A Doctor at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Israel Talks Challenges and Rewards of Managing a Large Patient Population

Dr. Floris Levy-Khademi is the director and founder of the pediatric endocrinology unit at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel. The center focuses on type 1 diabetes, growth problems, obesity, and rare conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and bone problems. The unit with collaboration with the Division of Pediatric Neurology is the national center for Prader-Willi syndrome, treating the majority of these patients. 

“We are involved in clinical trials with growth hormone, diabetes, obesity, and genetics of children with growth problems,” Levy-Khademi said. “We also have an obesity pandemic here in Israel; we are very active in Tirzepetide studies.”

Levy-Khademi talks about research challenges, as well as the clinical trial site’s deep experience.

The biggest challenges for the research team are time and staffing shortages.

Levy-Khademi: “In Israel, pediatric endocrinology is a very busy field and all the endocrinologists are working very hard. Since we are providing multidisciplinary treatment and we do provide facilities that are not provided on a routine basis, that makes us very busy. Our unit has over 5,000 visits per year and [is] currently treating 500 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. We have morning staff meetings three times a week with all the staff members and currently two fellows in pediatric endocrinology.  

“In the afternoon, we have some time left to go through research, have meetings with the study coordinators, with our partners, and colleagues from the hospital or from outside the hospital. Our day is typically very busy.”

StudyTeam’s Visit Schedule tool is critical in the work they do at the clinical trial site.

Levy-Khademi: “Sharon, the study coordinator, is mostly using StudyTeam. The Visit Schedule is the tool that is the most important to us. It helps us plan all the patient visits involved in the study. It is a very intensive effort and it’s helping Sharon very much. In one of our studies, we have seven patients at the same time. Each patient has several visits and the StudyTeam platform helps her tremendously.”

As a best practice, the research team values site-to-sponsor communication.

Levy-Khademi: “On the biggest study we are involved in, we are collaborating and communicating on a daily basis.”

Despite busy days, the team is rewarded by the work they do and the research they participate in.

Levy-Khademi: “My favorite part of my job is the interaction with the children in the unit – they are all like a family to me, especially in the diabetes unit. Also I am very happy when we reach success in research and we have good results that help our patients.”

With a depth of experience, the team is looking to take on future studies. 

Levy-Khademi: “We have a unique and large population of patients with different diagnoses. In our diabetes studies in Israel, we have access to big families, which is more common in the Mediterranean region. We are experienced in clinical trials and we have been conducting them for a long time. Those two factors combined makes us a popular preferred site to participate in future studies.”

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