volunteerism, and has published articles, book chapters and books on these topics.

Her previous research took place within the Depts. of Nursing, Oncology and Epidemiology at the Jewish General Hospital. She also served as the National Advisor for Psychosocial Support with the Canadian Association of Colorectal Cancer.

She continues to be an adjunct professor of nursing at Brock University in St. Catharines, ON, and an adjunct assistant professor at McGill’s School of Nursing.

Carol

Carol Common, MSc
Relaxation and Coping Specialist

Biography

As a relaxation and coping consultant, Carol helps patients with stress management using coping skills, relaxation and breathing exercises as well as reframing thoughts to support feelings of self-control and empowerment. Carol is a retired nurse with a Masters in Applied Science (Nursing) from McGill University. Her career has spanned various fields of nursing including pediatrics, oncology, community health, emergency management, and community liaison. Carol is a long-time yoga practitioner and has been teaching yoga since 2001

Anas

Anas Koudieh, MD
Clinical research coordinator and data analyst

Biography

Anas Koudieh is a graduate from Al-Faisal University School of Medicine with an affiliation with King Faisal Specialist Hospital. He completed his Internship in King Fahad Medical City where he developed interest in clinical research, with one publication completed in the World Journal of Cardiovascular disease. Currently he is a research coordinator in the Montreal General Hospital where he focuses on data entry and analysis in the pre-habilitation clinic. He continues to strive to increase his expertise in research with a multidisciplinary team.

Celena

Dr. Celena Scheede-Bergdahl, PhD
Kinesiology Consultant

Biography

Dr. Bergdahl received her BSc in Exercise Science (Concordia University, Canada), MSc in Kinesiology (Université de Montréal, Canada) and PhD in Medical Physiology (University of Copenhagen, Denmark). Presently, she is a faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education at McGill University, where her research interests lie in the area of exercise interventions in various inflammatory and insulin resistant conditions.

Dr. Bergdahl has been working with the prehabilitation team contributing to both the prehabilitation program and the development of guidelines for early mobilization as a part of Enhanced Recovery Canada.

Miquel

Dr. Miquel Coca, MD, MSc, PhD Candidate
Anesthesiology Consultant

Biography

Dr. Miquel Coca Martinez completed his medical degree at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and his residency training in Anesthesia and Critical Care at the University of Barcelona, Spain. He then moved to Montreal to join the prehabilitation team where he completed his Master of Science, in Experimental Surgery at McGill University. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. studying prehabilitation in vascular surgery. At the same time, he is a practicing Anesthesiologist at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital.