Dr. Michael Becich and Family Ride to Support Cancer

On May 13^th, 2022, Michael J. Becich, MD, PhD, a friend of the Foundation, associate vice chancellor for informatics in health sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, and distinguished professor and chair of Pitt's Department of Biomedical Informatics at the School of Medicine, underwent below-the-knee amputation for a Charcot ankle due to complications from his Type 2 diabetes. Despite three surgeries to remove infected bone and abscesses from a staph infection, he succumbed to the Jardiance-induced amputation due to accelerating infection.

His journey to recovery has included four surgeries since the May amputation and has finally resulted in him walking two hours daily on his new prosthetic.

His new goal is to return to biking on May 20 of this year in the Rush to Crush Cancer fundraising event for Hillman Cancer Center, where Becich is the associate director of cancer informatics. He will participate on a team with his three children Kayla, Nikki, and Mike.

"It's been a lesson-filled journey for me, and it's taught me much, and made me even more passionate about medication error elimination to realize the goals our patient safety initiatives via the Regional Autonomous Patient Safety (RAPS) initiative," Dr. Becich said.

Learn more about his efforts on their team fundraising page.