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Cardiology

Division of Cardiology

Noteworthy Publications

Members of the Division of Cardiology published 113 peer-review articles in 2010. Key publications include:

Chow, BJ, Kass, M, Gagné, O, Chen, L, Yam, Y, Dick A, Wells, GA. Can differences in corrected coronary opacification measured with computed tomography predict resting coronary artery flow? J Am Coll Cardiol 2011; 57(11):1280-8

Hibbert, B, Ma, X, Pourdjabbar, A, Simard, T, Rayner, K, Sun, J, Chen, YX, Filion, L, O’Brien, ER. Pre-procedural atorvastatin mobilizes endothelial progenitor cells: clues to the salutary effects of statins on healing of stented human arteries. PLoS One 2011;6(1):e16413

Tang, AS, Wells, GA, Talajic, M, Arnold, MO, Sheldon, R, Connolly, S, Hohnloser, SH, Nichol, G, Birnie, DH, Sapp, JL, Yee, R, Healey, JS, Rouleau, JL. Cardiac-resynchronization therapy for mild-to-moderate heart failure; Resynchronization-Defibrillation for Ambulatory Heart Failure Trial Investigators. N Engl J Med 2010; 363(25):2385-95

Dandona, S, Stewart ,AF, Chen, L, Williams, K, So, D, O’Brien, E, Glover, C, Lemay, M, Assogba, O, Vo, L, Wang, YQ, Labinaz, M, Wells, GA, McPherson, R, Roberts, R. Gene dosage of the common variant 9p21 predicts severity of coronary artery disease. J Am Coll Cardiol 2010; 56(6):479-86

Thibodeau, IL, Xu, J, Li, Q, Liu, G, Lam, K, Veinot, JP, Birnie, DH, Jones, DL, Krahn, AD, Lemery, R, Nicholson, BJ, Gollob, MH. Paradigm of genetic mosaicism and lone atrial fibrillation: physiological characterization of a connexin 43-deletion mutant identified from atrial tissue. Circulation 2010; 122(3):236-44

 

 

Key Grants

Beanlands, RSB. HSFO. Elucidation of metabolic and cellular function alterations in dysfunctional myocardium and their response to therapy

Beanlands, RSB, Wells, G. CIHR. Imaging Modalities to Assist with Guiding Therapies and the Evaluation of Patients with Heart Failure — IMAGE-HF

deKemp, R. CIHR. Rubidium-82 — An alternative radiopharmaceutical or myocardial Imaging (RB-ARMI)

Leenen, F. CIHR. Brain Mechanisms and Sympathetic Hyperactivity in Genetic Models of Salt-Sensitive Hypertension

Ruddy, T. CIHR & NSERC. Iodine-123 labeled Rotenone for Myocardial SPECT Perfusion Imaging

 

Overview

The Division of Cardiology is located geographically at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) including the General and Riverside Campuses.  The Division provides tertiary care cardiology service for Ottawa and the Champlain Health District with a referral population of greater than 1.5 million people. The Division is the largest within the Department of Medicine. Our division includes not only cardiologists but also lipid, hypertension, and cardiac rehabilitation specialists and PhD scientists. Members have been recognized locally, nationally and internationally for excellence and innovations in clinical care, teaching and scholarship in education as well as basic/translational science and clinical research.

Research

Cardiology research at the Heart Institute encompasses a broad range of clinical and basic/translational research. Peer-reviewed funding for operating grants for clinical research has increased significantly over the last 5 years.  Cardiology has had large CFI infrastructure grants for cardiac imaging and genetics. Personnel funding for investigators and trainees from peer-reviewed sources has also increased significantly as has productivity in terms of number of peer-reviewed papers in high-impact journals.

Education

The Division has a long tradition of exemplary teaching for all levels of trainees, beginning with the example set by Dr. Donald Beanlands, and then Dr. Lyall Higginson and more recently by Dr. Martin Green and Dr. Mike Froeschl.  This commitment to education as a valued endeavor is reflected in the teaching programs delivered by divisional members.

The Postgraduate Cardiology Residency Program underwent external review in January 2010 and was approved for 6 years. There are currently 12 trainees in the program, many of whom come from around the world.  The strengths of the program include:

  1. an effective, supported, dynamic and proactive Program and Divisional leadership;
  2. goals and objectives which are detailed and very functional allowing for easy implementation;
  3. a highly resourced program with a very dedicated faculty; and
  4. a rich academic program with a very enthusiastic teaching staff.

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The Undergraduate Cardiology Teaching Program at the University of Ottawa is divided into preclerkship and clerkship components.  During the former, cardiology is taught with respirology, nephrology and oncology in an 18-week integrated Unit (Unit 1) during the first year in both the English and French language streams.  All members of our Division are wholehearted participants.

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The Core Internal Medicine Program explicitly mandates and provides a robust cardiology experience, both in CCU and ward/ambulatory cardiology. There are ample opportunities to pursue research projects in collaboration with divisional members and such projects often lead to national and international presentations and journal articles.

Patient Care

The Division provides expert clinical care in a broad range of programs in arrhythmia electrophysiology, cardiac imaging including echocardiography, coronary intervention, heart failure and transplantation.  Core clinical facilities at the Heart Institute include 4 catheterization laboratories, 2.5 electrophysiology laboratories, 3 clinical ward services with 68 beds, a coronary care unit with 14 beds, a Day Unit with 25 beds and a Reference Centre with 7 beds.  Basic science laboratories are located in the Heart Institute Research Centre, which is an integral part of the Heart Institute.  The Division also provides outreach care to remote areas including Iqualuit in Baffin Island.  The Division of Cardiology at The Ottawa Hospital (General and Riverside Campuses) clinical facilities includes a ward service and CCU, specialized ambulatory care clinics and noninvasive cardiac imaging.

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Notable Honours and Achievements in Recent Years

  • Dr. Marino Labinaz – recipient of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine Award for Excellence in Continuing Medical Education
  • Dr. Michael Froeschl – recipient of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education in the Professional Pillar
  • Dr. Ed O’Brien – named the UOHI Investigator of the Year Award for Basic Science (2011)
  • Dr. Bob Reid – named the UOHI Investigator of the Year Award for Clinical Science (2011)
  • Dr. Marty Green – awarded the Distinguished Teacher Award from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society
  • Dr. Andrew Pipe – awarded the Harold N. Segal Award of Merit from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society
  • Dr. Ben. Chow - named to the Editorial Board of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology
  • Dr. Chris Johnson – became Department of Medicine Associate Program Director for Internal Medicine
  • Dr. John. Veinot – named Head of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Location Information

University of Ottawa Heart Institute – 40 Ruskin Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Y 4W7

The Ottawa Hospital-General Campus – 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa ON  K1H 8L6

 

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