Dr. Colin McCartney

Colin John Lindsay McCartney, MBChB, PhD, FRCA, FCARCSI, FRCPC, has been selected to receive the 2024 Distinguished Service Award (DSA) by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine). This award will be presented at the 49^th Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting on March 23, 2024, in San Diego, CA.

The DSA celebrates individuals who have made broad contributions to regional anesthesiology and/or pain medicine through scholarly activity, clinical teaching, and service to ASRA Pain Medicine or the scientific and medical specialties practiced by ASRA Pain Medicine members.

Dr. McCartney serves as the chief of anesthesia for Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and is a professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Toronto.

Dr. McCartney received his medical degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1991 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in 1996, before traveling to Canada for his fellowship at the University of Toronto. Upon completing his fellowship, Dr. McCartney served as the director of the regional anesthesia fellowship program at Toronto Western Hospital from 2000-2006.

In 2007, Dr. McCartney was asked to develop and lead a multidisciplinary regional anesthesia and acute pain research team at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre before being promoted to full professor in 2013. He received his PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2014.

Shortly after earning his PhD, Dr. McCartney was appointed as head and chair of anesthesiology at Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa. Dr. McCartney was tasked with leading an exceptional clinical and educational program as well as improving their research mission. He rose to the challenge.

Dr. McCartney led an outstanding team to substantially increase research productivity and grant funding, [and] led the national introduction of Competency-Based Medical Education in anesthesiology [at the University of Ottawa].

In addition, Dr. McCartney was involved with the development of three new fellowship training programs (global health, point-of-care ultrasound, and research) and integrated the Substance Use Team into the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine.

Dr. McCartney is an active member of ASRA Pain Medicine, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society, the Royal College of Anaesthetists, and more. 

Dr. McCartney was a co-founder and served as the first chair for ASRA Pain Medicine’s Education in Regional Anesthesia Special Interest Group, chaired the Continuing Medical Education Committee, and served on the Board of Directors. Having served on the editorial board for Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine, the British Journal of Anaesthesia, and as a reviewer for several other journals, Dr. McCartney is highly involved with the peer-review process.

Dr. McCartney has given 270 national and international presentations, has published 170 peer-reviewed publications, and continues to contribute to the science, teaching, and practice of regional anesthesia and pain medicine.

While fulfilling various leadership roles at the local, national, and international levels, Dr. McCartney embodies the Distinguished Service Award.