Research Assets
The State of Academic Research
Canada has long been involved in cardiovascular research and has had a leading role in this field.
The two leading universities in Montreal are very actively involved in innovative and clinical research on cardiovascular disease (CVD).
One of the region’s key strength is the multidisciplinary approach in cardiovascular research and the close collaboration between basic research and clinical investigation.
University of Montreal
Founded in 1878, University of Montreal (UdeM) is one of Canada’s leading universities. With 13 faculties, it is the largest institution of higher education in Quebec, the second largest in Canada, and among the most active in North America with CAN$ 430 million in research funding in 2005.
UdeM’s health research is divided among various research centers. The main one in CVD research is:
Montreal Heart Institute.
www.icm-mhi.org/en/portrait-institut.html
Founded in 1954, the Institute has won its world class reputation through important international firsts: first intramyocardial implantation (1954), first selective femoral coronography (1964), first percutaneous laser coronary dilatation (1987), first in North America to use an articulated prosthetic device to perform a foramen oval closure (2004), first treatment of a paediatric patient with a completely blocked heart artery (2006 with Ste Justine Hospital).
With a yearly budget of more than CAN$ 20 million, 19 teams in basic research, 22 teams in clinical research and 8 in technological research and a total of over 200 people, its internationally respected researchers lead extensive international studies on atherosclerosis, hemodynamics, heart surgery, pharmacogenomics, etc.
Some of UdeM’s leading scientists in CVD include:
Jean Claude Tardif M.D.
jean-claude.tardif@icm-mhi.org
www.icm-mhi.org/en/tardif-jc.html
First recipient of the Pfizer Chair in Atherosclerosis, Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif is a practicing cardiologist and the Director of the Research Centre of the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI). He is a world-class leader in atherosclerosis research and the influence of his work on atherosclerosis has reached far beyond the borders of Quebec and Canada.
His work is centered on the hypothesis that atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease mediated partly by oxidative stress and that anti-inflammatory therapies and/or anti-oxidants as well as modulators of lipid metabolism will permit stabilization or even regression of the disease.
The findings of Dr. Tardif's team have led to the creation of new pharmacological approaches and new technologies which are currently being studied in large clinical trials.
Stanley Nattel M.D.
www.recherche.umontreal.ca/English/researchers/nattel_stanley.html
Professor Stanley Nattel is the Paul David Chair of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology and Professor of Medicine at the University of Montreal and Montreal Heart Institute where he was the Scientific Director of the Research Center (1990-2004). He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology both in the US and Canada. He heads one of the foremost groups in the world working on atrial fibrillation.
Pr. Nattel's research interests have focused on the basic mechanisms determining cardiac arrhythmogenesis and governing the efficacy and safety of antiarrhythmic therapy.
He is a pioneer in the study of cardiac arrhythmias, using novel approaches based on the understanding of fundamental mechanisms involved in the control of cardiac bioelectricity. His contributions include studies on mechanism of action of antiarrhythmic drugs, basic electrical properties of the human heart, and mechanisms of atrial fibrillation. His work has led to improved understanding and management of cardiovascular disease and the development of a variety of new treatments for heart disease prevention and therapy.
Pr. Nattel is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Quebec Heart Foundation and the Paul-David Chair in Cardiovascular Electrophysiology of University of Montreal.
Pr. Nattel is also an elected member of the Academy of Sciences of the Royal Society of Canada, considered to be the highest honour that can be attained by a scientist in Canada.
Jean-Lucien Rouleau M.D.
www.med.umontreal.ca/apropos/direction.htm
Dr Rouleau is the Dean of University of Montréal Faculty of Medicine. But more importantly, he is also a cardiologist, professor and internationally renowned researcher.
Dr. Rouleau was formerly a professor at the University of Toronto and head of the cardiology division at the Toronto General, Toronto Western, Princess Margaret and Mount Sinaï hospitals. He also worked and taught in several institutions in Quebec, including Sacré-Cœur Hospital, the Montreal Heart Institute, the Montreal General Hospital as well as the Sherbrooke University Hospital Centre where he headed the cardiology department.
Dr Rouleau is an international leader in cardiovascular research and has been involved in a number of the landmark clinical trials that have helped define current therapies. He has published over 200 articles in high impact peer-reviewed journals and currently serves on the editorial board of Circulation (Journal of the American Heart Association).
His research work has earned him a number of prizes, such as a “Bourse de mérite exceptionnel” awarded by the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ), a Canadian Centennial Medal and a Carreer Research Achievement Award (1995), among others.
Dr. Jean-Lucien Rouleau was awarded the 2005 Annual Achievement Award of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society in recognition of his outstanding contribution to cardiovascular medicine in Canada and abroad.
Pavel Hamet M.D., Ph.D.
An honorary member of UNESCO’s World Academy of Biomedical Technologies, Dr. Hamet was Director of Research at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center until 2005. He is Professor at the Departments of Medicine, Physiology and Nutrition at the University of Montreal and has published over 400 articles or book chapters in his career. His main research focus has been the genetics of hypertension but he is also a clinician involved in the treatment of the disease.
