Dr. Ivar Mendez is the Director of the Virtual Health Hub and the Remote Presence and Robotics Program at the University of Saskatchewan. In 2022, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada for his pioneering work in the use of remote telemedicine and robotics to revolutionize the delivery of health and patient care in Canada and worldwide.
Dr. Mendez received his MD and PhD in Anatomy from the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario where he also completed his post-graduate training in Neurosurgery. After completion of his neurosurgical residency, Dr. Mendez was awarded the Resident Research Prize by the American Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the William P. Van Wagenen Fellowship by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons. His research Fellowship was done at the Department of Medical Cell Research, University of Lund, Sweden. From 2000 to 2012, Dr. Mendez was the Chairman and Founding Member of the Halifax Brain Repair Centre and Head of the Division of Neurosurgery at Dalhousie University and the QEII Health Sciences Centre for more than a decade. In 2013, Dr. Mendez moved to Saskatchewan and was the Fred H. Wigmore Professor and Provincial Head of Surgery at the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Health Authority until December of 2022.
Dr. Mendez is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and the American College of Surgeons. As a Clinician/Scientist, Dr. Mendez’ research focus is in functional neurosurgery, brain repair, stem cells, robotic neurosurgery and computerized systems in neurosurgical applications. His laboratory research has been supported by peer-reviewed funding from a number of sources including the Canada National Centers of Excellence, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Foundation for Innovation and Parkinson’s Disease Foundation of USA. He is recognized internationally as an expert in his field, he has received over 23 million dollars in research funding and has over 200 scientific publications. For the past decade he has worked in the use of remote-presence robots for medical care in neurosurgery. In 2002, Dr. Mendez and his team performed the first long distance telementoring neurosurgery in the world and in 2013, he reported the first experience in remote programming for neuromodulation devices.
Dr. Mendez has taken an active role in humanitarian and global health issues. He has been instrumental in establishing and equipping neurosurgical units in several developing countries. Through the Ivar Mendez International Foundation, he has instituted programs for school breakfast, dental care and computer education in his native Bolivia. In 2010, Dr. Mendez was awarded a Canadian Red Cross Humanitarian of the Year Award and was named one of 10 most Influential Hispanic Canadians for his clinical research and humanitarian contributions.
Dr. Mendez has focused on, and significantly advanced, the use of remote-presence robots for medical care in neurosurgery and primary health care. In 2010, his team established the first remote presence robotic program in the Canadian North to provide access to primary and specialized medical care to underserviced First Nations communities. Since 2013, he has been working with First Nation communities in Saskatchewan using advanced robotic technology for healthcare delivery. In 2019, Dr. Mendez’s team deployed the first telerobotic ultrasonography system in North America to three northern Saskatchewan communities. This technology was crucial in providing prenatal sonography to indigenous communities during the COVID pandemic. For his pioneering work in the use of remote presence devices to deliver health care to underserviced populations, Dr. Mendez received the 2011 Health Canada Award for Contribution to the Improvement of the Health of Canadians. In 2012, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and in 2023 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal.
Dr. Mendez is also a gifted photographer and sculptor. He has published four books of photography of Bolivia and has exhibited his sculptures in Bolivia, Canada and the United States.