Timothy R. Daniels

MD, FRCSC

Investigator

Biography

Dr. Tim R. Daniels is an orthopaedic surgeon and the Chief of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery of St. Michael’s Hospital, Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Surgery, the Head of the University of Toronto Foot and Ankle program, and the Term Chair in Foot and Ankle Research. He has served on numerous national and international academic, research committees and organizations, most notably on the Board of Directors for the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) as Member-At-Large. He is also the recipient of the University of Toronto’s Orthopaedic Chair’s Teaching Award for contributions to orthopaedic education as selected by the residents and the Jameel Ali Continuing Education Award. He is also the recipient of the Award of Merit from Canadian Orthopaedic Association (COA). Nationally and internally, he is recognized as Canada’s Top Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle surgeon and is the physician to whom other orthopaedists send their most complex and challenging foot and ankle cases; and he trains fellows from all over Canada, US, Europe, Middle East, South Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America. He is the co-founder and inaugural president of COFAS: Canadian Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society – the Canadian counterpart to the American, AOFAS – and the co-founder of the bicoastal Biennial Foot and Ankle Symposium.

Dr. Daniels’s research interests are broad with over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, books and review articles covering a variety of topics in foot and ankle pathology. His current research focuses on hindfoot arthritis and deformity and Dr. Daniels is considered a world expert on total ankle replacements. He has one of the largest prospective ankle arthritis databases with prospective data gathered since 2002. The database is managed through the Applied Health Research Centre (AHRC) at St. Michael’s Hospital; he also performs research in collaboration with the iDAPT Centre for Rehabilitation Research assessing gait mechanics and clinical outcomes in real-life settings. The “COFAS Ankle Arthritis Outcomes Group” was founded by Dr. Daniels and it has published numerous multicentred comparative clinical trials assessing outcomes of ankle fusion and ankle replacement for end-stage ankle arthritis (ESAA). These multi-centered studies from Canada and other multicentred studies with collaborators from the United States have garnered top research awards bestowed upon by his peers. He is the four-time recipient of the Roger Mann Award which, to date, is unprecedented: in 2007, 2012, 2014, and 2015. This prestigious award is named in honor of the AOFAS Past President Roger A. Mann, MD – the AOFAS is the largest and most prestigious Foot and Ankle Society in the world. Dr. Daniels is also the two-time recipient of the Takakura Award at International Federation of Foot and Ankle Societies (IFFAS) in 2005, 2014. The IFFAS Takakura Prize is awarded at the Triennial Meeting of the IFFAS and is named in honour of the IFFAS founder, Dr. Yoshinori Takakura.

Please note: Dr. Daniels is not taking any summer students.

Recent Publications

  1. Guerra-Farfan, E, Borges, FK, Bhandari, M, Garcia-Sanchez, Y, Nuoez, JH, Mestre-Torres, J et al.. Mortality, perioperative complications and surgical timelines in hip fracture patients: Comparison of the Spanish with the non-Spanish Cohort of the HIP ATTACK-1 trial. Injury. 2024;55 (11):111827. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2024.111827. PubMed PMID:39217648 .
  2. Mercier, MR, Ratnasamy, PP, Yee, NS, Hall, B, Del Baso, C, Athar, M et al.. Differential Utilization Patterns of Total Ankle Arthroplasty vs Arthrodesis: A United States National Ambulatory Database Analysis. Foot Ankle Orthop. 2023;8 (4):24730114231218011. doi: 10.1177/24730114231218011. PubMed PMID:38145273 PubMed Central PMC10748701.
  3. Kooner, S, Lee, JM, Jamal, B, David-West, K, Daniels, TR, Halai, M et al.. Successful treatment of advanced Freiberg's disease with a modified Weil osteotomy, 5-year follow up: A Pilot case series with a review of the literature. Foot (Edinb). 2023;57 :101952. doi: 10.1016/j.foot.2022.101952. PubMed PMID:37866283 .
  4. Cristofaro, C, Pinsker, EB, Halai, F, Wolfstadt, J, Daniels, TR, Halai, M et al.. Metal hypersensitivity in foot & ankle orthopaedic surgery: A systematic review. J Clin Orthop Trauma. 2023;44 :102249. doi: 10.1016/j.jcot.2023.102249. PubMed PMID:37841657 PubMed Central PMC10568406.
  5. Mercier, MR, Koucheki, R, Lex, JR, Khoshbin, A, Park, SS, Daniels, TR et al.. The association between preoperative COVID-19-positivity and acute postoperative complication risk among patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. Bone Jt Open. 2023;4 (9):704-712. doi: 10.1302/2633-1462.49.BJO-2023-0053. PubMed PMID:37704204 PubMed Central PMC10499528.
  6. Daniels, TR, Pinsker, E. Does Obesity Affect Total Ankle Replacement Outcomes?. Foot Ankle Int. 2023;44 (7):604-605. doi: 10.1177/10711007231176286. PubMed PMID:37345843 .
  7. Frihagen, F, Comeau-Gauthier, M, Axelrod, D, Bzovsky, S, Poolman, R, Heels-Ansdell, D et al.. Who, if anyone, may benefit from a total hip arthroplasty after a displaced femoral neck fracture?: a post hoc subgroup analysis of the HEALTH trial. Bone Jt Open. 2022;3 (8):611-617. doi: 10.1302/2633-1462.38.BJO-2022-0074.R1. PubMed PMID:35909342 PubMed Central PMC9422900.
  8. Borges, FK, Devereaux, PJ, Cuerden, M, Sontrop, JM, Bhandari, M, Guerra-Farfán, E et al.. Accelerated Surgery Versus Standard Care in Hip Fracture (HIP ATTACK-1): A Kidney Substudy of a Randomized Clinical Trial. Am J Kidney Dis. 2022;80 (5):686-689. doi: 10.1053/j.ajkd.2022.01.431. PubMed PMID:35346742 .
  9. Al Khalifa, A, Al Khalifa, M, Khan, RM, Awoke, A, Cherry, A, Halai, M et al.. Offloading Plantar Pressures in Healthy Adults: Stirrup Cast vs Total Contact Cast. Foot Ankle Int. 2022;43 (5):620-627. doi: 10.1177/10711007211064623. PubMed PMID:35135373 .
  10. Kayum, S, Kooner, S, Khan, RM, Halai, M, Awoke, A, Kanani, A et al.. Safety and Effectiveness of Outpatient Total Ankle Arthroplasty. Foot Ankle Orthop. 2021;6 (4):24730114211057888. doi: 10.1177/24730114211057888. PubMed PMID:35097480 PubMed Central PMC8646201.
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Affiliations & Other Activities

  • Head, Division of Orthopedic Surgery, St. Michael’s Hospital
  • Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto