By Lola Augustine Brown

When Laura Donahoe (PGM’13) was 15, her grandfather underwent treatment for lung cancer. It was a tough time, eased in some ways by the close relationship she saw develop between her grandfather and the surgeon treating him. Later, as Dr. Donahoe studied medicine, memories of her grandfather and his treatment influenced her choice of specialty.

“Lung cancer patients, especially the older smokers, get a bad rap, but I really have a soft spot for them because of my grandfather,” says Dr. Donahoe, who did a general surgery residency at Dalhousie. “Because of this, while studying general surgery I was already pretty sure I wanted to specialize in thoracic surgery—I did an elective as a medical student in lung transplantation in Toronto and thought, this is amazing—and the mentorship and opportunities that I got at Dalhousie prepared me to specialize in that area.” 

Shattering glass ceilings and giving hope to families

Performing her first lung transplant felt incredible. “You take out these abnormal looking lungs and put in these beautiful new lungs and it’s just fantastic,” she says. Today, she is the first female faculty lung transplant surgeon in Canada, based at Toronto General Hospital, a world leader in thoracic surgery and lung transplantation. The feedback she gets from her patients after the operation is wonderful. “One patient’s wife sent me a picture of them and their twin five-year-olds picking apples, and told me that he’s playing hockey again,” she says, “These people get a second chance at life.” 

Dr. Donahoe has also been involved in two neonatal lung transplants on three-month-old babies. “We’ve done five now in the Toronto Lung Transplant Program based at Toronto General Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children. Not many places in the world do them,” Donahoe says. “With all transplants, there is the other side of it—another baby had to die for that baby to get those lungs, so it is complex and emotional, but when you see these babies survive and grow, it is amazing.” 

Giving credit where it’s due

Much of the surgery that Dr. Donahoe does in her work as a thoracic surgeon is related to cancer, but she has another area of specialty: chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. “This is a disease where people have blood clots in the lungs that won’t go away and develop chronic scar tissue that eventually causes heart failure due to pressure in the lungs,” she explains. “Basically, we go in and clean up scar tissue that’s blocking the pipes.”  

 Donahoe credits the general surgery program at Dalhousie for preparing her for fellowship training in thoracic surgery at the University of Toronto and a career of the exciting high-level surgeries that are now part of her practice. “It was a great experience and I loved my time at Dal.”