Research in Focus shines a light on the innovative studies and discoveries taking shape across the UBC Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Through each feature, we celebrate the minds driving meaningful change in research, education, and clinical practice across anesthesiology, pharmacology, and therapeutics.   

For Dr. Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, chronic pain clinics are about more than managing symptoms—they play a vital role in protecting both individual patients and the communities around them through risk management.  

Dr. Bamgbade’s research explores how these clinics mitigate social risks related to substance misuse, particularly in contexts like driving, family life, and workplace safety. 

Drawing on an observational study of over 1,200 patients receiving care, Dr. Bamgbade and his team found that pain clinics are often at the front lines of identifying and responding to these broader safety concerns. Some patients received targeted support to ensure they could drive safely, care for their families, or perform their jobs without risk to themselves or others. The study also revealed important patterns in who received different types of support, highlighting how factors like age and gender can shape both risk and care needs.  

Thus, chronic pain clinics are not just places of treatment, but contributors to public safety and social well-being.  

“I hope this work will encourage clinicians to view chronic pain care more broadly, not only as symptom control but also as a driver of safety, function, and prevention.”  

— Dr. Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, Clinical Associate Professor; UBC 

Meet Dr. Olumuyiwa Bamgbade! 

Site: Surrey Pain Clinic 

Rank: Clinical Assistant Professor   

Dr. Bamgbade’s academic journey spans continents, beginning with medical school in Nigeria and continuing through residency training in the United Kingdom, academic work in the United States, fellowship training in South Korea, and ongoing clinical research in Canada. Along the way, he has trained and worked across diverse health systems, gaining experience in anesthesiology, pain medicine, perioperative care, intensive care, palliative care, and clinical teaching. 

These global experiences have shaped a broad, comparative perspective on patient care, health equity, and health system performance, while deepening his commitment to practical, clinically relevant research. Today, this international foundation informs his work as a UBC clinical researcher, where he focuses on advancing evidence-based care, driving innovation, and improving real-world health outcomes. 

What drew you to this particular research question or problem? 

I was drawn to this research problem by seeing how chronic pain and substance misuse affect far more than symptoms alone. They shape driving safety, family stability, workplace function, and public risk. I wanted to show that chronic pain clinics do not only treat individuals. They also protect families, communities, and society. 

How does this project fit into your broader research interests or goals? 

This project fits my broader research goals by advancing my focus on value-based, real-world health care research that improves both patient outcomes and societal well-being. It reflects my interest in pain medicine, safety, health systems, and public health. Furthermore, it supports my goal of generating practical evidence demonstrating how clinical services can deliver wider benefits to patients, families, workplaces, and communities. 

What impact do you hope this work will have on clinical practice, education, or society in general? 

I hope this work will encourage clinicians to view chronic pain care more broadly, not only as symptom control but also as a driver of safety, function, and prevention. In education, I hope it strengthens training on the social and public health impact of pain medicine. In society, I hope it shows that effective pain clinics can protect families, improve workplace safety, support safer driving, and reduce wider harm linked to pain and substance misuse. 

What’s one thing you hope people will take away from this study? 

I hope people take away that chronic pain clinics do far more than treat pain. When they deliver safe, value-based, and comprehensive care, they also improve public safety, protect families, support workplace function, and reduce broader social harm linked to pain and substance misuse. 

Read the full publication: Pain Clinic and Societal Safety: Promoting Road Safety, Family
Well-being, Workplace Safety, and Risk Management

Research in Focus shines a light on the innovative studies and discoveries taking shape across the UBC Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics. Through each feature, we celebrate the minds driving meaningful change in research, education, and clinical practice across anesthesiology, pharmacology, and therapeutics. 

For Dr. Matthew Wiens, care doesn’t end at the hospital door—it continues in the communities where patients return. 

Over the past 13 years, Dr. Wiens has led the development and implementation of a series of studies focused on deriving and validating clinical prediction models for post-discharge mortality among children with sepsis in East Africa. His research has contributed to a growing understanding of how risk can be identified early and acted upon effectively in low-resource settings. 

