Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

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Heart disease

Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital are investigating promising new approaches to prevent, diagnose and treat a wide range of diseases that affect the heart. Our work spans the full spectrum of research from basic science to clinical research to implementation.

Research News

	Epigenetics may explain statins’ anti-inflammatory power May 17, 2024 - “If we can understand more about how statins reduce inflammation at the molecular level, we may be able to design new drugs that can complement statins and enhance heart attack prevention."
	Study reveals molecular reason why arteries harden with age May 14, 2024 - “These cells could help us uncover potential drugs to prevent or treat cardiovascular diseases by targeting these molecular changes."
	Brain Heart Interconnectome to lead a paradigm shift April 28, 2023 - From cognitive impairment to heart failure, brain and heart conditions pose one of the world’s biggest health-care challenges, exceeding all others in disease burden and mortality.
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	How should patients with acute heart failure be monitored? This tool can help. March 7, 2023 - A clinical decision tool used in the emergency department can improve outcomes for patients with acute heart failure, according to trial involving more than 5,000 patients, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
	Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital awarded 18 CIHR grants worth more than $11 million February 5, 2022 - These projects will advance science and improve health in areas such as tuberculosis, blood disease, prostate cancer, heart disease, muscle repair, sleep apnea, brain cancer, medical imaging, virtual care, prehab, intellectual disability, sarcoma, CA
	The Ottawa Hospital awarded six CIHR grants worth $2.6 million September 7, 2020 - Could a common diabetes drug help prevent ovarian cancer? Can a tailored screening program help prevent eye disease in immigrants? Is sepsis different in females versus males, and if so, can this help us develop better treatments? These are just a fe
	The Ottawa Hospital awarded nine grants worth $5.6 million from Canadian Institutes of Health Research February 3, 2020 - How can we treat depression when nothing else is working? How can heart growth be both good and bad? How can we increase patient participation in clinical trials? These are just a few of the big questions that researchers at The Ottawa Hospital will
	Intravenous drugs can often rapidly restore normal heart rhythm without sedation, shocks January 30, 2020 - A study published in The Lancet found that two ways of quickly restoring normal heart rhythm in patients with acute atrial fibrillation in the emergency department are equally safe and effective.
	Feature grant: Researchers investigate how cholesterol regulates inflammation in white blood cells August 7, 2019 - Drs. Xiaohui Zha and Alexander Sorisky were awarded $48,000 to test whether cholesterol regulates inflammation in human white blood cells by altering gene expression.
	Research shows how good heart growth turns bad January 30, 2019 - More than 17 percent of Canadians have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, a condition that makes it more difficult for the heart to pump blood around the body. At first, heart muscle grows to meet the challenge, but eventually this growth becom
	How long do people need to be monitored after fainting? January 21, 2019 - For the first time, physicians in the Emergency Department (ED) have evidence-based recommendations on how best to catch the life-threatening conditions that make some people faint. New research published in Circulation suggests that low-risk patient
	Severe sleep apnea increases risk of irregular heartbeat December 11, 2018 - Severe sleep apnea increases the risk of hospitalization for new atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeat, according to a study led by Dr. Tetyana Kendzerska. The study followed more than 8,000 people who were originally free of any irregular hear
	Researchers awarded $1.7 M to tackle stroke and heart attack from multiple angles October 2, 2018 - Five groups from The Ottawa Hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, were successful in the Heart and Stroke Foundation's recent grant competition. Drs. Dar Dowlatshahi, Tim Ramsay and Elizabeth Rochon were awarded $290,000* to test whethe
	Can a calculator predict your risk of heart attack and stroke? July 23, 2018 - Canadian researchers have built and validated an online calculator that empowers individuals to predict their risk of cardiovascular disease. Their process was published today in the journal CMAJ, and the calculator is available at projectbiglife.com
	Patent brings possible new heart failure treatment closer to reality May 30, 2018 - Drs. Lynn Megeney, Duncan Stewart, Colin Suen, and Mohammad Abdul-Ghani have been granted a U.S. patent for an experimental approach to treat heart failure using a protein called cardiotrophin 1 (CT1). Heart failure is a leading cause of death and di
	Could stem cells repair the heart, fight infections, mend premature lungs, and heal the brain after stroke? April 11, 2018 - Ottawa researchers closer to finding out, thanks to $999,900 from the Stem Cell Network Researchers from The Ottawa Hospital, CHEO and the University of Ottawa are bringing discoveries made in the lab closer to human trials and therapies, thanks
	$5.5 million to help save lives when the heart stops and standardize care for rapid heartbeat March 9, 2018 - Two national projects led by Ottawa emergency medicine researchers received a total of $5.5 million from the Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada (CANet) and matching funders. Dr. Christian Vaillancourt’s team* aims to help 9-1-1 communication offi
	Pre-treated cells boost blood vessel repair November 29, 2017 - Endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) are stem-like cells found in umbilical cord blood that help repair damaged blood vessels. They may hold promise for the treatment of stroke, heart attack and blocked leg arteries. However, their rate of bloo
	How to trick your heart into thinking you exercise: cardiotrophin improves heart health and repairs damage in lab models August 4, 2017 - Researchers have discovered that a protein called cardiotrophin 1 (CT1) can trick the heart into growing in a healthy way and pumping more blood, just as it does in response to exercise and pregnancy. They show that this good kind of heart growth i
	$3M research initiative aims to improve survival after cardiac arrest and trauma January 20, 2016 - The Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research are providing $3 million to create the new Canadian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (CanROC), co-led by Dr. Ian Stiell. The initiative will focus on improving survival

Researchers

Name	Scientific appointment	Diseases, conditions and populations of interest	Research and clinical approaches
Berrio, Marta MD, MSc, FASE	Clinician Investigator (ACR)	Frailty, Health in older peoples, Heart disease	Anesthesiology, Knowledge translation and implementation research, Patient safety, Peri-operative medicine, Translational research
Burger, Dylan PhD	Senior Scientist (ICD)	Aging, Diabetes, Heart disease, Hypertension, Kidney disease, Maternal and fetal health, Obesity, Thrombosis / thromboembolism, Type 1 diabetes, Vascular cognitive impairment, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Basic research, Biomarkers, Disease models, Exercise, Extracellular vesicles / exosomes, Imaging, Model organisms, Molecular and cellular biology, Pharmacology, Proteomics, Regenerative medicine, Stem cells, Transgenic/knockout models, Translational research
Chen, Hsiao-Huei PhD	Senior Scientist (NS)	Aging, Autism, Dementia, Depression, Heart disease, Maternal and fetal health, Mental health, Tourette's, Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's, Anxiety, Diabetes, Obesity, Schizophrenia, Stroke, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Disease models, Drug development, Gene expression, Neuro-stimulation, Optogenetics, Transgenic/knockout models, Basic research, Molecular and cellular biology, Translational research
Eissa, Mohamed MBBCh, MSc, MD, EDAIC, FRCPC, Advanced PTEeXAM	Clinician Investigator (ACR)	Heart disease, Maternal and fetal health, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Anesthesiology
Hiremath, Swapnil MD, MPH, FASN	Associate Scientist (ICD)	Diabetes, Health in older peoples, Heart disease, Hypertension, Kidney disease, Population health, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cohort studies, Epidemiology, Health services research, Imaging, Pharmacology, Pragmatic trials, Public health, Quality Improvement, Systematic reviews
Hundemer, Gregory MD, MPH	Associate Scientist (ICD)	Heart disease, Hypertension, Kidney disease, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Biomarkers, Clinical research, Cohort studies
Kendzerska, Tetyana MD, PhD	Associate Scientist (ICD)	Aging, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Heart disease, Lung disease, Population health, Women's health	Biostatistics, Clinical research, Cohort studies, Epidemiology, Health research methods, Health services research, Systematic reviews
Klein, Ran PhD	Clinician Investigator (MIR)	Cancer, Heart disease, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Artificial intelligence and data science, Basic research, Biomarkers, Clinical decision rules, Health technology, Imaging
Lalu, Manoj MD, PhD, FRCPC	Scientist (ACR)	Blood cancer, COVID-19, Heart disease, Stroke, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Anesthesiology, Basic research, Cell therapy, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Disease models, Health research methods, Model organisms, Patient engagement, Regenerative medicine, Stem cells, Translational research
Megeney, Lynn PhD	Senior Scientist (RM)	Heart disease, Muscular dystrophy	Stem cells, Disease models, Proteomics, Drug development
Sood, Manish MD, FRCPC, MSc	Senior Scientist (ICD)	Heart disease, Hypertension, Kidney disease, Population health, Thrombosis / thromboembolism	Cohort studies, Epidemiology, Health research methods, Health services research, Pharmacology, Prevention
Sorisky, Alexander MD, CM, FRCPC	Program Director and Senior Scientist Emeritus (ICD)	Obesity, Diabetes, Heart disease	Basic research, Molecular and cellular biology
Stewart, Duncan MD, FRCPC	Senior Scientist (RM)	COVID-19, Heart disease, Pulmonary hypertension, Septic shock, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Extracellular vesicles / exosomes, Stem cells, Cell therapy, Clinical trials, Molecular and cellular biology, Regenerative medicine, Translational research
Stiell, Ian MD, MSc, FRCPC	Senior Scientist (ACR)	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Heart disease	Clinical decision rules, Clinical trials, Emergency medicine
Thiruganasambandamoorthy, Venkatesh MBBS, CCFP-EM, MSc	Senior Scientist (ACR)	Cardiac arrest, COVID-19, Heart disease, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Artificial intelligence and data science, Clinical decision rules, Clinical research, Emergency medicine, Epidemiology, Health services research
Thornhill, Rebecca PhD	Clinician Investigator (MIR)	Cancer, Heart disease, Stroke, Vascular, heart and metabolic disease	Artificial intelligence and data science, Biomarkers, Biostatistics, Imaging, Patient safety
Vaillancourt, Christian MD, MSc, FRCPC, CSPQ	Senior Scientist (ACR)	Cardiac arrest, Heart disease, Population health, Spinal cord injury, Traumatic brain injury, Traumatic injuries	Clinical decision rules, Clinical research, Clinical trials, Cluster randomized trials, Cohort studies, Critical care, Emergency medicine, Epidemiology, Health economics, Health professional behaviour change, Health services research, Knowledge translation and implementation research, Public health, Quality Improvement, Surveys, Systematic reviews
Wang, Xiang Pharm.D, MSc, ACPR	Clinician Investigator (ICD)	Cancer, Heart disease, Population health, Stroke, Thrombosis / thromboembolism	Health services research

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