The University of Ottawa Heart Institute is pleased to recognize Benjamin Chow, MD with its 2024 UOHI Global Achievement Award, for his extraordinary contributions to cardiac imaging, clinical care and academics. Dr. Chow is an outstanding clinician-investigator, bringing recognition to uOttawa, the Heart Institute, and Canada through his impactful contributions to cardiac imaging on the global stage. Dr. Chow established the UOHI CT coronary angiography program in 2006, now the largest in Canada and widely-acknowledged as one of the best in North America. His influence extends worldwide, shaping practice internationally through his research publications and the exceptional quality of his trainees.
Dr. Chow’s work has been dedicated to evaluating the clinical utility of advanced imaging using cardiac CT and cardiac PET. His studies have validated the accuracy of both imaging modalities, demonstrating their ability to risk-stratify patients as well as their positive impact on downstream resources and reducing health care costs. He has published extensively in high-impact journals on the diagnostic and prognostic value of CT coronary angiography in patients with known and suspected coronary artery disease. He has been instrumental in the global adoption of both technologies into clinical practice.
Dr. Chow is renowned for his dedication to translating research into better outcomes for all patients. For instance, among his wide-ranging grants he is the recipient of a $1M TD Ready Challenge award, with another $1M in industry-matched funding, that enabled him to focus on detecting coronary artery disease in underserved populations and areas in Canada. He currently holds funding from Innovation Fund Provincial Oversight Comittee for the LACLOTTED and BREATHE trials. He has also contributed to the education of cardiovascular specialists around the world in the use of cardiac imaging and its role in clinical management. His remarkable continuing medical education efforts include over 200 presentations and have considerably enhanced UOHI’s reputation for quality.
A 2024 highlight is his work on the development and publication of the 2024 AHA/ACC/ACS/ASNC/HRS/SCA/SCCT/SCMR/SVM Guideline for Perioperative Cardiovascular Management for Noncardiac Surgery. UOHI received a letter of commendation from the ACC/AHA Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines, which highlighted Dr. Chow’s extraordinary contributions to the development and publication of the guidelines.
Among his many current leadership positions, Dr. Chow is a member of the Council of the Alliance for Physician Certification & Advancement, and Chair of the Imaging Task Force for CorHealth Ontario. He’s a widely-sought invited speaker nationally and internationally. He’s now Executive Editor of the SCCT Journal of Cardiovascular CT after over a dozen years’ service, and he has produced over 350 peer-reviewed publications, with more than 100 as first or last author, and 18 of them in 2024 alone!
Closer to home, Dr. Chow has served as the Director of the Cardiac Imaging Postgraduate Training Program since 2006. He has demonstrated tremendous innovation in resident education by developing both new programs and novel evaluation methods that effectively deliver competency-based medical education. He established new rotations that enable fellows to work closely with radiology and nuclear medicine staff, fostering the cross-pollination of ideas and knowledge. Dr. Chow’s nominators describe him as “THE role model for postgraduate training program supervisors, [with a] program that eclipses all others at UOHI and the University of Ottawa in terms of education quality and research productivity.” The 50+ cardiac imaging fellows he has supervised are now leaders around the globe, highly-sought after for their powerful combination of proven research expertise and high impact publications, together with top-notch clinical skills.
Congratulations to Dr. Chow on his outstanding global achievements!