MD, PhD, DESAIC
Academic Position
Assistant Professor
Staff Position
Staff Physician
Affiliation
Toronto General Hospital, UHN
Expertise and Academic Interests
Anesthesiology
Cardiac Programs
Consult and Pre-Admission Unit
Malignant Hyperthermia Inversitigation
Pain Medicine
Perioperative Care
Quality and Safety
Transplantation Program
Bio
Dr. Ibarra Moreno graduated from medical school in 1998 at Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas. He got involved in malignant hyperthermia research as a PhD aspirant in 2002 under the mentorship of late Prof. Hirosato Kikuchi at Toho University Department of Anesthesiology (Tokyo, Japan). Dr. Ibarra delved into skeletal muscle physiology, becoming expert in skinned fibers: a microscopic single muscle cells model for assessing functions of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, used in Japan to diagnose susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia. Since then, his main research aspiration has been finding a non-invasive method to diagnose this condition. He performed the first mutation screening of the entire open-reading frame of the RYR1 gene in a large cohort of unrelated Japanese families with malignant hyperthermia susceptibility, achieving a close estimation of its prevalence MH based on the occurrence of compound heterozygosity. Dr. Ibarra interrupted his research from 2006 to 2010 to enter consecrated life in the Society of Jesus, ultimately returning to anesthesia for residency training at Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital in Jerusalem until 2016. Thereafter he pursued fellowships in Cardiovascular Anesthesia and Malignant Hyperthermia at Toronto General Hospital, where he remains as staff anesthesiologist, consultant and independent researcher at the Malignant Hyperthermia Investigation Unit in close collaboration with Dr. Sheila Riazi. Their joint efforts have yielded important contributions to better understanding intracellular calcium dynamics underlying MH susceptibility, its metabolic consequences, acute and chronic manifestations, the penetrance of RYR1 pathogenic variants and their genotype-phenotype relationships. Dr. Ibarra board-certified in advanced perioperative transesophageal echocardiography. He is also interested in implementing best practices based on evidence for improving perioperative outcomes and patients safety, with focus on neuromuscular blockade and depth of anesthesia monitoring.
Hobbies and Interest
Biking, outdoor sports, music and visual arts.
All members