Sumit (Me2) Majumdar

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Dr. Sumit (Me2) Majumdar obtained his MD with Distinction from the University of Alberta in 1992. After completing his clinical training in internal medicine at the Royal Alexandra and University hospitals, he was chief resident in internal medicine (1997 and 1998) at the University of Alberta Hospital where his morning report, presentations and organizational skills were considered “legendary.”
He extended his training as a research fellow in health outcomes and pharmaco-epidemiology at Harvard Medical School, which earned him a master’s degree in public health from Harvard university in 1999.

In the fall of 1999, Dr. Majumdar returned to his alma mater, the University of Alberta, as Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine. He quickly gained national and international recognition for his work on both knowledge translation theory and controlled intervention and outcomes studies in the areas of osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The diabetes quality improvement program he initiated and tested was cited by the then provincial minister of health, the lay press and in legislative record, as a “paradigm for improving diabetes care in Alberta and elsewhere,” and his work on osteoporosis formed the foundation for treatment guidelines.

Based largely on his prodigious and influential research output, Dr. Majumdar was granted tenure with promotion to Associate professor in 2005, which was followed by promotion to professor just five years later.

During his academic career, Dr. Majumdar brought more than $30 million in peer-reviewed funding to the University of Alberta. He held funding from Alberta Innovates, CIHR and many other peer- reviewed organizations.

As a mentor, he helped train more than 40 future clinicians, researchers and clinician-scientists, and his contributions to academic life at the University of Alberta extended into many different Divisions, Departments, and Faculties. He published over 300 peer-reviewed articles, many in top-ranked medical journals. He was widely cited and a sought-after speaker.

Dr. Majumdar also was Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health and a Visiting Professor at Harvard Medical School. He held the Merck Frosst chair in Patient Health Management (Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences/Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry).

He co-founded Knowledge Translation Canada, a network of Canadian experts in knowledge translation who work together to address the “care gap,” ensuring the results of health research can benefit patients at the bedside and are incorporated into health decision-making.

In addition to his contributions to research and translation of research knowledge into practice, Dr. Majumdar was an exceptional and caring clinician and an outstanding educator. His research was recognized by many awards, including from other departments - in 2006, he was awarded the off-Service teacher of the Year Award by FRCP Emergency Medicine residents at the University of Alberta. He was also awarded the Young Investigator of the Year Award from the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine and the Mack Lipkin Award from the Society of General Internal Medicine (USA). In 2017, he was elected Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, one of the highest honours for health research scholars in Canada.

He was a humble but brilliant colleague who was often sought out by colleagues and trainees for help thinking through problems. He was incredibly hard working and an exceptional role model.

Dr. Majumdar also supported the work of the Department of Medicine and the university by serving in numerous administrative capacities over the years, including the role of Associate Chair, Epidemiology and Outcomes Research, and membership on the Academic Evaluation and Research executive committees.

Most of all, he was a husband, a father, a son, a friend and a colleague to many; his connections to the people and community of Edmonton were extensive. He will be greatly missed by trainees, colleagues and collaborators throughout the University of Alberta and beyond.