THE ALISA LYONS AWARD OF VALOUR
This award was created by Alisa's family to honour her memory.
Bringing together Alisa's passion for Israel and passion for supporting cancer research was the impetus to create The Alisa Lyons Award of Valour. The research grant for the funding of ground-breaking cancer treatments will change the lives of patients living with cancer with the goal of one day contributing to the cure of the disease. Alisa passed away after a courageous battle with breast cancer in August of 2016 at the age of 48.
She has been missed every day since by all that were fortunate enough to have known and loved her.
Dr. CHAYA Schwaartz
Dr. Chaya Shwaartz is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a staff surgeon in the Division of General Surgery at the University Health Network. She earned her medical degree from Tel-Aviv University, Israel, followed by a general surgery residency at Sheba Medical Center, Israel, and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Dr. Shwaartz then pursued a clinical fellowship in Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary (HPB) surgery at Sheba Medical Center, before completing a highly specialized fellowship in Abdominal Transplant and HPB Surgical Oncology at the University of Toronto, Toronto General Hospital.
Her clinical expertise lies in minimally invasive HPB surgery including robotic surgery. As the surgical lead of the HPB Center, she oversees multidisciplinary efforts in surgical innovation, research, and education. Dr.Shwaartz is also the Program Director for the Abdominal Transplant and HPB Surgery Fellowships at the University of Toronto and the Director of postgraduate surgical education at UHN, reflecting her passion for surgical education. She has been recognized with multiple awards for her excellence in surgical education.
