Unni Narayanan

Senior Associate Scientist
Child Health Evaluative Sciences

Chair positions

Chair, Research Family Advisory Council, SickKids 
Chair, Patient Reported Outcomes Strategic Committee, SickKids 
Chair, Research Council, Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America 

Unni Narayanan is a paediatric orthopaedic surgeon and Senior Associate Scientist in the Research Institute at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and served as the paediatric orthopaedic Fellowship Director until 2019. He is a Full Professor in the Departments of Surgery and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Toronto. His clinical practice is focused on the care of children with cerebral palsy (CP), lower limb deformity, gait abnormalities and fractures. His research program, funded by CIHR and other agencies, focuses on the development of patient reported outcome measures, including for CP, paediatric fractures and lower limb deformity, and applying these in clinical trials.  

He has served on the Board and numerous committees of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, including currently as Chair of the Research Council, and is past President of the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine. Narayanan has won numerous research and teaching awards and has been travelled around the world as visiting professor to present his research and to lecture on a wide range of paediatric orthopaedic subjects including CP, limb deformity, trauma, and evidence-based orthopaedics. 

Research

Dr. Narayanan’s research program explores patient priorities for the development of meaningful patient reported outcome measures that have been translated and adopted worldwide (http://lab.research.sickkids.ca/pscoreprogram/cpchild/); and applying these measures in clinical trials to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions for musculoskeletal disorders in children. He leads the international CHOP study of CP hip outcomes in 11 countries (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01987882). His research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) & other agencies.

Education

• 1982–1987: MBBS, Medicine, Madras Medical College, University of Madras, Madras, Tamil Nadu, India
• 1992–1998: Resident, Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
• 1996–1997: Fellow, Cerebral Palsy & Gait Analysis, Gillette Children’s Hospital, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
• 1998–1999: Clinical Fellow, Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON. Canada
• 1999–2001: Master of Science (M.Sc.), Clinical Epidemiology & Health Care Research, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, ON.
• 2004: American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS)Certification, Chicago, Illinois, USA
• 2004: Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada, FRCS(C), Orthopaedic Surgery, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
• 2013–2014: Partners in Leadership Program. The Hospital for Sick Children: Leadership Development Course, Rotman School of Management. University of Toronto

Experience

• 2018–present: Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2002–present: Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2002–2011: Assistant Professor, Orthopaedic Surgery, Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2004–2015: Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Grandview Children’s Rehabilitation Centre, Oshawa, ON, Canada
• 2004–2015: Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Five Counties Children’s Centre, Peterborough, ON, Canada
• 2011–2018: Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2002–present: Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto ON, Canada
• 2002–present: Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Erinoak Children’s Treatment Centre, ON, Canada
• 2002–present: Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

Achievements

Leadership Appointments

• 2020: Promotions Committee Member, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto
• 2019–2022: Chair, Research Council Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America Chicago, Illinois, USA
• 2020–2026: Chair, Publications Committee of American Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Editorial Board, Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, London, UK.
• 2018–present: Scientific Officer, CIB: CB2 Committee Canadian Institutes of Research (CIHR)
• 2017–present: Member, College of Reviewers Canadian Institutes of Research (CIHR)
• 2017–2019: Past President, Board Member, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
• 2016–2017: President, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
• 2014–2019: Presidential Line, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
• 2015–present: Founding Member & Executive Cerebral Palsy Research Network (CPRN)
• 2016–present: Scientific Advisory Committee Cerebral Palsy Foundation, New York, USA
• 2013–2019: Director, Fellowship Program in Paediatric Orthopaedics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2012–2013: Chair, Bylaws Committee, Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, Chicago, Illinois, USA
• 2010–2013: Board Member, Board of Directors, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
• 2009–2015: Director, Paediatric Orthopaedic Competency Based Curriculum Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
• 2009–2010: Chair, Research Committee, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
• 2009–2011: Chair, Clinical Trials Committee, Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, Chicago, Illinois, USA
• 2007–2014: Director, Paediatric Orthopaedics, Orthopaedic Residency Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON
• 2007–2009: Board Member, Board of Directors, Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America, Chicago, Illinois, United States
• 2006–2011: Director, Board of Examiners, Orthopaedic Surgery, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
• 2005–2006: Chair, Program & Scientific Committee, 2006 Diamond Jubilee Annual Meeting, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Research & Teaching Awards

