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Nancy Baxter MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACS, FCAHS is a Canadian surgeon and researcher. She is the Associate Dean, Academic Affairs at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, a Professor of Surgery in the Department of Surgery and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She holds the position of Provincial GI Endoscopy Lead for Ontario at Cancer Care Ontario and is the Chief of the Division of General Surgery at St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto), where she is also a scientist with the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute. Dr. Baxter is a Senior Scientist in the Cancer Theme Group with the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). Dr. Baxter has achieved board certifications through the American Board of Surgery (2000) and the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery (2002). She is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
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Biography
Dr. Baxter was born in South Porcupine, Ontario. She obtained her medical doctorate (1990) and PhD in Clinical Epidemiology (1998) from the University of Toronto. She completed her general surgery residency training at the University of Toronto from 1991-1999, followed by a fellowship in colorectal surgery at the Mayo Clinic in 2001. From 2002 to 2005, she held the rank of assistant professor of surgery at the University of Minnesota and a staff position as a colorectal surgeon at the University of Minnesota Fairview Hospital. Dr. Baxter relocated back to Toronto in 2006 with the academic rank of assistant professor at the University of Toronto and staff colorectal surgeon at St. Michael's Hospital. She was promoted to the rank of associate professor of surgery in 2008, and has been full professor since 2015.
In September 2016, Dr. Baxter was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Fellows are elected to the Academy by their peers for their "contributions to the promotion of health science (based on) demonstrated leadership, creativity, distinctive competencies and a commitment to advance academic health science."
Research
Dr. Baxter's primary research focus as a clinical epidemiologist and health services researcher is the effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening, long-term survivorship of cancer survivors and quality of surgical care. She also applies the use of linked health administrative data and cancer registry data to evaluate long-term consequences of cancer care for adults.
She has published more than 150 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Internal Medicine, British Medical Journal and the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
In 2008 Dr. Baxter led a study that found colonoscopy was less effective at finding cancers on the right side and therefore reduced mortality only from left-side tumors.
In 2014 the Canadian Cancer Society announced funding for a project led by Dr. Baxter to create a clinical decision-making tool designed to help young cancer patients make choices about preserving their fertility after cancer treatment.
In 2015 Dr. Baxter led a study that showed that patients having elective surgery during the day fare no better or worse if the doctor operating has worked the night before.
A 2016 study led by Dr. Baxter showed that organ transplant recipients have a higher-than-average risk of dying from cancer, possibly warranting increased prevention and screening measures.