New This Week
Celebrating Canadian Women Physicians Day, March 11, 2025 | Message from Drs. Caron Strahlendorf and Steven Miller
Dear Colleagues:
We would like to build on the momentum from International Women’s Day on March 8th by celebrating Canadian women physicians on March 11th. This date marks the day in 1875 when Dr. Jennie Trout became the first woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada.
Dr. Trout’s path was not simple; Canadian medical schools at the time did not accept female students, so she trained at the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1875. Returning to Toronto, she set up a private practice and eventually helped found the Women’s Medical College in Kingston, Ontario. You can read more about the history of Canadian Women Physicians Day here.
Since 1875, much has changed for women physicians, but there remain challenges for those who identify as women in the field of medicine. We hope that March 11th inspires you to take a moment to think about the invaluable contributions your female colleagues, mentors, and students are making. Female physicians have come far since 1875 but there is much to be done to create an equitable health profession.
In that spirit, we would like to spotlight three female physicians from the Department of Pediatrics who were nominated by their colleagues to be celebrated. They are: Drs. Mumtaz Virji, Claire Seaton, and Melissa Paquette.
Learn more about each of these inspirational women! VIEW SPOTLIGHTS
Sincerely,
Caron & Steven
Dr. Caron Strahlendorf, MBBCh, FCP, FRCPC, D. Health
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics
Head, Division of Hematology and Oncology & BMT
Deputy, Department of Pediatrics
UBC & BC Children’s Hospital
Dr. Steven Paul Miller, MDCM FRCPC FRSC (He, Him, His)
Hudson Family Hospital Chair in Pediatric Medicine | James and Annabel McCreary Chair in Pediatrics
Professor and Head, Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Chief, Pediatric Medicine, BC Children’s Hospital
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Celebrating International Women’s Day, March 8, 2025: #AccelerateAction | Message from Drs. Caron Strahlendorf and Steven Miller
March 8th is a special day every year, as we focus on celebrating women all over the world. International Women’s Day is a reminder to pause and recognize the contributions women have made. Together we can forge gender equity.
This year’s theme is #AccelerateAction and we would like to spotlight some remarkable women in our department who are making a difference. Their presence and impact can be felt by their teams, the learners we train, the patients we serve, and to our wider community.
The faculty and staff that we are featuring this year are Dr. Ruth Grunau, Dr. Rabia Khan, Dr. Alejandra Wiedeman and Ms. Sylvia Wu. Please take a moment to read about their incredible work! VIEW PROFILES
International Women’s Day is one of the most important days of the year to:
– Celebrate women’s achievements.
– Raise awareness and educate about women’s equal rights to opportunities and fair treatment.
– Call for positive change in advancing women.
Learn more: https://www.internationalwomensday.com/About-IWD
Please join our efforts to advance gender equity, empowerment and #AccelerateAction.
With sincere and personal thanks,
Caron & Steven
Dr. Caron Strahlendorf, MBBCh, FCP, FRCPC, D. Health
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics
Head, Division of Hematology and Oncology & BMT
Deputy, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Steven Paul Miller, MDCM FRCPC FRSC (He, Him, His)
Hudson Family Hospital Chair in Pediatric Medicine | James and Annabel McCreary Chair in Pediatrics
Professor and Head, Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Chief, Pediatric Medicine, BC Children’s Hospital
The post Celebrating International Women’s Day, March 8, 2025: #AccelerateAction | Message from Drs. Caron Strahlendorf and Steven Miller appeared first on Department of Pediatrics.
2025 CaRMS Match Results
A big welcome to our incoming cohort. We look forward to having you join our training program and working with our amazing team.
We can’t wait to meet you and and your loved ones at our upcoming welcome barbeque in July to kick off bootcamp month.
“I am pleased to announce that we have successfully filled all offered Program positions.
We are all ecstatic to be matched with a such a fantastic group of incoming trainees, and sincere thanks to everyone for their support and involvement with CaRMS to make this possible!”
Dylan P. King
Program Manager, Postgraduate & Undergraduate Medical Education
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LEADERSHIP UPDATE: Dr. Melissa Skaugset, Head, Division of Emergency Medicine | Department of Pediatrics, UBC & BCCH
Dear Colleagues:
We are excited to announce that Dr. Melissa Skaugset, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine has been appointed as the Division Head of Pediatric Emergency Medicine as of January 1st, 2025.
Dr. Skaugset has been at BC Children’s Hospital since July 2021, coming to us from Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. At Mary Bridge, she held various leadership and service roles in the Emergency Department and wider hospital system. Her residency training in Pediatrics was followed by fellowships in Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Advanced Emergency Medicine Ultrasonography at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since joining our division, she has established a reputation as someone who is always interested in learning and growing, both as a physician and on a personal level. She brings with her a breadth of experience from training and working in a variety of community and academic settings, where she held teaching and administrative roles in quality/safety, point-of-care ultrasound, and emergency department leadership.
Her long-term goals for the division include a sustained focus on health equity and decolonization of the Emergency Department. Dr. Skaugset feels hopeful for the future and shares PHSA’s value of “fearlessly doing the right thing,” believing that health justice and equity can only move forward in systems willing to support disruption and radical change. She is equally committed to fostering inter-divisional communication to enhance professional collaboration and patient experience. She looks forward to continuing the equity work championed by Dr. Meckler and continuing to grow the flourishing Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine.
We would also like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Garth Meckler for his exceptional leadership of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine from January 2013 to December 2024. Dr. Meckler led with compassion, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to collaboration, fostering strong relationships with other divisions and leaders.
Throughout his tenure, Dr. Meckler achieved numerous milestones. Some of his most notable accomplishments include:
• Divisional expansion from 34 to 50 physicians
• Recruitment and establishment of key leadership positions, including Medical Trauma Director, POCUS Director, Quality and Safety Lead, and EDI Lead
• Championing decolonization and anti-racism efforts within the ED, including close work with the C&W Indigenous Health Care Team, to advance these goals
• Developing and facilitating specialized courses in Pediatric Acute Care and Trauma
• Promoting outreach initiatives to support community engagement and healthcare access for children
• Provincial-level advocacy for emergency medicine and care for children in key organizational meetings and working groups
Over the last decade, the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine has transformed into a leading academic department. In the last 5 years, division members have secured competitive funding from agencies including the NIH, CIHR, and the Public Health Agency of Canada totalling more than $35 million, and are investigators on over 240 peer-reviewed publications. Research achievements facilitated by Dr. Meckler’s leadership include:
• Engagement with Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC), serving on the executive steering committee and supporting division members who led and contributed to PERC multi-centre studies
• Participation in global Pediatric Emergency Research Network-endorsed studies
• Joining large research networks, including the PEM Collaborative Research Committee and the Canadian ED Research Network
• Strengthening collaboration within the department, including supporting the Novel Education in Research Design course for Emergency Medicine and PEM residents
• Supporting divisional Research and Associate Research Director positions, and the functioning of the PEM Research Committee to oversee research conduct
• Facilitating integration and operationalization of research within clinical care in an ED, which sees approximately 45-50,000 patient visits per year
Dr. Meckler’s visionary leadership has left a lasting impact on our division and the broader healthcare community. We are deeply grateful for his contributions and dedication.
MORE:
https://pediatrics.med.ubc.ca/divisions-centres/emergency-medicine/
Dr. Melissa Skaugset
https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-skaugset-6a7740b8/?originalSubdomain=ca
Dr. Garth Meckler
https://www.bcchr.ca/gmeckler
Sincerely,
Drs. Sim Grewal, Melissa Skaugset and Steven Miller
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LEADERSHIP UPDATE: Dr. Ralph Rothstein, Interim Head, Division of Endocrinology & Diabetes | Department of Pediatrics, UBC & BCCH
Dear Colleagues:
Dr. Shazhan Amed will be stepping down from her leadership role as the Head of the Division of Endocrinology & Diabetes. During her tenure, Dr. Amed was known as a leader committed to equity, fairness, transparency, and positivity. She fostered a culture of collaboration and excellence in patient care during her term that has left an indelible mark. Dr. Amed came to BCCH as a staff endocrinologist in 2008 and she was promoted to Clinical Professor in 2021. In 2016, she founded BC Pediatric Diabetes Day, which brings together over one hundred pediatric diabetes health professionals annually from all over BC. Dr. Amed’s visionary research reflects a broader understanding of what it means to be a health services researcher. Her expertise bridges the fields of data science and epidemiology with community-based participatory research, implementation science, and clinical trials. In 2024, she was nominated for a YWCA Women of Distinction Award in the Research, Sciences and Technology category.
Recognized as a pioneer in diabetes research, Dr. Amed has significantly advanced the field through her groundbreaking work. She spearheaded Canada’s first national surveillance study of youth-onset type 2 diabetes, developed and validated the country’s inaugural surveillance tools for type 1 diabetes, and conducted an unprecedented study exploring the geographical patterns of childhood type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes across Canada. She is also known for her community-based obesity and type 2 diabetes prevention program, Live 5-2-1-0, which has expanded from two to twelve communities across BC. Further, Dr. Amed is developing a novel digital tool that integrates data from glucose monitoring devices and insulin pumps with clinical and patient-reported experience data to generate insights that will improve care delivery and outcomes.
Dr. Amed is expanding her work in diabetes surveillance as one of the lead investigators on a research project called Canadian Pediatric Diabetes Consortium (CAPACITY), which has brought together researchers from 10 centres across Canada to create the first Canada-wide childhood diabetes registry. Alongside this exciting project is her work in precision medicine approaches to support children and youth with type 1 diabetes, which is leading the way to developing personalized diabetes care that will optimally meet the needs of children, families, and providers.
At this time, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Ralph Rothstein has been appointed as the Interim Head of the Division of Endocrinology & Diabetes.
In addition to his role as a Professor in the Division and Associate Head, Clinical Affairs & Subspecialty Fellowship Director for the department, a large part of Dr. Rothstein’s career has focused on medical education, and in 2007, he was awarded a UBC Faculty of Medicine Career Award in Clinical Teaching.
Over the years, Dr. Rothstein has served in various leadership roles within the department and at UBC. He was a founding member of the Division since its inception in 1980; Acting Associate Dean and Director of Continuing Medical Education from 1993 to 1994; Acting Head of the department from July 2010 to April 2012; and, most recently, Interim Co-Head from December 2021 to March 2022.
Thank you, Dr. Amed, and Dr. Rothstein!
MORE:
Dr. Shazhan Amed:
https://bcchr.ca/samed https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/664251b07187eee211678b2c/674620796354f78838e477ba_9399dd44-19a7-4b36-a2cc-218cc2f09b11.pdf
Dr. Ralph Rothstein:
http://www.bcchildrens.ca/health-professionals/clinical-resources/endocrinology-diabetes/#Our–team
Thank you,
Steven
Dr. Steven Paul Miller, MDCM FRCPC FRSC (He, Him, His)
Hudson Family Hospital Chair in Pediatric Medicine | James and Annabel McCreary Chair in Pediatrics
Professor and Head, Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Chief, Pediatric Medicine, BC Children’s Hospital
I respectfully acknowledge and thank the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish),
and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations on whose unceded and traditional territories
I am privileged to live, learn, teach, and practice upon.
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2024 President’s Award for Distinguished Service | Dr. Robert Armstrong
Congratulations to Dr. Robert Armstrong, Professor Emeritus of Paediatrics (2011)!
Dr. Armstrong was awarded the 2024 President’s Award for Distinguished Service from UBC’s Emeritus College.
The UBC Emeritus College presents one or more President’s Award for Distinguished Service annually to UBC Emeriti who have, since attaining UBC Emeritus status, displayed exceptional leadership in volunteer community services.
Professor Emeritus Robert Armstrong was selected for his lasting contributions not only to UBC, but also to Aga Khan University. Of particular note was his dedication to improving health care and research, and higher education broadly in East Africa.
“Perhaps his most notable achievements were in the area of postgraduate medical education, for which he was recently recognized by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada with the M. Andrew Padmos International Collaboration Award. Many of these new postgraduate programs were in areas of specialization that were rare or non-existent in the region – including family medicine.”
“[Dr. Armstrong]’s outstanding achievements in Kenya far surpassed his prior accomplishments or what could be achieved in Canada where academia and clinical health care are not well integrated. The August 10th, 2020 AKJ News published an article: “AKU honours Dean Robert Armstrong”. In this article AKU Provost Carl Amrhein is quoted as saying: “Bob has brought on board a number of new programmes… These are investments that will define the Medical College for many years to come, and they are an example of Bob’s commitment to interdisciplinarity, to integrated health care.”
“After serving 10 years as Dean Bob retired and returned to Vancouver, where he began the job of writing the second volume of history of the department of paediatrics together with an oral history. This is an enormous job, and he is engaged many members of the department of pediatrics to work together on the project. It will be a model for other departments to record their history.”
Source: https://emerituscollege.ubc.ca/awards-and-support/award-recipients
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2025 IASP SIG Pain in Childhood Early Career Award | Dr. Katelynn Boerner
Congratulations to Dr. Katelynn Boerner! She has been awarded the 2025 IASP SIG Pain in Childhood Early Career Award in Pediatric Pain Research from the International Association for the Study of Pain.
