Gino Somers

Staff Pathologist, Division of Pathology

Project Investigator, Research Institute

Dr. Gino Somers is Chief of Laboratories at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Professor at the University of Toronto. His primary academic focus is to find better ways to diagnose cancer in children. In 2018, Somers joined the Physician Peer Support group at SickKids and has been the Physician Lead for Wellness since November 2020. He is an advocate for wellness across the hospital and the university, and is actively seeking solutions to prevent burnout and improve the wellbeing of health-care workers.

Somers is active in medical research. His academic activities have included independent grant-funded projects and numerous collaborative projects focusing on the biology and pathology of paediatric sarcomas. He has over 120 publications and book chapters and over 50 invited talks. Somers has won numerous international prizes for his research. His work led to the first description of a novel Ewing-like sarcoma family in paediatric patients and resulted in the first diagnostic assay for paediatric sarcomas using a NanoString-based assay. His recent work has focused on implementing cutting-edge molecular diagnostics for paediatric cancer, including NanoString and NGS-based technologies.

Education and experience

• 2022: Chief Wellness Officer Executive Leadership course, Stanford University, Half Moon Bay, CA
• 2017: Health Services Leadership for Practitioners Program, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University & The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• 2013: Executive Program – Partners in Leadership, Rotman Business School, University of Toronto
• 2012–2013: Greenbelt LEAN Certification, Continuous Improvement Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• 2003–2004: Fellowship, Paediatric Pathology, University of Toronto & The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON
• 1999–2002: FRCPA, Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Melbourne, Australia
• 1994–1998: PhD, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
• 1985–1991: Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (Honors First Class) Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
• 1988: Bachelor of Medical Sciences (Honors First Class), Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Achievements

• 2022: President’s Distinguished Service Award, Society for Paediatric Pathology (Awarded for “numerous contributions to the Society and for being the voice of reason and integrity”)
• 2021: President’s Award, SickKids (Awarded for work performed as part of Peer Support and Trauma Response team), Toronto, ON
• 2020: President, Society for Paediatric Pathology (elected by Board of Directors)
• 2019: Citizenship Award, Medical Staff Association, SickKids, Toronto, ON
• 2017: Visiting Professor, Brown University, Providence, RI
• 2015: Harry B. Neustein Memorial Award, Society for Paediatric Pathology, Boston, MA
• 2007: Harry B. Neustein Memorial Award, Society for Paediatric Pathology, Boston, MA
• 2004: Gordon Vawter Award, Society for Paediatric Pathology, Vancouver, BC
• 1998: Young Achiever’s Award, Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Melbourne, Australia
• 1997: John Brenan Prize, Australian Society of Dermatopathology, Melbourne, Australia
• 1994: John Brenan Prize, Australian Society of Dermatopathology, Brisbane, Australia
• 1990: Clinical Prize, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia

Publication

1. Mackeracher A, Arnoldo A, Siddaway R, Surrey L, Somers GR (2023). The incidence of multiple fusions in a series of paediatric soft tissue and bone tumors. Pediatr. Dev. Pathol. 2023 (in press). [SRA]
2. Light N, Layeghifard M, Attery A, et al. Germline TP53 mutations undergo copy number gain years prior to tumor diagnosis. Nat Commun. 2023 Jan;14(1):77. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-35727-y. [COL]
3. Villani A, Davidson S, Kanwar N, et al. The clinical utility of genomics in childhood cancer extends beyond targetable mutations. Nat Cancer 2023 Feb;4(2):203-221. doi: 10.1038/s43018-022-00474-y. [COL]
4. Hung L, Celik A, Yin X, Yu K, Berenjy A, Kothari A, Obernolte H, Upton JEM, Lindholm Bøgh K, Somers GR, Siddiqui I, Grealish M, Quereshy FA, Sewald K, Chiu PPL, Eiwegger T. Precision cut intestinal slices, a novel model of acute food allergic reactions. Allergy 2023 Feb;78(2):500-511. doi: 10.1111/all.15579. [COL]
5. Wright JR, Chan S, Morgen EK, et al. Workload Measurement in Subspecialty Placental Pathology in Canada. Pediatr Dev Pathol. 2022
   Nov-Dec;25(6): 604-610. doi: 10.1177/10935266221118150. [COL]

View a full list of Gino Somers' publications on Google Scholar

Funding

• 2022–2025: Low-pass Genomic Instability Characterization as a Comprehensive Cancer and Germline Diagnostic Assay; Genome Canada Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP) (receptor lead) $2,774,310
• 2020–2023: Establishing a Canadian Digital Paediatric Pathology Network; Garron Gamily Cancer Centre Great Cycle Challenge (PI) $150,000
• 2018–2022: NanoString nCounter Vantage 3D platform-based complementary diagnostic tests for precision medicine in pediatric cancers; Genome Canada Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP) (receptor lead;
  co-project lead) $4,040,000