Appointments and affiliations
Ex-Director, Hypertension Clinic
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology
Department of Medicine and Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
University of Ottawa
Dr. Frans Leenen was the director of the Hypertension Clinic and Hypertension Research at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, and a professor of medicine and pharmacology in the departments of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Ottawa.
Background
Dr. Leenen received his PhD and MD from the University of Utrecht, Netherlands. He completed residencies in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the University of Utrecht Medical School and its teaching hospitals. He obtained post-doctoral research training at the University of Utrecht and the University of Pittsburgh.
For many years, Dr. Leenen was a career investigator of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. In 2004, he was the first recipient of the Pfizer Research Chair in Hypertension, an endowed chair supported by Pfizer Canada, the Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and was also the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Dedicated Service Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. He has been listed in American Men and Women of Science and Canadian Who’s Who, and he has published more than 260 peer-reviewed papers in respected journals.
Research and clinical interests
Dr. Leenen’s team was involved in two types of human research: mechanistic and therapeutic.
Mechanistic Studies
When the heart is damaged, it often becomes enlarged and is unable to pump the amount of blood the body needs, resulting in water retention, shortness of breath and fatigue. The sympathetic nervous system regulates heart function, and plays an important role in heart failure. By comparing medications or different doses of medications used to treat heart failure, Dr. Leenen’s unit researched the effect medications have on the sympathetic nervous system and the function of the heart. His team also researched the role certain hormones play in the progression of heart failure by comparing hormone levels in the heart itself.
Therapeutic Studies
A large part of Dr. Leenen’s research dealt with evaluating existing medications and the effect they have on the sympathetic nervous system, blood pressure and heart. His team participated in the ALLHAT trial: the largest study ever done in people with high blood pressure. Over 600 clinics in Canada and the United States participated, enrolling more than 42,000 volunteers.
Publications
See current publications list at PubMed.
Selected publications:
- McInnis NH, Fodor G, Moy Lum-Kwong M, Leenen FHH. Antihypertensive medication use and blood pressure control: a community-based cross-sectional survey (ON-BP). Am J Hypertens 2008;21:1210-1215.
- Mussivand T, Alshaer H, Haddad H, Beanlands DS, Beanlands R, Chan KL, Higginson L, Leenen F, Ruddy TD, Mesana T, Silver MA. Thermal therapy: a viable adjunct in the treatment of heart failure? Congest Heart Fail 2008;14:180-186.
- Fodor G, Leenen FHH, Helis E, Turton P. 2006 Ontario survey on the prevalence and control of hypertension (ON-BP): rationale and design of a community-based cross-sectional survey. Can J Cardiol 2008;24:503-505.
- Huang B, White R, Ahmad M, Jeng A, Leenen FHH. Central infusion of aldosterone synthase inhibitor prevents sympathetic hyperactivity and hypertension by central Na+ in Wistar rats. Am J Physiol 2008;295:R166-172.
- Ahmad M, White R, Tan JB, Huang BS, Leenen FHH. ACE-inhibitors, inhibition of brain and peripheral ACE and LV dysfunction in rats post MI. J Cardiovasc Pharm 2008;51:565-572.
- Leenen FHH, Dumais J, McInnis NH, Turton P, Stratychuk L, Nemeth K, Lum-Kwong MM, Fodor G. Results of the Ontario survey on the prevalence and control of hypertension. Can Med Assoc J 2008;178:1441-1449.
- McInnis NH, Fodor G, Moy Lum-Kwong M, Leenen FHH. Antihypertensive medication use and blood pressure control: A community based cross sectional survey (ON-BP). Am J Hypertens. 21:1210-1215, 2008.
- Mussivand T, Alshaer H, Haddad H, Beanlands DS, Beanlands R, Chan KL, Higginson L, Leenen F, Ruddy TD, Mesana T, Silver MA. Thermal therapy: a viable adjunct in the treatment of heart failure? Congest Heart Fail. 14:180-186, 2008.
- Fodor G, Leenen FHH, Helis E, Turton P. 2006 Ontario Survey on the Prevalence and Control of Hypertension (ON-BP): rationale and design of a community-based cross-sectional survey. Can J Cardiol. 24:503-505, 2008.