Dr. Fehlings is the Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Surgery, Co-Director of the Spine Program and a Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto. He is well known for his work on early decompressive surgery, which demonstrated significant improvement on neurological and functional outcomes after SCI that had an important impact on how spinal trauma is managed today. Recently, during the Henry Farfan Award ceremony (2013), he was described as the "single most influential active spinal cord injury researcher and clinician in the world." Dr. Fehlings is also the recipient of the coveted Olivecrona Award from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden (known as the "Nobel Prize of Neuroscience").