Dr. Riyad B. Abu-Laban is an Emergency Physician at Vancouver General Hospital in British Columbia (BC) Canada, Professor in the University of British Columbia Department of Emergency Medicine, and Interim Scientific Director of Emergency Care BC. He holds a Royal College specialist certification in Emergency Medicine and a MHSc in epidemiology. He has a wide range of publications, including first authorship on randomized trials published in the NEJM and Lancet, and authorship of three EM textbook chapters.

He has a longstanding commitment to the advancement of emergency medicine as an academic discipline in Canada and internationally. His previous professional contributions include 12 years as Research Director of the UBC Department of Emegency Medicine, 10 years as Senior Associate Editor for the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, 8 years as a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Emergency Medicine Specialty Committee, and participation on the seven member Collaborative Working Group on the Future of Emergency Medicine in Canada. The focus of his current role as Interim Scientific Director of Emegency Care BC (a provincial health improvement network), is to advance the data driven learning required for ECBC to function as a true Learning Health System.

Dr. Abu-Laban has previously served on the IFEM Governance Committee, and has a particular interest in the political challenges of Emergency Medicine specialty advancement.