Dr Hamet holds the Canada Research Chair in Predictive Genomics for Hypertension, Metabolic
Syndrome and Related Cardiovascular Disorders.
Dr Hamet was President of the Canadian Hypertension Society and Secretary of the International Society of Hypertension. He also received the Harry Golbatt Award in cardiovascular research from the American Heart Association.
McGill University
The Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (MUHC) is a world-renowned biomedical and health-care hospital research centre. The institute is the research arm of the MUHC, a university health center affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University (www.muhc.ca/research/). The institute supports over 500 researchers, nearly 1,000 graduate and postdoctoral students and operates more than 300 laboratories devoted to a broad spectrum of fundamental and clinical research.
CVD has long been a research focus for the Research Institute. Some of its prominent scientists include:
Jacques Genest Jr. M.D.
http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/cardiol/genest%20lab.htm
Dr. Jacques Genest Jr is currently the Director of Cardiology at McGill University’s Faculty of Medicine. Dr. Genest received his MD from McGill University and Cardiology Fellowship from Tufts University at the New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
He served over 9 years as director of the Cardiovascular Genetics Laboratory and Director of the Cardiology Clinic, both at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal (IRCM).
Dr. Genest Jr. was also a staff cardiologist at the University of Montreal Hospital and a consultant at the Montreal Heart Institute.
His research involves the metabolic and genetic disorders relating to premature coronary artery diseases and more specifically the genetics and biogenesis of high density lipoproteins.
He is an internationally renowned expert in the field of lipid and HDL metabolism and, in particular, the molecular and cellular biology of cholesterol transport.
Dr. Genest is internationally regarded as an authority on cardiovascular disease, specializing in the study of lipoproteins. He was recently credited with the discovery of the genetic defect that causes High-Density-Lipoprotein deficiency.
In 2006, Dr Genest was one of the first recipients of the coveted Pfizer Cardiovascular Research Awards program.
Ernesto Schiffrin M.D., Ph.D.
http://www.academic.mcgill.ca/crc/profiles/2006/schiffrin.htm
Dr. Ernesto Schiffrin is Professor of Medicine at McGill University, Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Multidisciplinary Research Group on Hypertension and holds the Canada Research Chair in Vascular and Hypertension Research. The Canada Chairs are awarded to researchers who are acknowledged by their peers as world leaders in their field.
In his research, he carries out translational investigations on the molecular and cellular mechanisms leading to vascular remodelling and cardiovascular events in hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. He aims at identifying new vascular targets for therapeutic intervention that will improve the outcomes to patients.
Dr. Schiffrin was Director of the Hypertension Group and the Hypertension Clinic of the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal (IRCM) from 1990 through 2005.
Dr. Schiffrin's research interests are the biology of blood vessels and the roles of endothelin and angiotensin in hypertension, the effects of antihypertensive treatment on blood vessels of hypertensive patients, and the molecular and cellular determinants of elevated blood pressure. He is author of more than 350 publications in the field.
Dr. Schiffrin was President of the Canadian Hypertension Society, Secretary of the American Hypertension Society and Vice-Chair and Chair-Elect of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of the American Heart Association (AHA).
Dr. Schiffrin is one of two non-Americans to sit on the AHA journal’s editorial board (“Hypertension”).
He is also an elected member of the Academy of Sciences of the Royal Society of Canada.
Genome Canada / Génome Québec
Genome Canada is the primary funding and information resource relating to genomics and proteomics in Canada. Dedicated to developing and implementing a national strategy in genomics and proteomics research for the benefit of the population, it has as a main objective to ensure that Canada becomes a world leader in genomics and proteomics research. Genome Canada has established six Genome Centres across the country and one of them is Génome Québec.
Together, they have established a major initiative in cardiovascular translational research:
Pharmacogenomics of Drug Efficacy and Toxicity in the Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease — Michael Phillips (Génome Québec/McGill University) and Jean Claude Tardif (MHI/UdeM)
Genome Canada and Génome Québec have together invested CAN$ 21.9 million in this project aimed at investigating the toxicity of statins (lipid lowering drugs) which are used to treat atherosclerosis.
The team will identify relevant biomarkers, which can then be used to develop diagnostic tests. This will help predict how patients respond to treatments for cardiovascular disease based on their genetic profile. Additionally, the team will study the efficacy of new anti-atherosclerotic agents.
This project is the only genomic project in the country to be funded by Genome Canada and specifically targeting cardiovascular disease.
This project will be hosted by the new Beaulieu-Saucier Pharmacogenomics Centre at the Montreal Heart Institute. This new centre represents an investment of CAN$5 million dedicated to cardiovascular applications of pharmacogenomics and will open in summer 2007.
This pharmacogenommics research project is complemented and supported by other large-scale projects and platforms funded by Genome Canada and Genome Quebec such as:
This document had been prepared by: Montréal International
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