At the end of March, Dr. Catharine Whiteside will retire from her role as Director of Strategic Partnerships at Diabetes Action Canada (DAC). Throughout her nine years with the organization, Whiteside, who was previously Executive Director, has been an incredible leader, colleague and mentor to the DAC team.

Whiteside has had a storied career. She is a clinician-scientist with a special interest in kidney disease who previously served as the Dean of Medicine and Vice Provost Relations with Health Care Institutions at the University of Toronto. She is a founding member of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the former president of that organization. In 2016, she was appointed as a member of the Order of Canada.

Her research interest in kidney disease and diabetes was sparked early in her career, when she realized people with these conditions were rarely offered dialysis because they were considered unlikely to recover. She focused her research program on studying kidney disease at the molecular level in order to better understand what was happening in these cases and how to improve outcomes.

It was after her retirement from the University of Toronto that she was offered the opportunity to lead Diabetes Action Canada. A network focused on diabetes complications aligned with her interests and, after initially agreeing to help with the grant application, she took on the role of Executive Director.

Dr. Gary Lewis, DAC’s Scientific Co-Lead, was thrilled to have Whiteside at the helm and has continued to appreciate the value she brings to the organization. “Cathy has been the best role model anyone could wish for in academic medicine. Her insights into Canada’s healthcare system, her ability to collaborate with a diverse array of public and private partners, her dedication to public service, her experience in planning and building sustainable organizations, her poise and thoughtfulness have all been invaluable to me. It is an understatement that without Cathy’s guidance over the past decade, DAC would not have become the organization it is today,” he says.

In the beginning, DAC was focused primarily on bringing together research teams. This was something Whiteside felt very aligned with, having experience working in the largest faculty of medicine and one of the largest health sciences faculties in North America. That initial work flowed nicely into meetings with government and policy makers, as well as developing strong collaborations with organizations across Canada and beyond.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization’s focus shifted to patient engagement and knowledge mobilization, changes Whiteside has found exciting. “I think the organization has really emerged with appropriate strength for patient-oriented research and collective impact,” she says, noting that this is a needed shift in research. “Culture change comes with understanding and engaging the experience of people living with diabetes and its complications. I think that’s the greatest learning for all of us. Despite the fact that we’ve worked with patients for years in this context it’s been a big culture change, and I’ve been delighted to see this expansion.”

Whiteside is especially proud of her work with pan-Canadian organizations, like Diabetes Canada, on the Framework for Diabetes in Canada and other initiatives. She has been very focused on growing DAC’s relationships with government and on supporting research programs and projects related to digital health, amputation prevention and improved access to eye screening. All of these projects have the potential to improve outcomes for everyone living with diabetes or at risk of developing the condition.

The future, as she sees it, will involve increased collaboration across the spectrum. Bringing together everyone in the chronic disease space alongside government, academia, community partners and those with lived experience will be essential.

“It’s all about connected care and integrated healthcare. What we’ve learned at Diabetes Action Canada is that those healthcare programs, like the community health centers, that truly integrate care around the individual, including social services, is the model that’s working,” she says. “Being able to collaborate with South Riverdale Community Health Centre has been a real eye opener. That model is certainly a model of success.”

Organizations like the Indigenous Diabetes Health Circle, which deliver care based on communication, education and understanding the ethnocultural basis for being able to work with their community, are essential. “It’s something that our healthcare leaders need to understand, because we are still so focused on acute care and hospital-based care. And I think the hospitals are realizing that they’ve got to collaborate with the community health centers to create the efficiencies and effectiveness of their own programs. If Diabetes Action Canada can fit into that setting in the future, that will be a real success factor for them.”

Whiteside will miss her colleagues at DAC and the work they are doing. She has been so impressed by the team. “I’ve always said that the lean but very expert management team we’ve had is one of the best I’ve worked with. Having the business and management acumen, the digital health expertise, communication expertise and now, of course, the patient engagement element. This has really been a great pleasure for me. Having built a number of organizational management teams, this is, in my view, the best that I’ve ever worked with.”

The feeling is very mutual, “Cathy was instrumental in building the Network from the ground up, shaping its vision, and fostering a culture of collaboration that continues to define our work. Her leadership, expertise, and dedication have been invaluable, not only in establishing critical partnerships but also in mentoring staff and in developing meaningful relationships across the research and patient communities,” says DAC’s Executive Director, Tracy McQuire. “Cathy was deeply committed to building programs that have had a lasting impact, including our diabetic retinopathy screening and limb preservation initiatives. She also played a key role in strengthening partnerships with our NGO partners, particularly Diabetes Canada, helping to align efforts in advocacy, research, and patient care. Cathy’s contributions to Diabetes Action Canada are immeasurable, and her legacy will continue to guide us.”

Even in retirement, Whiteside will not be far from the DAC team if needed but she is excited to spend more time with her grandchildren and as a volunteer for organizations like the Scarborough Health Network and the Banting Discovery Foundation. “DAC is in excellent hands. We’ve built something very successful,” she says.

Read and sign the Kudos Board for Cathy!