R Seal

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About

Dr. Rob Seal was born in Edmonton, Alberta and received his MD with distinction from the University of Alberta in 1983.  Following internship at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, British Columbia, he spent a year doing general practice locum tenens in British Columbia.  He undertook his anesthesia residency training at the University of British Columbia and received his certification from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1989.  That same year he commenced his anesthesia practice at the University of Alberta Hospital with major interests in pediatric and pediatric cardiac anesthesia.

Dr Seal is currently a Clinical Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Alberta where he serves as the director of Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia at the Stollery Children’s Hospital and the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute.  Dr. Seal served as Vice-Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Alberta (1998-2005), and as Chief of Pediatric Anesthesia at the Stollery Children’s Hospital (formerly Children’s Health Centre of Northern Alberta) from 1990 to 2000.  His main clinical interests are pediatric cardiac anesthesia, pediatric videolaryngoscopy, pediatric anesthesia outside of the operating room, and motorsports medicine.

Dr Seal is a Past-President (2000-2002) of the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society (CAS).   His national involvement with the CAS dates back to 1994 during which time he served on numerous national committees (Allied Health Professions, Canadian Anesthesia Research Foundation, Physician Resources, Communications, Nominations, - including serving as chair of the latter three).  In addition, Dr. Seal is a former Chair (2002-2004) and a charter founder member of the Canadian Pediatric Anesthesia Society.    As well, he is a former President of the Section of Anesthesia of the Alberta Medical Association (1997-99) and of the University of Alberta Hospital Medical Staff Society (1998-99).

Although Rob is an avid commuter cyclist (even in the winter thanks to studded bicycle tires), he currently spends as much time as possible exploring his motorsports activities.  He used to drive formula 2000 race cars and along with three partners owns the Canadian Motorsports Response  Team Inc. (CMRT).  CMRT provides safety and rescue services for the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix (Montréal), the Honda Indy Toronto, the FIA Formula-e Montréal e-Prix, the GP3R (Trois-Rivières), the FIA World Rallycross Championship of Canada (Trois Rivières), the NHRA Rocky Mountain Nationals, the 13 Event APC Late Models Modifieds Series in Ontario and local racing at Castrol Raceway (Edmonton).  

From 2008-2012 Dr. Seal was the Chief Medical Officer of the Edmonton Indy following three years as Dr. Hugh Scully’s Deputy CMO of the CHAMP Car Edmonton Grand Prix.  He is also Chief Medical Officer of the FIA Formula-e Montréal e-Prix, the FIA World Rallycross Championship of Canada and the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières (GP3R).  As well, Dr. Seal has been a member of the medical team at the Grand Prix du Canada since 1996.  With the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), in addition to his role as a Chief Medical Officer, Rob is on the Editorial Board of their motorsports medicine journal, AUTO+ Medical, and is one of 4 North Americans certified as an International Driver Extrication Trainer. A longstanding member of the International Council of Motorsports Sciences (ICMS), Rob is Chair of the Education Committee, Co-Chair of the Curriculum Committee, and Committee Member for the Race Track Safety Program.

On the academic side, Rob is the author of 22 medical publications, 2 review articles and 1 book chapter as well as abstracts, letters and editorial commentaries.  Dr. Seal is an active reviewer for the Cochrane Collaboration as well as for several anesthesia journals. Rob has been a visiting professor on 12 occasions including the presentation of the distinguished Digby-Leigh Lecture at the University of British Columbia in 2000.  Dr. Seal has also been an invited speaker at more than 30 national and international medical meetings. Dr. Seal is an internationally recognized expert in videolaryngoscopy and is a consultant to Verathon Medical.