This award recognized Dr. Boerner’s outstanding contributions in pediatric pain research within 10 years of attaining her PhD or last postgraduate degree.
She has demonstrated a strong track record in pediatric pain research, with an impressive h-index of 15, 45 peer-reviewed publications, 4 book chapters, and over 75 oral presentations, supported by extensive funding and awards, including the Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program and the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation Mental Health Fellowship.
MORE:
https://bcchr.ca/kboerner
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2025 Terry Fox New Investigator Award | Dr. Catrina Loucks
Congratulations to Dr. Catrina Loucks!
Dr. Loucks was awarded a 2025 Terry Fox New Investigator Award for her project, “Harnessing Pharmacogenomics to Reduce Opioid Induced Harm and Ineffectiveness In Children With Cancer,” from the Terry Fox Research Institute.
This award supports outstanding new researchers as they develop their careers as independent research scientists or clinician scientists.
More:
https://bcchr.ca/cloucks
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LEADERSHIP UPDATE: Dr. Melissa Skaugset, Head, Division of Emergency Medicine | Department of Pediatrics, UBC & BCCH
We are excited to announce that Dr. Melissa Skaugset, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine has been appointed as the Division Head of Pediatric Emergency Medicine as of January 1st, 2025.
Dr. Skaugset has been at BC Children’s Hospital since July 2021, coming to us from Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. At Mary Bridge, she held various leadership and service roles in the Emergency Department and wider hospital system. Her residency training in Pediatrics was followed by fellowships in Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Advanced Emergency Medicine Ultrasonography at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Since joining our division, she has established a reputation as someone who is always interested in learning and growing, both as a physician and on a personal level. She brings with her a breadth of experience from training and working in a variety of community and academic settings, where she held teaching and administrative roles in quality/safety, point-of-care ultrasound, and emergency department leadership. [FULL ANNOUNCEMENT]
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Just published! Parental and Medical Classification of Neurodevelopment in Children Born Preterm
Just published! Learn more about how Ms. Lindsay Richter, Dr. Anne Synnes and their colleagues investigated how the classification of neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI) affects critical health care decisions for parents of children born preterm.
Link to article:
https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2024-066148
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Celebrating Resident Appreciation Week, Feb 10 – 14, 2025!
From February 10 – 14 2025, we are celebrating Resident Appreciation Week! This is a fantastic opportunity to acknowledge and thank resident physicians for their contributions to the health of the communities they serve all across the province.
Please join us in thanking all of our hardworking residents, and a special shout out to Drs. Selene Chen, Sajine Sathiaselan, Lisa Hackett, Shane Murphy, Justina Marianayagam, Sarah Fletcher, Sean Duke, and Nancy Lum, selected by the residents for their exemplary support to their peers and their patients.
Thank you!
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Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fall 2024 competition
Congratulations to Drs. Angela Devlin, Quynh Doan, Christopher Maxwell, Thiviya Selvanathan and Stuart Turvey! Their projects were successfully funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in the Fall 2024 competition.
Link to full announcement:
https://www.med.ubc.ca/news/ubc-medicine-researchers-awarded-more-than-26m-for-transformative-health-research/?utm_source=ubcmedicine&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=news
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King Charles III’s Coronation Medal | Dr. Steven Miller
Congratulations to Dr. Steven Miller. He is a recipient of a King Charles III’s Coronation Medal, which was created to mark the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, which took place on May 6, 2023. It is the first Canadian commemorative medal to mark a coronation.
This award recognizes Dr. Miller’s achievements and his impact as a champion for child health. Dr. Miller is a renowned physician-scientist leader, known for his brain-imaging studies of critically ill newborns. From the outset, he identified the power of an early-life intensive care unit experience to shape the trajectory of brain development throughout childhood. His findings led to a paradigm shift from treating brain injury as a fixed event to a focus on “everyday” interventions that promote healthy brain development across a child’s life.
Dr. Miller has dedicated his career advocating for better child health, both at the patient bedside and in the community. He is at the forefront of implementing research advances in the neonatal care unit to improve the health of critically ill newborns. His clinical research has changed how pain is addressed in babies born preterm, and he is a leader in the clinical shift in focus in the care of babies with heart disease, implementing neurodevelopmental care to improve brain health.
His achievements and contributions over the years have earned him awards nationally, and internationally, such as the Individual Leadership Award from Children’s Healthcare Canada (2021), the James H. Graham Award of Merit from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (2023), and the internationally recognized Bernard Sachs Award from the Child Neurology Society (2022).
