James Rutka (born January 14, 1956) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty that focuses on the surgical treatment or rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, ...

from Toronto, Canada. Rutka served as RS McLaughlin Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

from 2011 – 2022. He subspecializes in pediatric neurosurgery at

The Hospital for Sick Children ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

(SickKids), and is a Senior Scientist in the Research Institute at SickKids. His main clinical interests include the neurosurgical treatment of children with

brain tumours A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

and

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

. His research interests lie in the

molecular biology Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecule, molecular basis of biological activity in and between Cell (biology), cells, including biomolecule, biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactio ...

of human brain tumours – specifically in the determination of the mechanisms by which brain tumours grow and invade. He is the Director of the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre at SickKids, and Editor-in-Chief of the ''

Journal of Neurosurgery A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

''. He was named an

Officer of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian national order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the centennial of Canadian Confederation, the ...

in 2015.

Education and training

Rutka was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He studied Chemical Engineering at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

before obtaining his

Doctor of Medicine A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin language, Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of ph ...

from Queen's University in 1981. Following an internship at

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

's Royal Victoria Hospital in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec, Rutka embarked on his neurosurgery residency training at the

beginning in 1982. From 1984 to 1987, he undertook graduate studies at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

and worked in the Brain Tumour Research Centre. There, he received his PhD in Experimental Pathology from the School of Graduate Studies in 1987. Upon completion of his residency training in 1990 and receipt of certification in neurosurgery as a Fellow of the

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada () is a regulatory college which acts as a national, nonprofit organization established in 1929 by a special Act of Parliament to oversee the medical education of specialists in Canada. The ...

(FRCSC), Rutka completed a clinical fellowship in microvascular neurosurgery with Kenichiro Sugita at

Nagoya University , abbreviated to or NU, is a Japanese national research university located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It was established in 1939 as the last of the nine Imperial Universities in the then Empire of Japan, and is now a Designated National Universit ...

followed by a post-doctoral research fellowship in molecular immunology under the supervision of Ko Okumura at

Juntendo University is a private university in Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. Its headquarters are on its campus in Bunkyo, for the School of Medicine and in Inzai, Chiba, for the School of Health and Sports Science. The university was established in 1946, although it can ...

in Tokyo in 1990.

Professional life

Rutka joined the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto in 1990. He was appointed to Sick Kids Hospital, where he contributed to a variety of techniques to treat children with neurosurgical conditions. He also established the first brain tumour research laboratory at Sick Kids focusing on the molecular biology and genetics of paediatric and adult brain tumours. In 1997, and in collaboration with his colleagues in Toronto, Rutka was influential in establishing the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre at Sick Kids, now one of the largest centres of its kind in the world. In 1999, Rutka was appointed Professor in Neurosurgery in the Department of Surgery, and the Dan Family Professor and Chair of the Division of Neurosurgery, a position he held until 2010. Currently, Rutka is the RS McLaughlin Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto.

Research and clinical interests

Rutka was a leader in his application of neurosurgical techniques to pediatric neurosurgical patients with a variety of neurosurgical disorders including

craniofacial Craniofacial surgery is a surgical subspecialty that deals with congenital and acquired deformities of the head, skull, face, neck, jaws and associated structures. Although craniofacial treatment often involves manipulation of bone, craniofacial ...

anomalies, brain tumours,

congenital malformation A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at childbirth, birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disability, disabilities that may be physical disability, physical, intellectual disability, intellectual, or dev ...

s, and epilepsy. With his colleagues, he helped introduce digital camera technology to assist with mapping of intra-operative seizure foci. He was among the first to utilize frameless stereotactic neuronavigation techniques to resect cerebral and skull base lesions in children; and he has amassed a large neurosurgical experience in treating children with epilepsy arising from lesions within highly eloquent and critical regions of the brain. In addition, Rutka and colleagues have used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to identify regions of epileptogenesis amenable to neurosurgical resection. Over the course of his research career, Rutka has made several contributions to the understanding of the molecular biology of human brain tumours. He has established several novel human brain tumour cell lines and models to study glioma invasion; he was among the first to characterize the role of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the brain, and its degradation by proteolytic enzymes secreted by glioma cells; he has analyzed the importance of the Rho-GTPase pathway in glioma migration and invasion; and he has studied methods of delivering therapeutic agents across the blood-brain barrier to treat experimental brain tumours.

Publications and editorships

Rutka has published over 500 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on pediatric neurosurgery, the molecular biology of brain tumours, epilepsy surgery, and surgical education. In 2014, he was appointed as the 7th Editor-in-Chief of the

, and the first Canadian neurosurgeon to hold this position. He has co-edited several neurosurgical textbooks including Neuro-Oncology of CNS Tumors (2006).

Sports

Rutka played numerous sports in high school and University. He set the Canadian midget triple jump record in 1972. In high school, he was drafted by the Peterborough Petes OHA Jr A hockey team, but chose instead to attend Princeton University to study chemical engineering. At Princeton, Rutka played varsity football and ran track and field. In medical school at Queen's University, Rutka was quarterback of the varsity football team that won the

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup () is the trophy awarded annually to the champion Canadian football team in U Sports, the governing body for university sports in Canada. The U Sports football champion is determined in a one-game playoff (the Vanier Cup game), pl ...

in 1978 against the University of British Columbia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0IUgmTD-rI

Recognition

In 2004, Rutka received the Grass Award for sustained contributions in neurosurgical research from the

Society of Neurological Surgeons The Society of Neurological Surgeons (SNS) was founded in 1920 and is composed of neurosurgical department chairs, residency program directors and other senior educational leaders in America. It is the oldest neurosurgical professional organizatio ...

. In 2006, he was inducted as a Knight of the Order of Smile, by Kawaler Orderu Usmiechu. In 2009, he was the Honored Guest Laureate for the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. Rutka delivered the Penfield Lecture at the 45th Annual Congress of the Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation in 2010. That same year, he was appointed as President of the American American Association of Neurological Surgeons. In 2011, he was inducted as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. In 2012, Rutka was appointed as President of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery. In 2014, Rutka was made a Member of the Order of Ontario, and he received an honorary PhD, Honoris Causa, from Bahcesehir University in Istanbul for longstanding contributions to brain tumour research. In 2015, Rutka received the Robert L. Noble Prize from the Canadian Cancer Society, the Margolese National Brain Disorders Prize from the University of British Columbia, and he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2019, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) awarded Dr. Rutka with the Cushing Medal: the most prestigious award an AANS member can receive. The Cushing Medal is awarded to a member who has shown great technical innovation in the development of new procedures that have changed the way diseases or trauma are treated. In 2022, Rutka received the AANS Distinguished Service Award, the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Medal of Honor, and the Golden Neuron Award from the World Academy of Neurological Surgery.

Selected publications

* Rutka JT
Editorial: Leading transition while maintaining tradition.
''Journal of Neurosurgery''. 2013 Jun 4 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutka, James Living people Canadian neurosurgeons Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Academic staff of the University of Toronto Princeton University alumni Physicians from Toronto Officers of the Order of Canada 1956 births Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Recipients of the Cross of Ivan Mazepa