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.