Endocrinology

Dr. Jill Hamilton’s research and clinical interests focus on children and adolescents at risk for the development of type 2 diabetes and weight-related health issues.

This includes children and adolescents with complex obesity due to hypothalamic tumors or genetic causes of hypothalamic dysregulation.  The main areas of research include (i) evaluation of the determinants of metabolic risk and mechanisms for weight gain (ii) food intake and appetite hormone regulation, and (iii) treatment of complex obesity and type 2 diabetes. I have over 150 peer-reviewed publications and have received research funding from agencies including Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), National Institute of Health (NIH), Heart and Stroke Foundation and Canadian Diabetes Association. 

Dr. Carol Lam's research interest is in calcium homeostasis and metabolic bone disease. She is site co-investigator for the Canadian Bone Strength in Diabetes Study (CanBSDS) which is a Canadian multisite study assessing bone health in children with type 1 diabetes. She is part of the Optimize DMD Consortium and is an active member of the DMD Growth & Puberty working group. She is a steering committee member for the Canadian Consortium for Children's Bone Health (CCCBH) and a member of OsNET, which is a CIHR-funded network for bone health research.

Dr. Mahmud's current research focuses on diabetes, specifically clinical and lifestyle-based interventions in high risk pediatric groups, and translational research relating to co-morbid autoimmune conditions and social determinants including the early evaluation and prevention of related complications.

He is the lead investigator for the Adolescent Type 1 diabetes Treatment with SGLT2i for hyperglycEMia & hyPerfilTration (ATTEMPT) study, an international, double-blind, randomized control trial. Dr. Mahmud also serves as principal investigator of the Adolescent Diabetes Cardio-Renal Intervention Trial (AdDIT) Expansion in Canada, and is currently engaged with the CanSOLVE CKD-SPOR Initiative.  

Dr. Mahmud has a longstanding interest in Celiac Disease as an association with Type 1 Diabetes. He serves as principal investigator of a dietary intervention study, the Celiac Disease and Diabetes - Dietary Intervention and Evaluation Trial (CD-DIET), which has now concluded, and its ongoing follow-up study the Celiac Disease and Diabetes Longitudinal Follow-Up Evaluation (CD-LiFE).    

Dr. Mahmud is also leading the Diabetes Registry, a platform designed to expand patient access to diabetes-related research at SickKids, and is currently serving as chair for the 2020 International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD) virtual conference. 

Dr. Palmert has a long-standing interest in the regulation and disorders of pubertal timing. He has conducted clinical studies of precocious and delayed puberty and in parallel has directed a laboratory-based program designed to identify and understand genetic factors that regulate the onset of puberty.

His interest in the regulation of pubertal timing and in male-female differences in its onset has led to the expansion of his laboratory-based program to include investigation of the bases of sex differences in the brain, including examination of the effects of sex steroids and sex chromosomes on brain structure and function.  Most recently, this work has expanded to include impact of parental diet on offspring brain development.

In the clinical research realm, Dr. Palmert has conducted studies focused on improving outcomes of youth with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and optimizing the use of resources and diagnostic tests within the endocrine clinics. A more recent focus is work related improving the care of transgender adolescents, including examination of barriers to that care. 

Dr. Shulman’s research program is focused on developing and evaluating health services interventions to improve the health and quality of care for youth living with diabetes. Areas of focus include transition to adult care, preventing ketoacidosis at diabetes diagnosis, and reducing socioeconomic disparities in care and outcomes. She is particularly interested in developing and evaluating interventions that leverage existing population-level administrative datasets to inform health system change.

Currently, an ongoing CIHR-funded multi-site study, KiT (Keeping in Touch), has developed and is testing a text message-based digital tool including an artificial intelligence natural language chatbot to deliver just-in-time personalized transition education that will help young adults transition to adult care. In collaboration with the Canadian Pediatric Endocrine Group (CPEG) and funded by Diabetes Canada. Dr. Shulman is leading an initiative to co-develop a national strategy to recognize signs of diabetes in children to prevent ketoacidosis at diabetes diagnosis.

Dr. Julia Sorbara’s primary research interest centres on the medical care of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth. She seeks to better understand how access to and provision of gender-affirming care can be improved for this vulnerable population. She has studied the timing of presentation to gender-affirming care, identifying factors that influence when youth seek care as well as examining relationships between mental health and age of presentation to care. She has also identified social determinant of health dimensions that may act as barriers to accessing gender-affirming care. She is currently leading the SickKids Transgender Youth Clinic’s first follow-up study, investigating former patients’ perspectives on their decisions related to medical intervention and fertility preservation as well as their experiences transferring to adult care. Her secondary research interest relates to the care of children with primary and secondary osteoporosis. She is currently involved in local, national and international initiatives that aim to progress the understanding and management of bone fragility conditions.

Dr. Wasserman’s research focuses primarily on paediatric thyroid cancer and spans both clinical and translational domains. Thyroid carcinoma is the most common endocrine malignancy and is the most common cancer in adolescent and young women in Canada. Although frequently more extensive and aggressive than thyroid cancer in older adults, paediatric and adolescent thyroid carcinoma is generally associated with excellent prognosis.

Dr. Wasserman’s research aims to identify the biological underpinnings of this behaviour and to identify improved treatment and follow-up paradigms for paediatric and adolescent patients with thyroid malignancies. His team is using a number of research modalities to explore this including both genomic approaches as well as population-level databases.

