Division of Neurosurgery
Faculty Biographies
Dr. Richard Moulton, MD, FRCSC
Association Professor University of Ottawa
Chair, Division of Neurosurgery University of Ottawa
Chief, Division of Neurosurgery The Ottawa Hospital
Program Director, Division of Neurosurgery
Dr. Moulton received his MD from the University of Calgary in 1979. He entered the Neurosurgery Training program at the University of Toronto in June of that year. He received his FRCSC in Neurosurgery in 1984. Dr. Moulton did a Clinical Research Fellowship at the Medical College of Virginia under the supervision of Dr. A. Marmarou from 1984-1986 on the topic of head injury. He returned to Toronto and joined the Neurosurgical Staff as St Michael’s hospital in 1986, where he served as Division Head of Neurosurgery and Medical Directory of the St. Michael’s Trauma program until 2004.
In 2004, Dr. Moulton accepted the position as Division Chief for Neurosurgery at the Ottawa Hospital and Chairman of the Neurosurgery Division of the University of Ottawa.
In 2005 he was elected as a member of the Peripheral Nerve Surgery Committee of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies. His subspecialty clinical interest is peripheral nerve surgery. In April 2006 he accepted the additional responsibility of Program Director for the Neurosurgery Resident training program with the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Charles B. Agbi: MB, FRCS, FRCSEd (SN), FRCSC
Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
Staff Neurosurgeon, The Ottawa Hospital
Dr. Agbi is a graduate of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He underwent residency training in neurosurgery in Manchester and London, England. Dr. Agbi completed a Fellowship in spinal surgery at the University of Toronto and completed his final year of residency training at the University of Ottawa.
He joined the Faculty of Medicine in 1995, at which time he took up an appointment at the-then Ottawa General Hospital (now The Ottawa Hospital). He is Executive Secretary for the Test Committee at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and serves on several surgical curriculum committees at the University of Ottawa. In July 2003, he accepted the responsibilities of Program Director. His subspecialty interest is complex spine surgery and his publications include articles on brain tumours, aneurysms, syringomyelia, and cervical spine surgery.
Dr. Brien G. Benoit: BA, MD, MSc, FRCSC, FACS
Professor, University of Ottawa
Staff Neurosurgeon, The Ottawa Hospital
Dr. Benoit is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and completed his neurosurgery residency training at the University of Toronto. He completed a Masters Degree in Neurophysiology at the University of Toronto and joined the faculty at the University of Ottawa in 1972.
Dr. Benoit was the Program Director from 1995 until 2003 and the Chair 1997 to 2003. He has a particular interest and expertise in skull-based surgery for acoustic neuroma, aneurysm surgery, and the management of peripheral and cranial nerve disorders. His published work includes papers on traumatic aneurysms, peripheral neurolysis, and percutaneous balloon rhizolysis. He has participated in numerous multi-centre clinical trials including the NASCET and ACAS trials. In the past, his administrative responsibilities have included Chief of Surgery and Chief of Staff of The Ottawa Civic Hospital, and since 1998 Chief of the Division of Neurosurgery of the merged Ottawa Hospital. Dr. Benoit recently completed a term as an examiner in neurosurgery for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is a two-time recipient of the Faculty Award for Best Teacher in the Department of Surgery at the University of Ottawa
Dr. Vasco F. Da Silva: MSc, MD, FRCSC, FACS
Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
Staff Neurosurgeon, The Ottawa Hospital
Dr. Da Silva studied medicine at the universities of Coimbra and Lisbon in Portugal and completed his medical degree at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. After completing a a rotating internship in Montreal, he enrolled in the University of Ottawa Neurosurgery Training Program and subsequently completed a Fellowship at the Brain Tumour Research Centre at the Univeristy of California, San Francisco. He also obtained a Fellowship in stereotactic neurosurgery at the University of British Columbia. In 1984, Dr. DaSilva joined the University of Ottwa Faculty of Medicine and the-then Ottawa Civic Hospital (now The Ottawa Hospital). His particular interest and publications focus on management of brain tumours by radiation oncology and chemotherapy.
Dr. Howard J. Lesiuk: MD, BSc, FRCSC
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa
Staff Neurosurgeon, The Ottawa Hospital
After undergraduate training in physics and science, Dr. Lesiuk received his medical degree from the University of Manitoba. Following a mixed surgical internship, he completed a residency in Neurosurgery at the University of Manitoba and then completed a fellowship in NMR imaging and spectroscopy for cerebral ischemia with the Medical Research Council of Canada in Winnipeg.
