Our People
Dr. Ram Anantha MD MSc FRCSC
Dr. Ram Anantha completed his medical school training at the University of Ottawa. He subsequently moved to London, Ontario to complete his General Surgery residency at the University of Western Ontario in 2016. During this time, Dr. Anantha also completed a graduate degree in Microbiology and Immunology as part of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada Clinician Investigator Program (CIP). He then completed his fellowship training in Surgical Critical Care, Trauma, and Acute Care Surgery at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He has been practicing as a trauma and general surgeon at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, University of Alberta, since August 2018.
His clinical interests revolve around complex abdominal wall reconstruction, as well as quality improvement in trauma and acute care surgery. Dr. Anantha currently directs the Complex Hernia and Abdominal Reconstruction Group of Edmonton (CHARGE), Canada’s first multi-disciplinary complex hernia program that provides comprehensive care for patients with complex abdominal wall hernias in Northern Alberta, parts of Saskatchewan, and Northwest Territories.
Dr. Anantha is currently appointed as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery within the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta.
Dr. Anantha’s primary research revolves around quality improvement and patient-centered outcomes that revolve around complex abdominal wall hernias. Additionally, his research focuses on the use of machine learning algorithms in large data sets, such as the Northern Alberta trauma registry: the focus of this work is to identify discrete sub-populations of trauma patients who would benefit from targeted interventions in order to improve clinical outcomes. As a direct result of this research, and in partnership with the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the trauma group in Edmonton has created a Traumatic Brain Injury clinic to address the neuro-cognitive needs of injured patients with mild to moderate brain injury. Additional projects stemming from this big data analysis include the Blunt Chest Trauma Incentive Spirometry protocol, Geospatial Analysis of Rural Trauma Patients Transferred to Edmonton, and Examination of Venous Thromboembolism Rates in Trauma and Surgical Patients. Further projects include the Correlation of Socioeconomic Status and Frailty among Geriatric Trauma Patients, as well as an examination of the Incidence of Violent Trauma within Urban Centres During the COVID19 Pandemic. These projects have won awards and recognition at local, regional, national, and international conferences.
Dr. Anantha is part of the Edmonton Zone Trauma and Acute Care Collaborative (EZ-TRACC), a city-wide group of trauma and acute care surgeons dedicated to improving clinical care through research. Dr. Anantha has also co-supervised undergraduate students in the Department of Computing Science with trauma-related projects in machine learning. He currentl;y supervises medical students and residents on a variety of trauma and hernia-related research projects.
Dr. Michael Kim MD MEd FRCSC
Dr. Michael Kim completed his medical school and surgical training at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. During residency, he also completed a fellowship in Surgical and Medical Education at Southern Illinois University and a Master’s degree at the University of Illinois.
Dr. Kim's interests in complex hernias started in residency and continued at the University of Toronto, where he completed fellowships in Trauma and Acute Care Surgery as well as Critical Care Medicine from 2013 to 2016. He is an active participant in the International Hernia Collaboration and has an interest in open abdomens, parastomal hernias, and post-traumatic hernias. He performs open and minimally invasive abdominal wall reconstruction.
Dr. Kim is currently appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery within the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta.
Dr. Nori Bradley MD MSc(Kin) MSc(HQS) FRCSC FACS FCCM
Dr. Nori Bradley is a Trauma & Acute Care surgeon at the University of Alberta Hospital and Intensivist at Royal Columbian Hospital. She completed medical school at the University of Toronto and General Surgery residency at University of British Columbia. She stayed at UBC for Critical Care Medicine Fellowship and then went to University of Texas-Houston for Traumatology fellowship at the Red Duke Trauma Center. She holds a Master of Science in Kinesiology from University of Waterloo and a Master of Science in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety from Northwestern University, Chicago. She is appointed as an Academic Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Alberta and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia.
In addition to being part of CHARGE, she is the Associate Program Director for the University of Alberta Acute Care/Emergency Surgery (ACES) Fellowship, a member of the Canadian Collaborative of Urgent Care Surgery (CANUCS), a member of the Senior Educator Advisory Board of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, and a member of the Board of Directors for the Trauma Association of Canada.
Dr. Bradley has been a member of CHARGE since 2021 and her interests include hybrid open/laparoscopic repairs, transversus abdominal release technique, and improving quality indicators for hernia repair outcomes.
Dr. Sean Norris MD SM FRCSC FACS
Dr. Sean Norris graduated from medical school at the University Alberta. He completed residencies in general surgery and critical care medicine at the University of Alberta. Further training was completed at the Harvard School of Public Health graduating with a Master of Science in Epidemiology.
Dr. Norris is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada in both General Surgery and Critical Care Medicine and is fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is a member of the American Hernia Society and European Hernia Society. He was the unit director of the Sturgeon Intensive Care Unit for 9 years and Site lead for General Surgery at the Sturgeon Hospital for 3 years.
Dr. Norris has practiced surgery for 20 years and has been at the St. Thomas Surgical Clinic in St. Albert for the last 18 years. He practiced Critical Care Medicine for 18 years at the University of Alberta Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, Sturgeon Intensive Care Unit and the Grey Nuns Intensive Care Units. Currently he operates primarily at the Sturgeon Hospital in St Albert, Alberta.
Over his career he has developed an interest in hernia surgery and abdominal wall reconstruction. He provides inguinal hernia repairs with Desarda, Shouldice, Lichtenstein and Laparoscopic techniques. He has developed a special interest in complex abdominal hernia repair and optimization of patients preoperatively collaboratively within the CHARGE program and provides preoperative Botox for loss of domain cases.
Dr. Matt Strickland MD MBA FRCSC
Dr. Matt Strickland joined the faculty at the University of Alberta and CHARGE group in 2020. He is a member of the Trauma Surgery and General Surgery groups at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, where his practice is based. Outside of injury care, his clinical interests include complex and minimally invasive abdominal wall reconstruction and hernia repair.
Dr. Strickland completed his surgical residency at the University of Toronto and then completed fellowships in critical care, trauma, and emergency general surgery at Los Angeles General Hospital (LAC+USC). He has an MBA with healthcare focus from Harvard Business School. Most importantly, Dr. Strickland is caring and passionate about helping people with abdominal wall problems and supporting them through the entire journey.
Dr. Damian Paton-Gay MD MSc FRCSC
Dr Paton-Gay is a specialist in General Surgeon and Critical Care Medicine. He completed surgical training at the University of Alberta in 2009, followed by Critical Care Medicine in 2011. His areas of focus include trauma, simulation, crisis management and abdominal wall reconstruction. He has served as the Trauma Director for the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, the Chief of Trauma for Edmonton, and co-chair of the Alberta Trauma Services Core Leadership Team. He is active in education with the General Surgery and Critical Care programs at the University of Alberta, with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and with the Canadian Critical Care Society. He joined the CHARGE team in 2021, bringing experience in critical care and emergency surgery.
Dr. Richdeep Gill MD PhD FRCSC FACS
Dr. Gill completed both his medical degree and General Surgery residency at the University of Alberta. During his residency Dr. Gill pursued his research interests in surgical frontiers and was awarded a PhD in Experimental Surgery. He went on to complete subspecialty training in Bariatric Surgery before joining the Calgary Adult Bariatric Surgery Clinic.
Dr. Gill holds an academic appointment at the University of Calgary. Dr. Gill's surgical career focuses on the improvement of obesity related co-morbidities and optimizing outcomes for bariatric patients. Dr. Gill has been a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine since 2021.
Personal Trainers
Daniel Pagnotta PTS PN
Daniel has been involved in ITF Taekwon-Do for almost 30 years as a student, competitor, instructor and fitness coach, and has been a Personal Trainer for the past eight years. He started his journey as the fat kid in class who needed to use his inhaler every fifteen minutes just to keep up with the other kids. He was constantly picked on and wasn’t ever given a second thought when it came to being a competitor. It wasn’t until Daniel turned 16 that he discovered strength training and the discipline required to pursue his dream of being a competitive athlete. Discovering strength training afforded him a very extensive and fulfilling competitive martial arts career, and played a large role in helping him recover from three knee surgeries as an athlete. Daniel is a 12 time Canadian National Champion in Sparring and Power Breaking, a 6 time national champion in Patterns, and has represented Canada 9 times at the World Championships as an athlete, all over the world. Daniel has also been the technical coach and fitness trainer for Team Canada 3 times in the last four years, and currently owns and operates Silverback Strength in Edmonton.
Daniel’s approach comes from his years as a martial artist, competitor, coach which has allowed him to develop an eye for technique and fine details. He also has experience in dealing with clients and patients that are working with injuries (hernias, knees, hips, arthritis, and backs) “I believe technique is everything. Keeping proper technique and form prevents injuries so to keep you safe, allows for the proper muscles to be targeted to achieve better results, and allows for movements to be properly progressed and regressed according to the needs of the client.” Every single person under my care has had their own unique situation or obstacle they wish to overcome and break through. I have been able to help them reach goals from losing weight, to improving and increasing strength and flexibility, to competing internationally, and preserving their overall health, along with prehabilitation for patients that are about to undergo surgery.
Ashlei Skibin PT
Ashlei Skibin PT is the owner and operator of Alpha State Holistics. Her background is in holistic lifestyle coaching, personal training, corrective exercise, and performance for women and pre/post-natal fitness. Her company’s mission is to cultivate wellness and improve the quality of clients experiences in all spheres of life. Ashlei works with a diverse group of people and she programs/coaches to the individual needs of her clients.
Ashlei graduated from N.A.I.T in 2017 from the Personal Fitness Trainer Diploma program with Honors. She has continued her education since graduation, taking new courses each year to expand her knowledge and expertise, including National Academy of Sports Medicine Corrective Exercise Specialist, and Precision Nutrition, as well as Pre & Post-Natal Corrective Exercise Specialist.