Vice-Chairs
Dr. Jane Batt is a respirologist and scientist at the Keenan Research Center for Biomedical Sciences, St. Michael’s Hospital – Unity Health Toronto and associate professor of medicine in the Division of Respirology with a cross appointment to the Interdepartmental Division of Critical Care.
She leads an internationally recognized research program aimed at delineating the cellular and molecular regulation of skeletal muscle mass and dysfunction in critical illness and trauma. Her program mandate is to utilize research findings to facilitate innovation that is transferrable to the bedside to prevent and treat skeletal muscle wasting and weakness. Her current projects include: MEND-ICU - a study of the molecular mechanisms underpinning Intensive Care Unit Acquired Weakness (ICUAW); the development of Smart Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Garments to prevent ICUAW and ultrasound mediated gene delivery (UMGD) to promote the repair and regeneration of traumatically-denervated muscle. Her research is consistently supported by competitive funding including Canadian Institutes of Health Research, New Frontiers in Research Fund – Exploration, Medicine by Design, Ontario Thoracic Society, Ontario Lung Association and Physicians Services Incorporated.
She has served as Chair of the Division of Respirology Research Advisory Committee, Chair of the Ontario Thoracic Society, Medical Director of St. Michael’s Hospital’s Tuberculosis program, has chaired or served on multiple national and international research grant and award peer review committees and is guest editor of Frontiers in Physiology.
Dr. Arno Kumagai is a full professor at the University of Toronto and Vice-Chair, Education, in the Department of Medicine. He also holds the F.M. Hill Chair in Humanism Education from Women’s College Hospital and the University of Toronto. Dr. Kumagai received his BA in comparative literature from U.C. Berkeley and his MD from UCLA School of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine and an endocrine fellowship and postdoc at UCLA. Dr. Kumagai came to the University of Toronto from the University of Michigan Medical School where he was on faculty since 1996. An endocrinologist with expertise in the intensive management of type 1 diabetes mellitus, Dr. Kumagai is an internationally recognized educational scholar. After a career in bench research, Dr. Kumagai remarkably shifted his research interests from looking into the molecular mechanisms of diabetic complications to medical education.
Dr. Kumagai’s excellence in integration of humanism in medical education is internationally recognized. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, including the AAMC/Pfizer Award for Humanism in Medical Education, the Leonard Towe Award for Humanism in Medicine, the Kaiser Permanente Award for Teaching Excellence, and the University of Michigan’s Provost Innovative Teaching Prize and the University of Michigan’s Distinguished Leaders in Diversity Award.
Arno is married to another endocrinologist, Eleni Dimaraki, and they have a somewhat rambunctious son, Apollo.
Dr. Christine Soong is an academic hospitalist and Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, and at the Department of Family and Community Medicine, at the University of Toronto. She completed her medical degree at Western University, family medicine residency at the University of Toronto, and a Master’s degree in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation.
Dr. Soong is the inaugural Division Head of the Division of Hospital Medicine at Sinai Health and the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Her leadership roles have included the Medical Director of Quality and Safety at Sinai Health, Department of Medicine Equity Lead, Hospital Designation Program Implementation Lead at Choosing Wisely Canada and Senior Editor for BMJ Quality and Safety. Dr. Soong’s research and quality improvement interests include patient safety, high-value care, novel models of inpatient care and transitions of care.
Dr. Umberin Najeeb is a clinician educator in the Department of Medicine, centre researcher at the Wilson Centre and staff internist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She completed her medical training from University of Peshawar and an accelerated residency in Internal Medicine from University of Toronto (UofT) followed by Education Scholars Program from the Center of Faculty Development.
Dr. Najeeb's scholarly work is two-fold, centred on the transition and integration of internationally educated health professionals into their training and working environments and health profession education with specific focus on curriculum design, program development, faculty development and mentorship.
As a part of her work supporting internationally educated health professionals, Dr. Najeeb developed and implemented a research based longitudinal collaborative mentorship program for international medical graduates (IMGs) physicians and has been the faculty lead for the IMG mentorship program since 2012. Currently, she is the Co-Director of the department’s Master Teacher Program. In December 2022, she completed her term as the inaugural Senior Advisor Islamophobia in the Office of Inclusion and Diversity at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine. She served as the inaugural Faculty Lead, Equity (2021-2023) and the founding Faculty Lead for the PGY4 Internal Medicine (2012-2018) Program in the Department.
Dr. Najeeb uses her voice and lived experiences to be an ally in her many roles. She teaches around the constructs of equity, diversity, inclusion, (EDI) and allyship at undergraduate, postgraduate, and faculty development levels and contributes to committee and policy work related to social justice and EDI. She has won numerous teaching, education, and mentorship awards at the local, provincial and national level with Professional Association of Residents in Ontario (PARO) Excellence in Clinical Teaching award in 2021 and Certificate of Merit award, from Canadian Association for Medical Education (CAME) in 2019.
In her capacity as Vice-Chair Dr. Najeeb will continue to advance the department’s strategic priorities with respect to mentorship across the academic lifespan; equity, diversity and inclusion; and faculty/learner wellness. Building on her success as Faculty Lead Equity, she will support the Department’s vision of creating a clinical and academic environment that promotes mutual respect, compassion, belonging, and inclusive excellence.