Joel Finkelstein

MD, MSc, FRCS(C)
Associate scientist
joel.finkelstein@sunnybrook.ca
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Phone: 416-480-6774
Fax: 416-480-4705

Dr. Finkelstein’s research has been involved with understanding the biomechanical effects of metastases on the spine and the outcome assessment and developing best practice guidelines for patient selection for patients with metastatic disease.

His research has more recently focused on patient reported outcomes for degenerative spinal conditions with an emphasis on Response Shift and Cognitive Appraisal which as well as the physical, encorporates the psychosocial factors which can affect how a patient interprets and evaluates changes in quality of life over time.

Machine Learning is the next horizon and his current research now uses artificial intelligence for predicting outcomes enabling clinicians to determine who best to operate on, what the best procedure may be and why are some patients doing better than others.

Education

  • B.Sc., 1984, University of Toronto, Canada
  • MD, 1988, University of Toronto
  • Fellowship training in spinal surgery, 1994-95, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
  • Fellowship training in spinal surgery, 1995-96, Harborview Medical Center, Washington, USA
  • LMCC (licentiate), 1989, Medical Council of Canada, Canada
  • Medical license, 1989, Ontario Medical Association, Canada
  • FRCS(C), 1994, certification in orthopaedic surgery, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Canada
  • American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery, July 16, 1999
  • M.Sc., 2010, U of T

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Professor of Surgery University of Toronto, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Holland Bone and Joint Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
  • Associate professor, department of surgery, U of T
  • Staff surgeon, division of orthopaedic surgery, Sunnybrook
  • Associate staff, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook
  • Consulting medical staff, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care

Research Foci

  • Biomechanics: metastatic spine, vertebroplasty
  • Clinical epidemiology related to metastatic disease of the spine: quality of life, survival and complications
  • Clinical epidemiology: outcome studies (spine), effect of response shift on outcomes
  • Trauma (spine): outcomes and evaluation of treatment protocols

Affiliated Labs & Programs

Selected Publications

  1. Carolyn E. Schwartz, Roland B. Stark, Phumeena Balasuberamaniam, Mopina Shrikumar, Abeer Wasim, Joel A. Finkelstein. Moving toward better health: Exercise practice is associated with improved outcomes after spine surgery in individuals with degenerative lumbar conditions. Canadian Journal of Surgery 2021 Jul 29;64(4):E419-E427. doi: 10.1503/cjs.010620.

  2. Joel A. Finkelstein, Roland B. Stark, James Lee, Carolyn E. Schwartz. Patient factors that matter in predicting spine surgery outcomes: a machine-learning approach. Journal of Neurosurgery Spine .2021 May 21;1-10. doi: 10.3171/2020.10.SPINE201354.

  3. Carolyn E. Schwartz ScD, Roland B. Stark MEd, Phumeena Balasuberamaniam, Mopina Shrikumar, Abeer Wasim and Joel A. Finkelstein MD, MSc, FRCS(C) Responsiveness of standard spine outcome tools: do they measure up? Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. Vol. 32 DOI:https://doi.org/10.3171/2019.12.SPINE191367 SRA

  4. Robarts S, Razmjou H, Yee A, Palinkas V, Finkelstein J. Psychometric properties of the Optimal Screening for Prediction of Referral and Outcome Yellow Flags (OSPRO-YF) in patients with lumbar spine pain, European Journal of Physiotherapy 2019 Dec DOI: 10.1080/21679169.2019.1706633 SRA

  5. Joel A. Finkelstein, Carolyn E. Schwartz, Invited review for 75th Anniversary Edition – Patient reported outcomes in spine surgery: Past, current and future directions”. Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine. Vol. 31. Pages155-164:2019. DOI: 10.3171/2019 PA