Joel Fish MD, MSc, FRCS

Dr. Joel Steven Fish specializes in burns and complex wound care and is currently the Medical Director of the Burn Program at SickKids. He is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon and holds the position of Full Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto. Dr. Fish joined the SickKids Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in 2007 and oversaw its research activities from that year until 2014. Dr. Fish was named the Burn Program's Medical Director in 2009. The largest pediatric burn program in Canada is at SickKids, where more than 300 new children are treated annually. Additionally, the American Burn Association has approved it as the sole pediatric burn program in Canada. Pediatric burn injuries are the primary emphasis of Dr. Fish's clinical practice, which spans the full spectrum from the initial injury through secondary reconstruction and rehabilitation. Treatment of severe complex wound problems for a variety of other reasons is another area of expertise for Dr. Fish.

In addition to his clinical role at SickKids, Dr. Fish is a member of the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto and currently supervises several graduate students. At present, his research team is focused on evaluating the effectiveness of laser therapy to improve burn scars in children. Dr. Fish is also interested in determining which technologies are best suited for evaluating scars following treatment. Dr. Fish’s team is also working on several other projects related to the development of patient-reported outcome tools for children with scars. His team is currently in the process of evaluating a new scar assessment tool known as the “SCAR-Q"