Congratulations, Dr. Miller!
MORE:
King Charles III’s Coronation Medal:
https://gg.ca/en/honours/canadian-honours/directory-honours/commemorative-medals/king-charles-iii-coronation-medal
More about Dr. Miller’s research:
https://bcchr.ca/spmiller
Connect with Dr. Miller on X:
@DrStevenPMiller
UBC announcement:
https://prizes.research.ubc.ca/news-announcements/ubc-faculty-members-awarded-king-charles-iii-coronation-medals
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Happy National Pediatrician Day!
On Jan 28th we celebrate National Pediatrician Day! Today we are honoring some special individuals from within our community. Their dedication to excellence in pediatric care, research, and education, has provided the best potential for every child, youth, and caregiver in BC and beyond.
Thank you!
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Go Pediatrics! 2025 Walk for Joy
Walk for Joy (formerly known as Walkabout) is an annual 9-week walking challenge that strives to promote regular physical activity in social settings. It was designed and launched in 2005 by the late Dr. Joy Butler of the UBC Faculty of Education, and it is a partnership initiative with UBC Recreation and UBC Human Resources. A few years ago, the name of the program was changed from its original “Walkabout” to commemorate Dr. Butler.
Participants in this annual challenge will track their daily steps for 9 weeks — all forms of physical activity count!
This year, Dept of Pediatrics has 34 participants competing across 7 teams. Go Pediatrics!
More:
https://walkforjoy.educ.ubc.ca/
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2024 Seasons Greetings from the Department of Pediatrics, UBC & BCCH
Dear friends and colleagues,
As the end of the year approaches, I find myself reflecting on our incredible community, our achievements, and the extraordinary spirit of collegiality and compassion that define us.
I am continually inspired by the culture of caring and collaboration that permeates our department. It is a privilege to be part of such a dedicated team of faculty, staff, and trainees, all working together towards a common goal—to advance the outstanding care of children, youth, and their families.
I am deeply thankful for another year working together and I am so impressed with what we have accomplished this past year. There are many achievements to celebrate.
• We welcomed 43 new UBC Clinical faculty, with 24 at BCCH, and 19 in the community. Five new Academic faculty joined us. And we received 25 new positions from Workload Funding for recruitment in 2024/25.
• Congratulations to the 14 Clinical faculty who were promoted.
• Over 150 members from the Department reached a Long Service Milestones in 2023 and were celebrated at several events throughout 2024.
• Our Research Funding grew by another 12% this year (45% over the last four years).
• UBC Medical students in the Fraser Cohort can now complete their Pediatrics Clerkship Rotations within the Fraser Health region. The Education team is grateful to our Clinical Faculty within the region which made this opportunity possible.
• The Department has launched a new research-focussed residency stream, with a successful CaRMS 2024 match.
We also made considerable progress within each of our four priority areas in Vision 2028.
Excellent progress has been made by members in Pillar 1 (Increase our capacity for high quality equitable pediatric care) and Pillar 3 (Expand our impact for health justice and health equity in the province and beyond). The groups have met, and new initiatives will be announced in 2025.
Pillar 2 (Support robust education, compelling research, and scholarly activity) launched The Hudson Family Trainee Program, with the inaugural cohort starting in July 2025. Three candidates were selected for their outstanding potential to expand their skills in different pediatric disciplines, and we are confident that they will make valuable contributions to the clinical and research endeavors within our department.
The Hudson Scholar Program in Quality Improvement was relaunched. And look for more information on the SIQIPS (Systems Innovation Quality Improvement Patient Safety) promotion criteria developed by the CDARP Committee which gives weight to scholarly achievements.
Pillar 4 (Nurture A thriving Community of Faculty, Staff and Learners) introduced The Department of Pediatrics Peer Faculty Mentorship Program with 12 seasoned mentors, open to being matched with junior faculty within the department. The group also created a faculty onboarding checklist which is currently under evaluation, and they are looking into ideas to enhance our recognition and appreciation initiatives for faculty and staff.
The accomplishments of the past year have been extraordinary. I am filled with excitement for the new year, with shared learning, collective growth, and meaningful collaboration within our community.
Please enjoy the holiday season and a joyful new year.
