Rolando Fausto Del Maestro, MD, PhD
His research is focused on surgical simulation using the NeuroTouch platform working in cooperation with the National Research Council of Canada and multiple national and international research groups.
Dr. Del Maestro along with his wife, Pam, and Steve Northey founded and continue their work with the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada. This organization is now a dynamic cross-Canada organization fostering excellence in brain- tumour patient care, patient support and research funding.
Dr. Del Maestro retired as the Director of the Brain Tumour Research Centre and from his clinical practice in brain tumour surgery in 2012, which has given him more time to devote to his interests in neurosurgical simulation, resident education, Leonardo Da Vinci and the History of Medicine. He is the Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Osler Library of the History of Medicine at McGill. Dr. Del Maestro has one of the largest private collections of material related to Leonardo Da Vinci. Using this material, he has curated a number of exhibitions related to Leonardo's art and anatomical interests as well as an exhibition on the History of Neuro-Oncology at the Osler Library and Montreal’s Leonardo Da Vinci Centre. His book entitled A Relationship Etched in Time: Leonardo Da Vinci, The Earl of Arundel and Wenceslaus Hollar will be published by McGill-Queens Press.
Neurosurgical Simulation Research Centre
NeuroTouch: A Physics-Based Virtual Simulator for Cranial Microneurosurgery Training. Delorme S, Laroche D, DiRaddo R, Del Maestro RF. Neurosurgery. 2012 Sep;71(1 Suppl Operative):32-42. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0b013e318249c744.
Fundamentals of Neurosurgery: Virtual Reality Tasks for Training and Evaluation of Technical Skills. Choudhury N, Gélinas-Phaneuf N, Delorme S, Del Maestro R. World Neurosurg. 2013 Nov;80(5):e9-19. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2012.08.022. Epub 2012 Nov 23.
Surgical Expertise in neurosurgery: Integrating Theory into Practice. Gélinas-Phaneuf N, Del Maestro RF. Neurosurgery. 2013 Oct;73 Suppl 1:30-8. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000000115.
The Development of a Virtual Simulator for Training Neurosurgeons to Perform and Perfect Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Surgery. Rosseau G, Bailes J, del Maestro R, Cabral A, Choudhury N, Comas O, Debergue P, De Luca G, Hovdebo J, Jiang D, Laroche D, Neubauer A, Pazos V, Thibault F, Diraddo R. Neurosurgery. 2013 Oct;73 Suppl 1:85-93. doi: 10.1227/NEU.0000000000000112.
Assessing performance in brain tumor resection using a novel virtual reality simulator. Gélinas-Phaneuf N, Choudhury N, Al-Habib AR, Cabral A, Nadeau E, Mora V, Pazos V, Debergue P, Diraddo R, Del Maestro RF. Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2014 Jan;9(1):1-9. doi: 10.1007/s11548-013-0905-8. Epub 2013 Jun 20.
Development of the McGill Simulator for Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (MSESS); A New High Fidelity Virtual Reality Simulator for Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Varshney R, Frenkiel S, Nguyen LHP, Young M, Del Maestro R, Zeitouni A, National Research Council Canada, Tewfik MA. Am J Rhinol Allergy,2014, 28(4) 330-334(5). doi.org/10.2500/ajra.2014.28.4046
Brain Tumor Research Centre
Surgical Resection and Glioblastoma: Molecular Profiling and Safety. Del Maestro R. Can J Neurol Sci. 2012 Sep;39(5):561-2.
Online Database of Clinical MR and Ultrasound Images of Brain Tumors. Mercier L, Del Maestro RF, Petrecca K, Araujo D, Haegelen C, Collins DL. Med Phys. 2012 Jun;39(6):3253-61. doi: 10.1118/1.4709600
Opposite roles of furin and PC%A in N- Cadherin Processing. Maret, D., Seyed Sadr, M., Seyed Sadr, E., Colman, D.R., Del Maestro, R.F., Seidah, N.G. 2012 Neoplasia, 14; 880-892 .
Allaire PD, Seyed Sadr M, Chaineau M, Seyed Sadr E, Konefal S, Fotouhi M, Maret D, Ritter B, Del Maestro RF, McPherson PS.J Cell Sci. 2013 Feb 1;126(Pt 3):722-31. doi: 10.1242/jcs.112375. Epub 2012 Dec 21.
Bevacizumab use for recurrent high-grade glioma at McGill University Hospital. Sahebjam S, Garoufalis E, Guiot MC, Muanza T, Del Maestro R, Petrecca K, Sharma R, Kavan P. Can J Neurol Sci. 2013 Mar;40(2):241-6
Registering Pre- and postresection 3-Dimensional Ultrasound for Improved Visualization of Residual Brain Tumor. Mercier L, Araujo D, Haegelen C, Del Maestro RF, Petrecca K, Collins DL. Ultrasound Med Biol. 2013 Jan;39(1):16-29. doi: 10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2012.08.004.
Transcription Factor FOXG1 and Groucho/TLE promotes glioblastoma growth. Verginelli F, Perin A, Dali R, Fung K, Lo R, Longatti P, Guiot M-C, Del Maestro RF, Rossi, S., di Porzio U., Stechishin, O., Weiss S., and Stifani, S., Nat Commun. 2013 Dec. 20; 4: 2956. doi: 10.1038/ncomms3956.
