Scientific Committee Chair
Ruth McPherson, MD, PhD, FRCPC
Merck Frosst Canada Chair in Atherosclerosis Research
Director, Lipid Clinic & Atherogenomics Laboratory
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Cardiology
University of Ottawa
Associate Editor Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis & Vascular Biology
Dr. McPherson received her PhD from the University of London (UK) and MD from the University of Toronto, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1984. She completed subspecialty training in internal medicine and in endocrinology and metabolism at the University of Toronto. Dr. McPherson held academic positions at the University of Toronto and McGill University before coming to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in 1992. Dr. McPherson is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. She has published over 150 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. She currently holds the Merck Frosst Canada Chair in Atherosclerosis and is associate editor of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. Dr. McPherson’s laboratory research is centred on developing a comprehensive and integrated understanding of the genetic and molecular etiology of two complex phenotypes – obesity and coronary artery disease – by simultaneous application of a number of methodologies, including rigorous clinical and metabolic phenotyping, genetics, tissue-specific gene expression, integrative genomics and functional assays. Dr. McPherson directs the Lipid Clinic and Atherogenomics Laboratory at the Ottawa Heart Institute and is a key Canadian opinion leader in the area of clinical lipidology and cardiovascular risk reduction.
______________________________________________________________
Scientific Committee Vice Chair
Katey Rayner, PhD
Lab Director
Cardiometabolic microRNA and Epigenetics Laboratory
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Assistant Professor
University of Ottawa
Katey Rayner obtained her BSc from the University of Toronto, and her PhD from the University of Ottawa. Katey ’s doctoral work focused on the role of hormones, heat shock proteins and macrophage foam cells in the development of atherosclerosis. After her PhD, Katey pursued a postdoctoral fellowship first at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital then at New York University School of Medicine under the direction of Dr. Kathryn Moore. During her postdoctoral work, Katey discovered a role for microRNAs, specifically microRNA-33, in the regulation of HDL and its atheroprotective effects. Katey recently established her laboratory at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, as part of the Atherosclerosis, Genomics and Cell Biology Group. Her research program focuses on how microRNAs control multiple aspects of the risk factors that drive both atherosclerosis and obesity, namely inflammation and dysregulated energy metabolism, and how microRNAs may be used as therapeutics in the future to treat these cardiometabolic diseases.
______________________________________________________________
Peter Liu, MD
Scientific Director
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Director, Cardiac Function Laboratory
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Cardiology
University of Ottawa
Dr. Peter Liu is currently the Scientific Director of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, and also Professor of Medicine and Physiology at the University of Toronto. He currently serves as the President of International Society of Cardiomyopathy & Heart Failure of World Heart Federation, and was the former Scientific Director of the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the major federal funding agency for health research in Canada. He received his MD degree from University of Toronto, and postgraduate training at Harvard University. His laboratory investigates the causes and treatments of heart failure, role of inflammation and identification of novel biomarkers and interventions in cardiovascular disease. He has published over 300 peer reviewed articles in high impact journals, cited over 20,000 times, and received numerous awards in recognition of his research and scientific accomplishments. He has chaired or co-chaired scientific sessions of the Heart Failure Society of America, International Society of Heart Research and Human Proteomic Organization, amongst others. He is also champion for knowledge translation, integrating the cardiovascular prevention guidelines and healthy heart policy in Canada and internationally.
______________________________________________________________
Michael Gollob, MD, FRCPC
Cardiac Electrophysiologist
Director, Inherited Arrhythmia Clinic and Arrhythmia Research Laboratory
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine and Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
University of Ottawa
Dr. Gollob obtained an undergraduate degree in Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto, graduating as a Gold Medallist. He received his Medical Degree from the University of Toronto in 1994. His clinical expertise includes the diagnosis and management of inherited cardiac arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, and catheter ablation of common arrhythmias, including Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.
He combines his expertise in both genetics and arrhythmia disorders, having established the Genetics of Cardiac Arrhythmias Research Laboratory at the Heart Institute.
Dr. Gollob is an accomplished researcher in the field of cardiac arrhythmias: he discovered the genetic basis for atrial fibrillation. He is regularly invited internationally to lecture in the field. His research in supported by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.
______________________________________________________________
Derek So, MD FRCPC
Staff Cardiologist
University of Ottawa Heart Institute
Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
University of Ottawa
Dr. So earned his Medical Degree, cum laude, at the University of Toronto in 1997. He completed residencies in Internal Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and Cardiology at the Heart Institute. He then went on to Fellowship Training in Interventional Cardiology at the Heart Institute. He furthered his training with a Master's in Clinical Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dr. So received certification as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCPC) in Internal Medicine (2001) and in Cardiology (2003). He is also certified with the American Boards of Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases. Dr. So is actively involved in teaching at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels