Department Announces New Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Officer

Written by: Dr. John Kingdom, Gordon C. Leitch Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Toronto

I am pleased to announce that Dr. Cindy Maxwell (Associate Professor and Division Head of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Sinai Health System) has accepted the inaugural role of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Officer, for an initial three-year period from January 1st 2020 to December 31st 2022. The creation of the role of EDI Officer for Obstetrics & Gynaecology aligns our Department with the Faculty of Medicine’s strategic planning priority “Excellence Through Equity”.

Dr. Maxwell has been involved in equity work through mentorship of students and trainees of under-represented groups, as past President and Faculty Advisor for the Black Physicians Association of Ontario, as well as an advocate for persons with obesity. Dr. Maxwell is an acknowledged international leader in medical disorders of pregnancy, with a focus on the management of women with obesity, inflammatory bowel diseases and cancer. She is the first American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM)-certified obesity specialist for pregnancy care in Canada. This month’s JOGC issue profiles her work with two SOGC clinical practise guidelines on managing women with obesity during their pregnancies.

Dr. Maxwell did all of her pre-fellowship training at Harvard University before returning to Canada to undertake our sub-specialty training program in Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM), graduating in 2004. In 2009, she assumed the role of MFM Fellowship Program Director, until elected Division Head in 2018. Dr. Maxwell will engage widely in her new role, including serving as a member of our Executive Committee and in an advisory capacity to all statutory committees in our Department. She will represent our Department on EDI issues centrally in the Faculty of Medicine and contribute to our strategic planning update for Obstetrics & Gynaecology in 2020. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Maxwell to her new role, and reflect on how you could contribute to this important new development in our Department.

With best wishes for the upcoming Festive Season!

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