Dr. Harpreet Bajaj is a well-known academic and public figure in Ontario for his research expertise and community outreach. His research on diabetes complications and management, especially among the South Asian community, has furthered our understanding of ethno-specific risk factors in diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Dr. Bajaj completed his medical training at the Maulana Azad Medical College in India in 2000. Following this, he pursued a Masters in Public Health, studying epidemiology at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Albany. At SUNY, he won the David Axelrod Award for Excellence in Research for his study, “Asian Indians: large but not obese”, which compared abdominal fat and cardiovascular risk factors between Asian Indians and US populations. He finished his training in internal medicine and endocrinology at the Cleveland Clinic in 2007 before returning to Canada. Currently, he is an endocrinologist in Brampton and a Research Associate at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, as well as a lecturer at McMaster University and the University of Western Ontario.
At Mount Sinai, Dr. Bajaj’s research focuses on developing and evaluating “real-life” practical approaches in clinical care to reduce complications and risk factors associated with diabetes and cardiovascular disease. This includes asking if treatment can be changed to better suit lifestyle needs, such as adopting weekly insulin injections instead of the current daily regimen, as well as exploring interventions to improve patient education of diabetes management and prevention. He has long examined why Asian Indians experience higher rates of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases compared to European Americans, and in 2013 proposed that the waist circumference to body weight ratio may explain this difference. Since then, more studies have supported this link and have suggested that this ratio is a more reliable predictor of type 2 diabetes than body mass index (BMI) alone.
In addition to research, Dr. Bajaj is also a strong advocate for health awareness. In 2013, he founded the STOP Diabetes Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides practical, evidence-based information on preventing and managing diabetes in Ontario’s Peel Region. Additionally, he is the Vice Chair of the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee at Diabetes Canada and a Principal Investigator at the Canadian Diabetes Prevention Program. A dedicated educator, Dr. Bajaj hosts a weekly show called “Your Health” on the South-Asian Channel Y, where he talks to viewers about diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other health issues. With a passion for clinical research, patient care and social advocacy, Dr. Harpreet Bajaj is truly a leader both within the medical profession and the community at large.
— Written by Michael Limmena