To take the sick or damaged heart out of a person’s body and replace it with a healthy donor heart, often flown in from far away—the very idea of a heart transplant inspires wonder. In May 1984, Wilbert Keon, MD, founder of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, performed the first-ever heart...
Search
Displaying 1 - 20 of 23
It was the very uniqueness of the gene that first drew the attention of molecular biologist Patrick Burgon, PhD. “The striking thing about this gene is that it has no other family members,” he said. “That’s what drove my curiosity.” The gene is muscle enriched A-type lamin interacting protein, or...
In the film Minority Report, the police were able to see who was going to commit a murder before it happened, and then prevent it. Being able to do the same thing for heart attacks would be a major advance for cardiology—knowing who is going to have a heart attack and then preventing it from...
Dr. Ruth McPherson, an active CARDIoGRAM participant and a co-author on the interferon biomarker study, was honoured by the AHA Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (ATVB) with its Special Recognition Award. Dr. McPherson, a tireless clinician and scientist, directs the...
After nearly 50 years, the renowned cardiologist is hanging up his stethoscope
From the operating room and catheterization lab to the intensive care unit, cardiac anesthesiologists are central to patient care. Often, it is their role to shepherd the sickest and most complex patients through recovery. Stéphane Lambert, MD, is the recently appointed Division Head for Cardiac...
The arteries in our body are lined with a layer of cells called the endothelium. The very first step in the development of cardiovascular disease—the primary cause of heart attack and stroke—takes place when the endothelium begins to function abnormally. In research presented at the Canadian...
At first glance, Donna May Kimmaliardjuk may seem like an average twenty-something-year-old. She is peppy, full of zest and, despite having worked a string of 12-hour long shifts with unpredictable on-call demands, her spirit is as sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel. At 28, Kimmaliardjuk, or “Dr. K” as...
Dr. Ruel has largely shaped the division’s approach to nearly all aspects of patient care while driving translational and clinical research outputs, advanced surgical education, and new forays in surgical innovation
Dr. Peter Liu is chiefly responsible for uniting the Heart Institute’s research division on the hallmarks of teamwork and team spirit
Cardiovascular medicine has become so successful at rescuing people from major challenges, such as heart attack and stroke, that it must now confront an entirely new difficulty: helping the survivors of these health crises. In many cases, the hearts of these patients have been significantly weakened...
One thing we know about women’s hearts is that they are different. Gender differences have been identified in the recognition, treatment and recovery from heart disease related illness, but there are anatomical differences that can affect a woman’s recovery from cardiac surgery. One post-surgical...
It takes years and years of training to become a doctor, nurse or any other healthcare practitioner. It takes years and years more to master the skills demanded of those occupations. The truth about a career in medicine is no matter the specialty, learning continues long after the graduation caps...
A pillar in the world of cardiovascular nuclear medicine, Dr. Ruddy said: “People make all the difference.”
The University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) and the UOHI Foundation have established a $1M research chair to improve care and experiences for hundreds of thousands of patients who require life-saving heart surgeries and procedures each year. The J. Earl Wynands Associate Chair in Cardiac...
For decades, researchers have known that the brain controls the diameter of the peripheral arteries, the vessels that carry blood to the arms, legs, hands and feet. Electrical impulses from the brain travel to these arteries through a network of nerves known as the sympathetic nervous system...
Dr. F. Daniel Ramirez is a cardiac electrophysiologist and clinician-scientist in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI). He bounced around between Kingston and Ottawa while completing his early medical training, and later studied in Bordeaux, France, before...
The Beat started this special column to introduce you to the brilliant minds and compassionate hearts who work at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. This week’s feature shines a light on one of the most recent additions to the institute’s team of cardiologists. In less than one year, Dr...
When did you become interested in a career in medicine? It all started after my tonsillectomy, when I was five-years-old. It was a life-changing experience for me, to meet the doctors and to hear the anesthesiologist say, “I’m going to put you to sleep now.” I was so impressed by the whole...
A leading voice in the quit-smoking arena worldwide, Andrew Pipe, MD, who was instrumental in the development of the widely adopted Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation (OMSC) at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, announced earlier this year his longtime mentee, Hassan Mir, MD, is ready to take...