Jacob C. Langer, MD

Professor, Department of Surgery
Chief of General Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children
Toronto, Ontario

Dr. Jacob C. Langer was educated and trained at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He did research fellowships at the University of California, San Francisco and McMaster University, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health, the Medical Research Council of Canada, and the McLaughlin Foundation.

Dr. Langer was Assistant Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at McMaster University and a pediatric surgeon at the Children's Hospital at Chedoke-McMaster from 1989 to 1992. He then moved to St. Louis and became Associate Professor of Surgery and Pediatrics at Washington University and a pediatric surgeon at St. Louis Children's Hospital from 1992 to 1999. He came back to Canada in 1999 to become Professor of Surgery at the University of Toronto, and Chief of the Division of General Surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children. He is also the inaugural holder of the Robert M. Filler Chair in Pediatric Surgery.

In 1995, Dr. Langer won the prestigious Innovative Scientist of the Year award from the St. Louis Academy of Science. He has written 175 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 34 book chapters on a variety of topics. His primary interests involve the natural history and management of prenatally diagnosed congenital anomalies, (particularly abdominal wall defects and congenital diaphragmatic hernia), the development of new ways of managing children with Hirschsprung disease and other intestinal disorders, and new advances in the field of minimally invasive pediatric surgery. He has been on the faculty of the Washington University Institute of Minimally Invasive Surgery and the McMaster University Centre for Minimal Access Surgery. He has been on the Medical Advisory Boards of the American Pseudo-obstruction and Hirschsprung's Disease Society and the Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Society. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, Pediatric Endosurgery and Innovative Techniques, and Pediatric Surgery International. He has also sat on the Fetus and Newborn Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Fetal Therapy, Informatics, Program, and Critical Care Committees of the American Pediatric Surgical Association.

Dr. Langer has been previously involved in the separation of three other sets of conjoined twins: two during his training under Dr. Robert Filler, (previous chief of surgery at Sick Kids and a world expert on conjoined twins), and one several years ago at Sick Kids.

Dr. Langer is married to Ferne Sherkin-Langer, a former Sick Kids nurse and now a prominent Toronto realtor. They have three children and three dogs. In his spare time, Dr. Langer skis, bikes, plays guitar, involves himself in the Jewish community as a member of the Board of Directors of Kolel, and travels with his family.

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