• 2017: Best Trauma Paper Award, Combined European Pediatric Orthopaedic Society & Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America Meeting, Barcelona, Spain
• 2017: POSNA Research Grant Award, Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America for the Development and Validation of the MDCHILD Questionnaire
• 2016: Gayle Arnold Award for Best paper at the 2016 Annual Meeting of American Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine (AACPDM), Hollywood, Florida, USA. Validation of the GOAL Questionnaire for Ambulatory Cerebral Palsy
• 2014: Pedal-With-Pete Foundation Award, American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine
• 2014: POSICON 2014 Distinguished Faculty Award, The Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of India. 20th Annual Conference of Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of India, Chennai, India.
• 2013: Arthur H. Huene Memorial Research Award, Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America for Research in Cerebral Palsy Hip Outcomes.
• 2011: Dr. John Whittaker Memorial Cerebral Palsy Award
• 2009: Faculty Teaching Award, Developmental Paediatrics Program, University of Toronto
University of Toronto Developmental Paediatrics Program.
• 2008: Robert Salter / Orthopaedic Chair Resident Teaching Award, University of Toronto
• 2006: Angela Kuo Memorial Award, Outstanding Young Investigator. Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America

• 2004: Mac Keith Press Young Investigator Award, American Academy of Cerebral Palsy & Developmental Medicine (AACPDM) for Development of the CPCHILD Questionnaire
• 2004: Marc Asher Award, Best Scientific Poster Award. Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America
• 2004: Teaching Excellence Award, Department of Paediatrics, University of Toronto
• 2001: Claire Bombardier Award, University of Toronto, Toronto. Most Promising Student - Clinical Epidemiology.
• 2000–2001: Open Fellowship Award (Academic Excellence), University of Toronto
• 2000: Clinical Epidemiology Research Award, University of Toronto
• 1999–2001: AAOS/OREF Health Services Research Fellowship Award, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery/Orthopaedic Research Education Foundation
• 1998: Ramon Gustillo Award for Best Resident Research, University of Minnesota

1. Shore BJ, Martinkevich P, Riazi M, Baird E, Encisa C, Willoughby K, Narayanan UG; CHOP Investigative Team. Reliability of Radiographic Assessments of the Hip in Cerebral Palsy. J Pediatr Orthop. 2019 Aug;39(7):e536-e541. 
2. Truong WH, Novotny SA, Novacheck TF, Shin EJ, Howard A, Narayanan UG. (2019). Should Proximal Femoral Implants be Removed Prophylactically or Reactively in Children with Cerebral Palsy? J Pediatr Orthop. 2019 Sep; 39(8): 29-35. 
3. Propp R, McAdam L, Davis A, Salbach N, Weir S, Encisa C, Narayanan, UG. (2019). Development and content validation of the Muscular Dystrophy Child Health Index of Life with Disabilities questionnaire for children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2019 Jan; 61(1): 75-81. 
4. Thomason P, Tan A, Donnan A, Rodda J, Graham HK, Narayanan U.  
   The Gait Outcomes Assessment List (GOAL): validation of a new assessment of gait function for children with cerebral palsy. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2018 Jun;60(6):618-623.  
5. Boutis K, Plint A, Stimec J, Miller E, Babyn P, Schuh S, Brison R, Lawton L, Narayanan UG. Radiograph-Negative Lateral Ankle Injuries in Children: Occult Growth Plate Fracture or Sprain? JAMA Pediatr. 2016 Jan 4;170(1):e154114. 

See a full list of Unni Narayanan's publications