Syed Faisal Ahmed

Syed Faisal Ahmed is British physician and academic who holds the Samson Gemmell Chair of Child Health at the University of Glasgow. Ahmed is an honorary consultant paediatric endocrinologist at the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow. and was appointed to this post in 2012, being the seventh clinical academic to hold this endowed professorship which is the oldest chair of paediatrics in the United Kingdom.

Research
Ahmed's research has received funding from several sources and has gained international attention in a wide range of research activities. His pioneering work in skeletal development has provided deep insight into the role of the GH/IGF-1 system as well as led to innovative methods of assessing bone quality. His research in sex development has had impact in several areas but, most importantly, he developed and continues to lead a highly successful international research consortium that started as the International DSD Registry (I-DSD). To improve the health of people in Scotland with DSD he founded the Scottish DSD Network in 2005, one of the first national managed clinical networks in Scotland; in the UK and internationally, he led the development of the UK DSD consensus guidelines and, was one of the members of the 2005 Chicago Consensus group.

Rare Disease Registries
Ahmed's interest in rare disease registries started when he was working at the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Cambridge in the 1990s on a group of conditions affecting sex development. This early work showed the power of collecting standardized data on a very rare condition. On returning to Scotland he started working on the development of a rare disease registry which finally evolved into a platform supporting a registry for a family of conditions affecting sex development and maturation.

Awards
In 2021, Ahmed was awarded the 2021 ESPE Research Award for his scientific contributions to the field of paediatric endocrinology.