Dr. Shihabuddin’s interest in clinical research started during his pediatric emergency medicine fellowship, when he was encouraged by his mentors to evaluate clinical guidelines for acute care in pediatrics, and in turn, developed some of those guidelines during his research career. Since that time, Dr. Shihabuddin’s interests developed in rural-urban disparities in care and access to care by medically underserved populations. This led to his work at a underserved, rural children’s hospital in health outcomes research and disparities by geographic region of residence.

Through this work, Dr. Shihabuddin’s awareness of healthcare disparities increased and his interest in addressing disparities in care evolved into work within a pediatric research network. As his responsibilities in research management evolved, Dr. Shihabuddin used his knowledge and previous research in healthcare disparities to evaluate and promote diversity in clinical research among research teams and study participants. As an educator at a top 30 medical school, Dr. Shihabuddin participates in the holistic admissions process and had the opportunity to collaborate with other educators with an interest in advancing the field of medicine, as well as emergency medicine.

Dr. Shihabuddin received his undergraduate and medical degree from the American University of Beirut, and a Masters of Science in Clinical Research from Drexel University. he completed a pediatric residency at SUNY Upstate Medical University and a pediatric emergency medicine fellowship at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center. He has worked as a pediatric emergency medicine attending for over 10 years at two children’s hospitals.