Meet Dr. Sofia Ahmed, Newly Appointed WCHRI Academic Lead of Women’s Health Research
Join us in celebrating and welcoming Dr. Sofia Ahmed as the newly appointed Academic Lead of Women's Health Research for the Women and Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI), a role she began earlier this spring. Dr. Ahmed leads impressive research focused on the differences of men and women during progression and complications of kidney and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Ahmed is a specialist in nephrology and continues setting new standards in medical research with a strong commitment to inclusivity of sex and gender, equity, and diversity.
“It isn’t enough to just include women in medical research. We must look at the entire lifecycle and include women at all stages so that we can understand how the changing female body will respond to new medical treatments and technology.” -Dr. Sofia Ahmed
Dr. Ahmed’s work is part of a movement that is reshaping women’s health after a long history of research focused exclusively on male physiology. For instance, Dr. Ahmed shared that vehicle safety ratings are based on the crash dummy test which physically represents the average American man from 1970. Because of this, women are more likely to be seriously or fatally injured in motor vehicle collisions due to a lack of representation of their stature during testing.
Medical research has a direct impact on health outcomes, and it is life-long dedication from those such as Dr. Ahmed that drives advancement forward.
Dr. Ahmed recognized the need to advocate for inclusivity early on in her training after she encountered bias and resistance when wanting to include female participants in a study. She questioned how generalizable medicine is if the therapy is prescribed to anyone, but the research is only looking at its effects on young healthy males. She now leads her own breakthrough research inclusive of gender differences across all stages of life.
When asked how she got to where she is today, Dr. Ahmed related most of her success to unbelievably strong mentorship. Of the many men and women that have encouraged and supported her dreams and career along the way, Dr. Joan Bargman was one that had an exceptional influence. She graciously agreed to create a summer elective for Dr. Ahmed during her first year of medical school, which sparked her initial interest in nephrology. Many years later, Dr. Ahmed still recalls Dr. Bargman’s leadership style as inclusive and inspirational and now strives to do the same in her work, adopting a “lift as you climb” mentality to ensure that everyone has a voice in research.
Dr. Ahmed believes significant progress has been made in women’s health research in recent times. A growing trend of world leaders across the globe are placing more emphasis on women’s health and more equitable representation. However, there is still plenty of work to do in pursing equity in women’s health research and Dr. Ahmed plans to keep the momentum going in her new role with WCHRI.
“What does deserve much more attention is when you hear women’s health it is not “bikini medicine.” Women’s health is so much more than pregnancy and reproduction. For example, two thirds of people with Alzheimer’s are women but once again they are underrepresented in neurology and neurology-based research – if they are included, it is not stratified by sex or gender.” - Dr. Sofia Ahmed
The AWHF is proud to support WCHRI in our shared mission to promote and encourage women’s health research through funding and collaboration. You can support researchers such as Dr. Ahmed by donating to the AWHF today.