Colorectal Surgery
As a patient living with a colon or rectal condition, you likely have a lot of questions—from the best ways of beating cancer to expectations after surgery. At the Mount Sinai Health System, our highly skilled colon and rectal surgeons understand you need solutions that not only successfully treat your condition, but also keep daily life as normal as possible. That’s why we focus on minimally invasive surgical approaches that reduce pain and scarring—including the newest laparoscopic and robotic methods—as well as techniques for sphincter preservation. As one of the nation’s busiest colon and rectal centers, we also offer patients access to leading-edge procedures available only through clinical trials.
Our Team and Expertise
Dr. Anthony de Buck van Overstraeten
Dr. Anthony de Buck van Overstraeten is an associate professor at the University of Toronto and a colorectal surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital, with an extensive background in the field of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and colorectal cancer. He earned his medical degree from the University of Leuven in Belgium where he completed his surgical and colorectal training. Following this, he pursued a colorectal surgery fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto in 2013. After four years as a colorectal surgeon at the University Hospital of Leuven, he returned to Toronto in 2017 to join the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto and work as a colorectal surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. de Buck holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology
from the University of Toronto. His research interests primarily focus on clinical outcome research, particularly in the field of IBD. He specifically investigates functional and quality of life outcomes in IBD patients, with a particular emphasis on minimally invasive surgery.
Dr. Mantaj Brar
Dr. Mantaj Brar is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto and colorectal surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital, whose clinical expertise lies in the surgical management of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and colorectal cancer. He received his medical degree from the University of Toronto. He completed his residency training in general surgery and his colorectal surgery fellowship at the University of Calgary. Dr. Brar holds a Master’s degree in medical statistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in the UK. After completing his training, he returned to the Department of Surgery at the University of Calgary to begin his clinical practice. He joined the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto and work as a colorectal surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital in 2016. His research interests focus on population health outcomes in IBD and the evaluation of statistical methods in surgical research.
Dr. Erin Kennedy
Dr. Kennedy is a colorectal surgeon at Mount Sinai and a Professor in the Department of Surgery and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. She leads a clinical research program in patient-centered care in oncology with the main focus being to develop, evaluate and implement strategies to improve patient care in terms of quality, safety and efficiency. More recently, Dr. Kennedy convened a Patient Advisory Committee and worked with this group to co-develop and implement an integrated discharge monitoring system using an interactive Mobile App to support patients at home following surgery. She is also currently leading a pan-Canadian study supported by CIHR to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of non-operative management for patients with locally advanced low rectal cancer.