He has worked as an investigator with the Neuroscience Research Group at the Loeb Research Institute in Ottawa and holds a cross appointment to the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, of the University of Ottawa. He is particularly interested in vascular neurosurgery and has published several articles on the management of cerebral ischemia with neuroprotective agents.
Dr. Lesiuk received the Faculty Award for Best Teacher in the Department of Surgery at the University of Ottawa in 1999 and currently supervises the divisional Journal Club program.
Dr. John Sinclair, BSc, MD, FRCSC
Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
Staff Neurosurgeon, The Ottawa Hospital
Dr. Sinclair is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and received his medical degree in 1996. After completing his residency in the University of Ottawa Neurosurgery Training Program , Dr. Sinclair was appointed as a clinical instructor of neurosurgery at Stanford University in California . He subsequently completed a 2 year cerebrovascular fellowship at Stanford and then an additional year of fellowship training at Stanford in stereotactic radiosurgery. He then returned to Canada in 2005 and joined The Ottawa Hospital and Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa .
Dr. Sinclair's subspecialty interests include neuroendoscopy and vascular neurosurgery. He is particularly interested in the surgical management of moyamoya disease, complex cerebral aneurysms and vascular malformations. He is also interested in the stereotactic radiosurgical management of arteriovenous malformations and brain tumours. His publications and presentations include articles on the treatment of moyamoya disease, multi-modality treatment of arteriovenous malformations and extracranial radiosurgery with a special interest in intramedullary spinal cord AVM radiosurgery using the CyberKnife.
Dr. Eve Tsai
Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
Staff Neurosurgeon, The Ottawa Hospital
Dr. Eve Tsai MD, PhD, CIP, FRCSC gained early acceptance into medical school and obtained her medical degree from the University of Toronto . She then completed her Neurosurgery Residency training at the University of Toronto . During her residency, she completed a PhD in spinal cord repair. Dr. Tsai then obtained subspecialty training in spine surgery and completed a Spine Fellowship at The Cleveland Clinic. She has won numerous clinical, research, teaching and humanitarian awards.
Dr. Eve Tsai began her practice at the Ottawa Hospital on October 1, 2006 . Her main surgical interests focus on all types of spine and spinal cord diseases such as: spinal cord injury, spinal cord and spine tumors, syringomyelia, and myelopathy. Her research focuses on spinal cord repair strategies, axonal regeneration, MRI imaging of spinal cord tracts in humans and animals, and clinical outcomes after spine surgery.
Paediatric Neurosurgery
Dr. Enrique C. G. Ventureyra: MD, FRCSC, FACS
Professor, University of Ottawa
Chief, Division of Paediatric Neurosurgery,
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Dr. Ventureyra obtained his medical degree from the University of La Plata, Argentina, in 1970 and then completed a residency program in Neurosurgery at the University of Ottawa . He was the program’s first graduate in 1976. He subsequently completed fellowships in paediatric neurosurgery both in Canada and the United States and has actively participated in the International Society for Paediatric Neurosurgery (ISPN) and was appointed to the Executive Board in 1996. He currently serves as Past - President of the ISPN and is the Canadian Editor of Child’s Nervous System, the official journal of the ISPN.
Dr. Ventureyra joined the Faculty of Medicine and was appointed to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in 1977. He has been the Chief of the Division of Paediatric Neurosurgery since 1986 and is responsible for the clinical and academic programs of that institution. Dr. Ventureyra has a voluminous publication and presentation record in the field of paediatric neurosurgery, with a focus on epilepsy surgery, craniosynostosis, tethered cord, vascular malformations, brain tumors, syringomyelia, hydrocephalus, and neuroendoscopy.
Dr. Michael Vassilyadi: MD, CM, MSc, FRCSC, FACS
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa
Staff Neurosurgeon, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Dr. Vassilyadi graduated medicine from McGill University in 1990 and then completed his residency in neurosurgery at the Montreal Neurological Hospital. He completed further training in paediatric neurosurgery at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. In 1996 he joined the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine and was appointed to the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
In 1999, he spent one year as a staff member of the Children’s Hospital Medical Centre in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Vassilyadi is a diplomat of the American Board of Neurological Surgery and the American Board of Paediatric Neurological Surgery. His clinical interests focus on epilepsy surgery, spasticity, hydrocephalus, and neuroendoscopy.
His publications and presentations relate to the field of paediatric neurosurgery, including a chapter on paediatric AV malformations in Paediatric Neurosurgery (4th ed, Saunders, 2000).