With immense gratitude,
Steven
Dr. Steven Paul Miller, MDCM FRCPC FRSC (He, Him, His)
Hudson Family Hospital Chair in Pediatric Medicine | James and Annabel McCreary Chair in Pediatrics
Professor and Head, Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
Chief, Pediatric Medicine, BC Children’s Hospital
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Michael Smith Health Research BC & CANTRAIN Studentship
Congratulations to Una Spasovski!
Una is a recipient of a Michael Smith Health Research BC (MSHR) studentship with CANTRAIN.
MSHR is co-funding 23 BC-based graduate and postdoctoral trainees through the 2024 clinical trials training awards. This is in partnership with clinical trials training platforms (CTTP) funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. These awards enable trainees to develop competencies in designing, leading and working in clinical trials.
Clinical trials are crucial for making sure that new drugs, treatments, medical devices and therapies are safe and effective. There is a critical need in Canada to train and mentor clinical researchers to conduct high-quality clinical trials.
A special shout out to Dr. Souvik Mitra, Associate Professor with the Division of Neonatology for mentoring Una this past year.
Congratulations Una!
Link to announcement:
https://healthresearchbc.ca/news_article/partnership-enhances-clinical-research-expertise/
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Leadership Update: Dr. Deepak Manhas | Vice-Chair, Subspecialty
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Deepak Manhas has been appointed in the new position of Vice-Chair, Subspecialty, effective Dec 1 2024. He will be working with Dr. Ralph Rothstein to support the Department’s subspecialty training programs, including our broad and diverse portfolio of subspecialty residencies and clinical fellowships.
Deepak completed his Pediatric Residency and Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine (NPM) fellowship at UBC. Following the completion of his NPM fellowship, he completed a Master of Health Professions Education through Maastricht University with CHES. His masters’ thesis was on establishing outreach education programs for community pediatricians.
Deepak is also involved in other medical education activities. At the UBC medical school, he is the week chair for two of the weeks in the MSI second year curriculum. He is also the UBC Faculty Lead for Residents in Difficulty. He was the Program Director for NPM and an active member of the Pediatric Residency RPC for the past decade.
Deepak’s leadership activities also include appointment as the national NPM OSCE chair for 5 years and, at the Canadian Pediatrics Society (CPS); he is also the national chair for both Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) and Acute Care of the at-Risk Newborn (ACoRN), and president of the CPS Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine section. Since the summer of 2024, he has been in the new position of Medical Lead, Simulation for BC Children’s Hospital & BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre (C&W), with the aim of improving the use of simulation in education and quality improvement.
Welcome Dr. Manhas!
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The Impact of Public Policy on Equitable Access to Technology for Children and Youth Living with Type 1 Diabetes in British Columbia, Canada
Just published! Learn more about how Dr. Shazhan Amed and her team make it easier for children and youth with Type 1 diabetes to access new diabetes technology.
“Our research shows the impact of implementing universal funding for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology for children and youth living with type 1 diabetes in BC. Specifically, we showed that before the universal funding policy was implemented, access to diabetes technology and the uptake of CGM was lowest in the most deprived children and highest in the least deprived children. 1-year after the policy was implemented, the greatest uptake of CGM technology was in the most deprived children, narrowing the equity gap between the most and least deprived children living with diabetes in BC. Our study shows the importance of public policy on equitable access to diabetes technology.”
– Dr. Shazhan Amed
Link to article:
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/dia.2024.0366
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2024 Pioneer Grant | Drs. Kevan Jacobson and Genelle Lunken
Congratulations to Drs. Kevan Jacobson and Genelle Lunken!
Their study, “Open Label Multicentre Randomized Dietary Intervention Study in Pediatric Crohn Disease Patients Initiating Anti-TNF Therapy (DISPENSE-T)” was awarded a 2024 Pioneer Grant from the Canadian IBD Research Consortium (CIRC).
CIRC supports Canadian gastroenterologists to conduct high quality, impactful research in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Founded in 2017 through partnership with Crohn’s and Colitis Canada. CIRC is comprised of Canadian gastroenterologists with special interest in IBD. Over the past five years, the organization has grown to include over 70 Canadian gastroenterologist members who collaborate on multi-center IBD clinical research, with a particular focus on multi-center investigator-initiated trials, as well as generation of real-world evidence published in high impact journals.
Congratulations all!
MORE:
https://crohnsandcolitis.ca/News-Events/News-Releases/$1M-grant-awarded
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We respectfully acknowledge that the Vancouver office of the Department of Pediatrics, UBC & BCCH is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh).
©2025 Department of Pediatrics. All rights reserved.
Contact: pedcomm@cw.bc.ca