Biomarker Discovery Partnership Program

Guillaume Paré

Director, CRLB- GMEL; Senior Scientist

Guillaume Paré is Director of the Clinical Research Laboratory and Biobank (CRLB) – Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory (GMEL) and Senior Scientist at the PHRI. He is also Deputy Director of the Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute (TaARI), a Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, a Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, and a University Scholar at McMaster University. A medical biochemist with board certification from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Gui completed a Master’s in Human Genetics at McGill University under the supervision of renowned geneticist Thomas Hudson. He further trained in genetic epidemiology with Paul Ridker at Harvard Medical School.

His clinical interests are centered on lipoprotein disorders, obesity and cardiovascular disease prevention, with research interests in cardiovascular genetics, biomarker development and pharmacogenomics. Gui’s research combines high-throughput biomarker screens with genetics, bioinformatics and epidemiology to identify novel cardio-metabolic biomarkers. He has published more than 300 original contributions in peer-reviewed journals, all related to his research program in cardiometabolic disease and genetics. These include first or last authored articles in the NEJM, Lancet, Nature Communications, Circulation, EHJ, Stroke, JACC, PloS Genetics, Circulation Genomics and Precision Medicine and AJHG. His work has been sited over 45,000 times with a corresponding h-index of 89. He was inducted to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artist and Scientists in 2018. 

Salim Yusuf

Founder and Emeritus Executive Director, Senior Scientist

Salim Yusuf is an internationally renowned cardiologist and epidemiologist, whose work over 40 years has substantially influenced prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Medically qualified from St John’s Medical College in Bangalore in 1976, he received a Rhodes Scholar-ship and obtained a DPhil from Oxford, during which he (along with Richard Peto, Rory Collins and Peter Sleight) initiated the concepts of large, simple trials, and meta-analysis. He coordinated the first ISIS trial (which established the structure for future international collaborative work in cardiovascular and several other diseases) that demonstrated the value of beta-blockers in myo-cardial infarction, and was a member of steering committees for all subsequent ISIS trials.

In 1984, following clinical training in medicine and cardiology in the UK, he moved to the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, USA, where he led the SOLVD trial (establishing the value of ACE-inhibitors on LV dysfunction) and DIG trial (clarifying the role of digitalis).

In 1992 he moved to McMaster University as head of cardiology, where he established an inter-national program of research in cardiovascular diseases and prevention, culminating in the creation of the Population Health Research Institute. His therapeutic trials have established the roles of ACE-inhibitors in CVD prevention, dual antiplatelet therapies in acute coronary syndromes, novel antithrombotic therapies, and most recently the value of the polypill in substantially pre-venting heart attacks and strokes globally, and at low cost. The Polypill was recently included by the WHO in its Essential Medicines List.

His epidemiologic work in over 80 countries involving all inhabited continents of the world shows the majority of risks of both heart attacks and strokes are attributable to a few risk factors. He currently leads the PURE study exploring the role of societal and environmental factors in CVD. This study (PURE) involves 200,000 people from over 800 communities in 27 high, middle and low-income countries.

He has built capacity for clinical and population research across Canada and the world by establishing research networks involving over 1500 sites in 102 countries. He has trained over 100 researchers, many of whom are now nationally or internationally renowned leaders in medical research. He has helped develop major research institutes or programs in Canada, India, Argentina, Brazil, S. Africa, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and China.

He holds a Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario Research Chair, was a Senior Scientist of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (1999-2004), and has received (among over 100) the Lifetime Research Achievement award of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the World Heart Federation, the Paul Wood Silver Medal of the British Cardiac Society, the European So-ciety of Cardiology gold medal, the American Heart Association Clinical Research Award, the Killam Prize, and the Canada Gairdner Wightman Award in 2014. He has been inducted into the Royal Society of Canada, been appointed an Officer in the Order of Canada, and has been in-ducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2014. In 2023 he was elected as an Honorary Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford. He has been conferred 4 honorary doctorates.

He has published over 1400 articles, and was the second most cited researcher in the world for 2011, and has been among the highest cited scientists in the world (his H index is currently 17th of all scientists in history) for over a decade. He is Past President of the World Heart Federation, where he initiated the Emerging Leaders program (now named after him) to build capacity for research in all continents of the world, with the aim of halving the CVD burden globally within a generation. This program has already trained over 250 individuals from 50 countries.

Matthew McQueen

Deputy Director, CRLB-GMEL

Matthew McQueen co-founded the Clinical Research Laboratory and Biobank (CRLB) in Hamilton, Canada in 1987. As a physician and Director of the Lipid Research Clinic, his clinical focus has been on lipid disorders, primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, and the investigation of statins, fibrates, and probucol in reducing disease risk. He expanded his clinical research laboratory (then known as CRCTL) to provide analytical support for the large epidemiologic studies and clinical trials from PHRI. To date, he has been the author or coauthor of more than 250 publications.

He has retired as a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, McMaster University (since 1987) and Director of the Hamilton Regional Laboratory Medicine Program and Chief of the Departments of Laboratory Medicine at Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph’s Healthcare (since 1998).

He received his medical degree and doctorate from the University of Glasgow. He was recruited to Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia in 1974 and to McMaster University in 1976. In 1981 he became a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada and in 1984 a Founding Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry.

Michael Chong

Investigator; Asst Director CRLB-GMEL

Michael Chong is a PHRI Investigator and Assistant Director of the Clinical Research Laboratory and Biobank – Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory (CRLB-GMEL). He is also an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University. To date, he has published > 60 articles related to stroke and cardiovascular disease genetics, mitochondrial genomics, biomarkers, and bioinformatics. He completed his MSc in Medical Sciences at McMaster University (2012-2014) under the supervision of Guillaume Paré, where he studied the role of rare genetic variants as risk factors for early-onset stroke.

From 2015-2017, he worked as a bioinformatician at GMEL and played key roles in the genetic analyses of several PHRI studies including INTERSTROKE and ORIGIN. From 2018-2021, he completed his PhD in Biochemistry at McMaster university, where he integrated genetics and biomarker data to uncover novel drug targets for stroke. 

Reina Ditta

Academic & Research Dev. Manager

Reina Ditta is the Academic and Research Development Manager of the Genetics and Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory (GMEL) – Clinical Research Laboratory and Biobank (CRLB). Previously, she was the lab manager, GMEL, at PHRI.

Reina received her Honours Cell Biology from Western University, her Master’s in Forensic Science from King’s College London, and has more than 11 years of laboratory experience.

Tara Bryce

Operations Manager

Tara Bryce is the Operations Manager for the Clinical Research Laboratory and Biobank (CRLB) and Genetics and Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory (GMEL). A member of the CRLB since 2007, Tara has over 13 years’ experience as a laboratory professional, with expertise in biobanking and clinical research.

Tara holds an Honours Bachelor of Science from McMaster University, and is a Medical Laboratory Technologist registered with the College of Medical Laboratory Technologists of Ontario (CMLTO).