Dr. Maria Pia Monjardino was born and raised in Portugal. She obtained at School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (University of Porto) the Master’s degree in Medicine. She completed her residency in Orthopaedics Surgery at Coimbra University Hospital and was hired as a Staff Surgeon by the Department of Pediatric Orthopaedics of Coimbra’s Pediatric Hospital, heading by Dr Cristina Alves, and became member of the Spine Team, leading by Dr Tah Pu Ling. She is currently in a 2-year Post-Graduate Special Training Program in her Department.

Early in her residency, Dr. Monjardino developed a strong interest in spine surgery and during her Pediatric Orthopaedics rotation she became enthusiastic about Pediatric Orthopaedics in general and Pediatric Spine in particular. Most recently, she is also coordinating the Orthopaedic care at the Bone Dysplasias and Metabolic Bone Diseases Multidisciplinary Clinic.

She had also the privilege to collaborate with gifted surgeons: she visited Dr Jennifer Bauer at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital to experience a different approach to Pediatric Spine and Prof Federico Canavese at Jeanne de Flandres Hospital (Lille) to learn more about the pediatric spine casting technique.

During her free time, Pia likes to run, eat nice food, taste good wines, travel around the world with her youngest sister and spend time with her family, especially her niece and nephews.

“Being in SickKids is an outstanding opportunity for me as a Surgeon, but also for my Department as (probably) the main department providing pediatric spine care in Portugal.”

Dr Eri Samara

She graduated from University of Thessaly in Greece. She then moved to Switzerland, where she did her training in Trauma and Orthopedics in the University Hospitals of Geneva and Lausanne. During her residency, she completed a one-year research fellowship in the AO Research Institute in Davos and obtained her medical thesis in the University of Lausanne. Early in her residency, challenged and passionate from the complexity of paedicatric cases, she destinated on this field. After obtaining her specialty title, she has been working as a junior consultant in the Children University Hospital of Lausanne.

Her areas of special interest include osteoarticular infections, limb reconstruction and deformities corrections. Eri has also a keen interest in clinical research and has already published twenty articles in peer reviewed journals. Her interest in research and teaching led her to work as a senior lecturer in the University of Lausanne since January 2023. Eager to further develop her clinical and research experience, she is delighted to become member of the SickKids team. In her spare time, enjoys running long distances , reading and watching cartoons with her son, Leon.

She is in Toronto with her family and they are all excited to explore Toronto, make new friends and discover another culture.

Dr. Chang Park

Dr. Chang Park joins the SickKids team as a paediatric orthopaedic fellow. He graduates from Imperial College London and completed his orthopaedic training on the North West London rotation with his paediatric orthopaedic training at St. Marys and The Chelsea Westminster Hospitals.

He has a BSc in Medical Management from Imperial College London and has a further interest in medical education being a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK) and has completed a PGCert in medical education.

He has been awarded the British Orthopaedic Associate Travelling Fellowship to support his time in SickKids and will be travelling to Toronto with his wife, sons Alexander and William to embark on his next chapter of his training with the Sick Kids team.

He looks forward to working with the fantastic team at SickKids, developing his skills as a clinician and enjoy all that Toronto has to offer.

Dr. Hannah De Houwer

Dr. Hannah De Houwer was born and raised in Belgium, where she completed her medical degree at KU Leuven. Her orthopedic residency allowed her to train pediatric orthopedics at the University Hospitals of Leuven, leading to a two-year fellowship under guidance of prof. Anja Van Campenhout and prof. Guy Molenaers among others. She is a member of the Belgian Association of Pediatric Orthopaedics (BAPO), and will join the Belgian Cerebral Palsy Registry (BeCPR) expert panel upon completion of the SickKids fellowship, to contribute to international research as a partner of the Surveillance of Cerebral Palsy in Europe.

Cerebral palsy care is her main interest within pediatric orthopedic surgery. Her formation in adult foot and ankle pathology during residency led to a particular interest in pediatric foot pathology, as well as limb deformity management. During her residency and fellowship, dr. De Houwer found working in multidisciplinary teams in care for neuromuscular diseases and congenital (upper) limb deformities most rewarding. This keeps motivating her to expand her knowledge and care beyond the mere musculoskeletal pathology, in order to step up to the role of confidant for the child and their parents.

In her free time, she enjoys running, hiking, cycling and travelling, as well as passing time with family and friends over fine food. She plans on combining these activities to explore this beautiful country and experience the Canadian way of living to its fullest.

Dr Marco Goetze

Dr. Marco Goetze graduated from the Medical School at the Ruprecht-Karls-University in Heidelberg, Germany in 2010.

Paediatric Orthopaedics has been his special interest for all his professional life. Especially Paediatric Neurorthopaedics have accompanied and inspired him on his way from an early stage in his studies. He finds dealing with and treating our patients is exciting, diverse and fulfilling everyday

After his residency at the University Hospital and BG Trauma Hospital in Tübingen, Germany as well as the Children’s Hospital in Lucerne, Switzerland, he obtained his specialization in Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery in 2017. He then obtained his specialization in Paediatric Orthopaedics in 2018 and has been a consultant at the Orthopaedic University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany since, with a special interest in Neuromuscular diseases, deformity correction, hip and foot surgery.

In 2019 he was awarded the Travelling Fellowship of the German Speaking Paediatric Orthopaedic Society VKO and had the chance to visit renown institutions around Europe. He is interested in motion analysis and has worked and published on neurorthopaedic gait disorders, furthermore he also is an Associate Editor for the Gait and Posture Journal.

He thinks that sharing our experience and connecting our ideas in professional exchange is crucial to improve treatment of our children and our specialty itself. Therefore, looking beyond the horizon and getting input from experts at the Sick Kids will be of so much value for him and he is excited to learn and develop further during his fellowship in Toronto

Dr Luckshman Bavan

Luckshman is a clinical fellow in paediatric orthopaedics at Sick Kids. He is from the UK and obtained his medical degree from Imperial College London. He completed his orthopaedic registrar training in the Oxford and Thames Valley region.

Luckshman has a particular interest in managing paediatric hip conditions, musculoskeletal deformity and trauma. He is actively engaged in clinical research and has completed a PhD investigating the clinical applications of wearable motion sensing technology. He has an interest in medical education and has worked as a clinical tutor at the University of Oxford for 9 years.

He is looking forward to exploring Toronto with his wife, daughter, and dog. During his free time, he enjoys running and playing golf.