Dr Aneez Shiraz Mohamed

With a heavy heart, we announce the passing of Dr Aneez Shiraz Mohamed. In his brief time on Earth, Aneez established himself as a dedicated professional, a loving son, and a friend to all.

Aneez was born in London, Ont­ario, but spent his formative years in Kamloops, British Columbia. It was in Kamloops that he excelled in athletics, academia, and the creative arts, graduating from Kamloops Secon­dary School at the top of his class in 1996. Aneez pursued further studies at the University of British Columbia, where he earned a bachelor of science in 2000 and a doctorate in medicine in 2004. After completing his internal medicine residency training at the University of Western Ontario, Aneez returned to the University of British Columbia in 2007 to begin his fellowship in cardiology. It is here that we came to know him. While few of us had known Aneez prior to his return to Vancouver, his personable and affable style made him a welcome addition to the cardiology program at UBC. He and his partner, Chanelle, had barely unpacked before they had welcomed us all into their new home, sharing their love of food and culture. Aneez was a tireless and selfless friend who always put others first. He was always the first to offer assistance when trouble befell anyone in our program. Perhaps most emblematic of his devotion to both his colleagues and patients was that, on numerous occasions, he showed up for work despite illness, lest he burden one of his colleagues by his absence. Needless to say, it took a great deal of convincing to persuade him to leave and look after himself.

Likewise he felt it necessary for physicians to play a greater role in the betterment of society. This past Christ­mas it was he and Chanelle who advocated the sponsorship of a local family in need by the cardiology training program. Similarly, in the wake of the taser controversy, Aneez spearheaded a critical appraisal of the evidence surrounding taser use. As part of his grand rounds on the topic he was able to bring together the medical community and the Vancouver Police in an attempt to productively examine the use of tasers in British Columbia. At the time of his passing he was preparing a medical symposium on the topic.

In addition to being a well-respected and highly regarded clinician who genuinely cared about his patients, Aneez was a gifted researcher and educator. Over the past year and a half Aneez and I were able to publish multiple papers together, the most recent of which is in this issue of the BCMJ. At the time of his passing Aneez and I were midway through a medical education project he hoped would enable the University of Bri­tish Columbia to facilitate top-level educational experiences in the face of medical school expansion to distributed sites. I feel fortunate to have been able to collaborate with such an intelligent individual.

As a group we feel fortunate to have known Aneez and will forever be grateful for the time we shared. From this life cut tragically short we can only take solace in the fact that Aneez left this world alongside his beloved Chanelle. Aneez is survived by mother Nasim, father Shiraz, and brothers Riaz and Rahim. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation in Aneez’s memory be made to the Aneez Mohamed Memorial Fund (c/o Britt Kujala, 9th Floor Cardiology, 2775 Laurel Street, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9).

—Jason Andrade, MD
On behalf of the UBC Cardiology Fellows