Bio
Dr. Orser is the Chair of the Department of Anesthesia at the University of Toronto, a Professor of Anesthesia and Physiology at the University of Toronto and a practicing anesthesiologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada. She received a Medical Doctorate from Queen’s University (1981), a Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (1987), and a PhD in medical science from the University of Toronto (1995). Her postgraduate clinical training was completed at the Royal Columbian Hospital in British Columbia, McMaster University in Hamilton, Oxford University, and the University of Toronto.
Her research and leadership contributions have been recognized by the Gold Medal from the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society (2017), the first Frontiers in Anesthesia Research Award from the International Anesthesia Research Society (1995), the first Canada Research Chair awarded to an anesthesiologist (2003) and recognition awards from the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland and the Peter Dresel Award in Pharmacology from Dalhousie University (2017). She was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2013.
Affiliations
- Professor, Department of Anesthesia & Physiology, University of Toronto
- Anesthesiologist, Department of Anesthesia, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Scientist, Sunnybrook Research Institute
- Director of Research, Department of Anesthesia, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Previous Appointments
- 2003-2013: Canada Research Chair in Anesthesia, Tier 2: Anesthetic Drugs: From Molecular Mechanisms to Patient Safety
Honours and Awards
- 2017 : Gold Medal, Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society “awarded to someone who has made a significant contribution to anesthesia in Canada through teaching, research, professional practice, or related administration and personal leadership”
- 2017: Peter Dresel Award in Pharmacology, Dalhousie University “for contributions to basic science understanding of anesthetics and their clinical use”
- 2017: Invited Speaker to Members of Parliament on Parliament Hill, on behalf of Research Canada and the Canadian Neuroscience Association
- 2016: Elected by the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society, Representative to the World Federation of Anesthesiologists Societies (WFSA) Quality and Patient Safety Committee
- 2014: Mary Burnell Medal and Memorial Lecture: Australian and New Zealand Colleges of Anesthetists and Surgeons, Singapore
- 2013: Elected, Board of Trustees: International Anesthesia Research Society
- 2012: Elected Fellow, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (Canadian equivalent of Institute of Medicine of the National Academies)
- 2009: Oxford Ion Channels and Membrane Transport in Health and Disease (OXION) Lecturer, Oxford University, Oxford, England
- 2006: Research Recognition Award: Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society
- 2003: Canada Research Chair in Anesthesia, Tier 2: Anesthetic Drugs: From Molecular Mechanisms to Patient Safety
- 2002: Premier’s Research Excellence Award (Ontario)
Significant Publications
- Zurek AA, Yu J, Wang DS, Haffey SC, Bridgwater EM, Penna A, Lecker I, Lei G, Chang T, Salter EWR, Orser BA. (2014) Sustained increase in α5 GABA-A receptor function impairs memory after anesthesia. J Clin Invest. 124: 5437-5441
- Lecker I, Wang DS, Romaschin AD, Peterson M, Mazer CD, Orser BA. (2012) Tranexamic acid concentrations associated with human seizures inhibit glycine receptors. J Clin Invest. Vol. 122(12): 4654-4666.
- Wang DS, Zurek AA, Lecker I, Yu J, Abramian AM, Avramescu S, Davies PA, Moss SJ, Lu WY, Orser BA. (2012) Memory deficits induced by inflammation are regulated by α5-subunit-containing GABA-A receptors. Cell Rep. 2(3): 488-496.
- Martin, LJ, Jackson, MF, Ju W, Macdonald JF, Roder JC, Orser BA (2010) α5 γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptor activity sets the threshold for long-term potentiation and constrains hippocampus-dependent memory. J Neurosci 30(15):5269-5282.