He leads the Smart Discharges digital health research program, an initiative designed to improve patient outcomes by identifying vulnerable individuals and strengthening the transition from facility-based care to community-based support following discharge. Through this work, he aims to ensure that high-risk patients do not fall through the cracks once they leave the hospital. 

Building on this foundation, his latest project, REConeCteD: Risk Enhanced Community Care after Discharge, advances a risk-differentiated care approach. By digitally linking facility-based and community-based health systems, the project enables personalized health education and targeted follow-up plans tailored to each patient’s risk profile and co-morbidities—bringing continuity of care beyond the hospital and into the community. 

“REConneCteD represents a new model for pediatric care—one that recognizes recovery does not end at the hospital door, but continues in the communities where children and families live, supported by technology that connects all parts of the healthcare system.”  

— Dr. Matthew Wiens, Assistant Professor; UBC, Researcher; BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute 

Meet Matthew Wiens! 

Site: BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR) 

Rank: Assistant Professor; UBC, Researcher; BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute 

Dr. Matthew Wiens is a global health researcher dedicated to improving sepsis outcomes in resource-limited settings. His work sits at the intersection of clinical epidemiology, prediction modelling, and digital health, where he focuses on developing practical, data-driven solutions to address critical gaps in care. 

Dr. Wiens spent six years of his training, which included a PhD in Epidemiology at UBC, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at UBC and the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, living and working in Uganda. Immersion in local health systems fostered a deep and continually evolving understanding of the complexity and nuance required to achieve sustainable change in resource-limited settings. 

These experiences ultimately shaped his commitment to working within existing systems and workflows. Today, Dr. Wiens is driven by a passion for embedding risk-differentiated care approaches into clinical practice, approaches that support more informed decision-making and more effective resource allocation, with the goal of improving outcomes for children with sepsis. 

What drew you to this particular research question or problem? 

When children in East Africa recover from serious infections and leave the hospital, their journey to full health is far from over. Many of these children face a dangerous period after discharge—they remain at high risk of becoming sick again or even dying from recurring infections. Families encounter numerous barriers to caring for their child at home and are often left to navigate this high-risk period on their own, sometimes with devastating consequences. In countries such as Uganda, there have been concerted efforts to strengthen referral systems and better connect community care to facility-based care; however, the reverse is not true. Once a child is discharged from the hospital, there are often insufficient resources or strategies in place to inform home communities of the need for follow-up care. 

How does this project fit into your broader research interests or goals? 

The goal of the Smart Discharges and REConneCteD projects is to identify and prioritize children at the highest risk, emphasize the importance of healthy behaviors at home, support timely care-seeking, and maintain connections to the healthcare system. One way this has been facilitated is through the introduction of the electronic Community Health Information System (eCHIS)—a mobile application developed by the Ministries of Health in several African countries to digitize community health services. 

By digitally linking eCHIS with a child’s electronic health record, REConneCteD helps ensure that the most at-risk children are reconnected with community health workers for follow-up after discharge. It also provides information and education to health workers, community health workers, and caregivers on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of childhood diseases. Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach, the system enables more personalized care, ensuring that children at highest risk receive the greatest attention and resources. 

What impact do you hope this work will have on clinical practice, education, or society in general? 

REConneCteD represents a new model for pediatric care—one that recognizes recovery does not end at the hospital door, but continues in the communities where children and families live, supported by technology that connects all parts of the healthcare system. 

At its core, the program creates a digital bridge between hospitals and community health workers. When a child is discharged, their information and care plan are securely shared with community health workers through connected digital systems, enabling timely and coordinated follow-up. 

REConneCteD aims to transform post-discharge care by strengthening community health services, reducing the burden on families who face barriers to accessing follow-up care, and creating feedback loops that help hospitals continuously improve their services. By linking facility- and community-based care through digital tools, the program works to ensure that no child falls through the cracks during the vulnerable period after hospitalization. 

What’s one thing you hope people will take away from this work? 

The post-discharge period remains an overlooked and highly vulnerable time for children recovering from sepsis. However, by using simple risk-prediction tools, strengthening digital linkages across health systems, connecting patients to existing services, and ensuring comprehensive caregiver counselling, we can go a long way toward improving outcomes for these children.