Doug Canning, world-renowned pediatric urologist, longtime pioneering chief of urology at CHOP, mentor, and veteran, has died at 65
Funny, compassionate, and dedicated, “he worked tirelessly to ensure that each patient he encountered received the best possible care," said N. Scott Adzick, surgeon-in-chief at CHOP.
Doug Canning, 65, of Philadelphia, an innovative pediatric urologist known around the world, chief of the division of urology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, vice chair for clinical affairs in CHOP’s department of surgery, professor of urology and surgery at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, mentor, and veteran, died Monday, May 30, at Yale New Haven Hospital of injuries sustained in a bicycle accident in Mystic, Conn.
Dr. Canning was chief of urology at CHOP for 25 years, took part in countless complicated surgeries regarding bladder and genital abnormalities and other urological disorders, and made several groundbreaking advances in the field. He held CHOP’s Leonard and Madlyn Abramson endowed chair in pediatric urology and helped grow its division of urology to a dozen surgeons and worldwide recognition for its research and patient care.
A lifelong learner, people person, and family man, he was also known to give patients his personal cell number as well as big hugs, distribute annual sentimental holiday updates about his wife and children, and happily acknowledge his many medical collaborators through group photos and shared accolades. “He brought out the best in everyone,” N. Scott Adzick, CHOP’s surgeon-in-chief, said in a tribute.
Dr. Canning’s urology training program at CHOP instructed more than 30 fellows and 100 residents over more than two decades, and he lectured and studied with doctors across the United States, Europe, South America, India, Hong Kong, Japan, and elsewhere around the world. He edited, wrote, or cowrote hundreds of papers and editorials about urology and related subjects, contributed to four textbooks, and served on an editorial committee for the American Urological Association’s Journal of Urology.
Noting that he was “achingly polite and humble,” the Journal said in a tribute that Dr. Canning’s “impact will be abiding,” and his “uncompromising insistence on academic honesty set a new standard in transparency and self-assessment.”
One of his signature achievements was CHOP’s participation, along with Boston Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, in the 2010 creation of the Multi-Institutional Bladder Exstrophy Consortium, which advanced the treatment and care of a birth condition in which the bladder develops outside the fetus.
“Like many things, the more experienced we are, the better our results are,” Dr. Canning said in an online video about the project. “It’s rewarding to know you’re doing even better than your best job because you have the other people in the room with you.”
Pamela Artigas, president of the Florida-based Association for the Bladder Exstrophy Community, said in an online tribute that Dr. Canning “gave of himself completely in doing his utmost to improve every child’s life that he touched.” A longtime patient posted a photo of herself as a child and a young Dr. Canning and said: “I would not be where I am today without his medical expertise. God placed him in my life just at the right time.”
Dr. Canning was a member of many advisory boards and professional organizations and served as president of the Society for Pediatric Urology and the Society of Academic Urologists. He won awards for teaching and research, including a share of the Society for Pediatric Radiology’s 2016 Thomas L. Slovis Award for the best basic science paper.
His intelligence, humor, and empathy made medicine an ideal career. “He was very curious about things, and he liked to talk to people,” said his wife, Annabelle.
Born April 27, 1957, in New London, Conn., Dr. Canning grew up in Groton, Conn., and received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Dartmouth College in 1979 and medical degree from Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine in 1982.
He earned an Armed Forces scholarship for his postgraduate urological training at the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., now the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and a fellowship at the Brady Urological Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
He went on to serve four years in the Navy at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, joined CHOP in 1992, and became the chief of the division of urology in 1997. “Doug was a hero to many, but it was his family that gave him the most joy,” said Adzick, from CHOP.
Dr. Canning met history student Annabelle Brainard when he was a senior at Dartmouth, and they married in 1982. They had son John and twin daughters Caroline and Maddy, and lived in Chestnut Hill for 30 years.
He was a lifelong outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing, hunting, skiing, biking, hiking, and sailing. He was reflective, had an endearing sense of humor, liked to engage with practically everyone he encountered, and could be relied upon to fill the family birdfeeders that were scattered about the yard.
He doted on his many Brittany dogs and liked to grill and cook the pheasants and grouse he bagged on his hunts. “He was kind,” his wife said, “and put people at ease quickly.”
In addition to his wife and children, Dr. Canning is survived by two brothers and other relatives. Services are to be held later.
Donations in his name may be made to CHOP’s Douglas A. Canning Endowed Fund, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Foundation, P.O. Box 781352, Philadelphia, Pa. 19178. Memo line: In memory of Dr. Doug Canning.