Christopher Witiw

MD, MS, FRCSC

Investigator

Biography

Christopher Witiw entered the neurosurgery residency program at the University of Toronto after completing his MD at the University of Manitoba in 2012. During his residency he completed a MS degree with a focus on Health Economics at The University of Chicago after receiving an award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. His thesis on the value of surgery for Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy was awarded the prestigious Outstanding Paper Award from the North American Spine Society in 2016. He has received numerous other awards including the Shafie S. Fazel Outstanding Resident Surgeon and Investigator Award from the University of Toronto Department of Surgery and the Alan R. Hudson Neurosurgery Resident Teaching Award from the University of Toronto Division of Neurosurgery. After obtaining his FRCSC in Neurosurgery in 2018, Chris undertook a subspecialty fellowship in Complex and Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Chris returns to Toronto as a Surgeon Investigator at St. Michael’s Hospital where his clinical work is directed toward treating the full spectrum of spinal disorders. He has a specific interest in minimally invasive approaches to spinal conditions. Chris’ research work is centered on Health Economics and Health Services pertinent to spinal pathology and he is especially interested in ‘big data’ analytics as a means to optimize efficiency and quality of spine surgery.

Spine Research Program 

 

Recent Publications

  1. Hu, Z, Lin, HM, Mathur, S, Moreland, R, Witiw, CD, Jimenez-Juan, L et al.. High performance with fewer labels using semi-weakly supervised learning for pulmonary embolism diagnosis. NPJ Digit Med. 2025;8 (1):254. doi: 10.1038/s41746-025-01594-2. PubMed PMID:40335679 PubMed Central PMC12059038.
  2. Essa, A, Malhotra, AK, Shakil, H, Nathens, AB, Yuan, EY, He, Y et al.. Timing of Gastrostomy Relative to Tracheostomy After Complete Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: Impact on Hospitalization Outcomes and Complication Rates. Neurosurgery. 2025; :. doi: 10.1227/neu.0000000000003485. PubMed PMID:40326770 .
  3. Azad, TD, Vattipally, VN, Ran, KR, Vattipally, SM, Moody, M, Aude, CA et al.. Association Between Operative Neurosurgical Intervention and Favorable Discharge Among Patients With Traumatic Subdural Hematoma and Poor Neurological Examination. Neurosurgery. 2025; :. doi: 10.1227/neu.0000000000003477. PubMed PMID:40310099 .
  4. Liu, J, Azad, TD, Kazemi, F, Ran, KR, Parker, M, Vattipally, VN et al.. Timing of pharmacological venous thromboembolism prophylaxis after firearm-related penetrating brain injury. J Neurosurg. 2025; :1-11. doi: 10.3171/2024.12.JNS242004. PubMed PMID:40184674 .
  5. Essa, A, Shakil, H, Malhotra, AK, Nathens, AB, Badhiwala, J, Yuan, EY et al.. Optimal Tracheostomy Timing After Traumatic Complete Spinal Cord Injury: A Comparative Analysis of Ultraearly, Early, and Delayed Practice. Neurosurgery. 2025; :. doi: 10.1227/neu.0000000000003430. PubMed PMID:40183561 .
  6. Shakil, H, Malhotra, AK, Essa, A, Karthikeyan, V, Lozano, CS, He, Y et al.. Days at home after treatment of spinal metastases: measurement and validation of a novel patient centered outcome. J Neurooncol. 2025; :. doi: 10.1007/s11060-025-05014-z. PubMed PMID:40111577 .
  7. Hamel, C, Avard, B, Dea, N, Margau, R, Mattar, A, Michaud, A et al.. Canadian Association of Radiologists Central Nervous System Diagnostic Imaging Referral Guideline. Can Assoc Radiol J. 2025; :8465371241311247. doi: 10.1177/08465371241311247. PubMed PMID:39882774 .
  8. Chen, YA, Hu, Z, Shek, KD, Wilson, J, Alotaibi, FSS, Witiw, CD et al.. Machine Learning to Detect Cervical Spine Fractures Missed by Radiologists on CT: Analysis Using Seven Award-Winning Models From the 2022 RSNA Cervical Spine Fracture AI Challenge. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2025;224 (3):e2432076. doi: 10.2214/AJR.24.32076. PubMed PMID:39772578 .
  9. Mariscal, G, Sasso, RC, O'Toole, JE, Chaput, CD, Steinmetz, MP, Arnold, PM et al.. The economic burden of diabetes in spinal fusion surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur Spine J. 2025;34 (3):935-953. doi: 10.1007/s00586-024-08631-w. PubMed PMID:39751814 .
  10. Shakil, H, Essa, A, Malhotra, AK, Kiss, A, Witiw, CD, Redelmeier, DA et al.. Perioperative outcomes after minimally invasive and open surgery for treatment of spine metastases: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Neurosurg Spine. 2025;42 (2):215-229. doi: 10.3171/2024.7.SPINE24518. PubMed PMID:39612501 .
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Affiliations & Other Activities

Assistant Professor, Division of Neurosurgery, University of Toronto