Dr. Diane Wherrett's research interests are focused on type 1 diabetes with the goal of delaying and preventing progression of the disease. She is the Centre Director and Steering Committee Member for Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet, an international research organization which shares this mission.

She is the lead investigator for a network of TrialNet sites across Canada. Dr. Wherrett is involved in multiple TrialNet studies and committees. Dr. Wherrett leads a Canadian research consortium, Canadian Population Screening for Risk of Type 1 Diabetes Research Consortium, CanScreen T1D, funded by CIHR and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to assess the acceptability and feasibility of screening for type 1 diabetes risk in Canadian children, supporting the development of a pilot screening program. This national consortium brings together researchers with a wide variety of expertise from across Canada. Both of these research programs aim to translate research findings to clinical care, through early identification of diabetes risk and identification of therapies that delay or prevent type 1 diabetes.

The fellowship program aims to provide broad training in clinical pediatric endocrinology with opportunities to develop clinical, research and education skills. The program is two or more years of training. The first year is predominantly a clinical year, with the second year of training tailored to the trainee’s career goals in either clinical endocrinology, clinical or basic research, education or quality improvement. There may be a possibility of further research training dependent on the availability of funding.

Clinical training

The clinical training for fellows offers an extensive exposure to both in-patient and ambulatory pediatric diabetes and endocrinology.  

• Diabetes Service: three diabetes clinics a week that take place in the context of a large multidisciplinary team of endocrinologists, diabetes nurse educator, dietitians, social workers and psychologists 
• General endocrine service: follows children with all type of endocrine disorders with four general endocrine clinics a week 
• Subspecialty endocrine clinics: in addition to general endocrine clinics, there are subspecialty clinics which the trainees will have exposure to including: Bone Health, Calcium disorders, Endocrine-gynecology clinics, Late Effects of Cancer therapy, Complex Obesity, Transgender and Multi-disciplinary Urogenital clinics. 

Research training 

Primary research activities in the Division of Endocrinology occur in a variety of different areas of clinical investigation. Further research opportunities may also be available with other researchers within the University of Toronto. 

Application process 

Canadian trainees are to apply through CaRMS.

To apply to the program, please submit your fellowship application through our online form and include the following attachments: 

• Current Curriculum Vitae 
• Copy of Medical Degree 
• Academic Transcripts (undergraduate and postgraduate) 
• Copy of Paediatrics Specialty Certificate (if you are currently a Paediatric trainee, please arrange for your Program Director to provide us with a letter of good standing) 
• Letter of Intent describing your interest in endocrinology and career interests 

We are currently accepting applications for the Fellowship program, with a commence date of July 2026. The deadline date to apply is Monday, January 13, 2025.

Endocrinology Fellowship Application

In addition, please ask three individuals who know you well to send confidential letters in support of your application to endo.program@sickkids.ca. One letter should come from your residency program director. Your referees should comment upon your interpersonal skills, clinical skills and provide us with some insights regarding your background or potential for research.  

Applicants will need to have completed paediatric training by the time fellowship training begins.

If you have applied to the U.S. Match through the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP), please be advised that the University of Toronto is a participating institution and adheres to the match policy.

The policy states that "applicants who have matched to a program or have accepted a position during the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP), shall not apply for, discuss, interview for, or accept a concurrent year position in another program prior to the NRMP granting the requested waiver." 

The elective program is geared towards Paediatric Residents training in Canada as well as Canadian and International Medical Students. This is a three to four-week elective designed to be a mix of clinics plus inpatient service. The rotation is not divided into separate clinics and service weeks. This is to maximize clinical exposure and introduce residents to the organizational skills required to balance inpatient and outpatient work, which many paediatricians need to manage. There will be hands on patient care, ward rounds, divisional rounds and attendance at diabetes and endocrine clinics. Students are also exposed to the academic activities of the Division of Endocrinology, including case discussions, case reviews and journal clubs. This elective is coordinated though the Electives Office at the University of Toronto in consultation with Dr. Carol Lam, Program Director.  

Due to the lengthy process required for permits, licensing and registrations, the Division of Endocrinology currently does not accept international Paediatric Resident Electives. However, we do have an Observership Program (detailed in the next section). 

Application procedures for Paediatric Residents training in Canada

• Applications for Paediatric Residents training in Canada are submitted through U of T/PGME Electives Portal. 

Application procedures for Medical Students

• Applications for Canadian medical students are submitted through MEDSIS. 
• Applications for international medical students are submitted through the AFMC Portal. Please note that international medical students will be required to submit their CV showing their past clinical experience as well as their TOEFL scores. 

The observership program is designed to help non-licensed International Medical Graduates gain experience in the Canadian healthcare system. The Division of Endocrinology supports this endeavour through a 2-4 week observership where the individual observes activities in clinics, ward and divisional rounds. These physicians must be in a pediatric endocrinology training program or currently practicing in pediatric endocrinology and meet the criteria for an observership in our division. 

We are only able to accept a limited number of observers into our division, due to the overwhelming number of applications for observerships, and the large number of trainees and elective medical students and residents rotating through our busy subspecialty program. 

For more information, please contact: 

Dr. Carol Lam, Training Program Director
Nirthikaa Parameswaran, Education Administrative Coordinator

Paediatric Endocrinology Training Program 
The Hospital for Sick Children 
The University of Toronto 
Phone: 416-813-5991 
Email: endo.program@sickkids.ca