Arrhythmia & Heart Failure

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.

Stuart Connolly

Stuart Connolly is a Professor of Medicine at McMaster University and a cardiac electrophysiologist at Hamilton Health Sciences. He became a faculty member at McMaster University in 1983 and was awarded a full professorship in 1994. He was also appointed as the inaugural holder of the Salim Yusuf Chair in Cardiology at McMaster University.

He has published more than 270 scientific articles in the field, and is currently a member of the editorial boards for a number of prominent cardiology journals, including Heart, the American Heart Journal and the Journal of Pacing and Electrophysiology. His main research interests are focused on the evaluation of treatments for heart rhythm disorders. His academic career has been largely devoted to the design and execution of controlled clinical trials in this area.

He holds a Masters degree from Fordham University, New York, and an MD from McGill University in Montreal. He received his specialist training in cardiology at the University of Toronto and at Stanford University.

Jeff Healey

Senior Scientist

Jeff Healey is a Cardiologist/Electrophysiologist and Professor of Medicine at McMaster University.  He is Yusuf Chair and Director of Cardiology at McMaster University. He is the chair of the Canadian Stroke Prevention and Intervention Network (CSPIN) and past chair of the Canadian Atrial Fibrillation guidelines committee. He is also on the steering committee of the international AF Screen organization.

Healey was the lead author of the ASSERT trial that demonstrated the increased stroke risk associated with sub-clinical atrial fibrillation (New England Journal of Medicine 2012), and the principal investigator of the ARTESIA trial, which demonstrated that anticoagulation with apixaban reduced the risk of stroke in patients with sub-clinical atrial fibrillation New England Journal of Medicine 2023). He is also the principal investigator of the LAAOS-4 trial, evaluating the role of left atrial appendage occlusion on top of NOAC therapy for prevention of stroke in high-risk individuals with atrial fibrillation.

David Conen

Senior Scientist

David Conen is currently the Principal Investigator and Senior Scientist at the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) and an Associate Professor of Medicine at McMaster University. He serves as a staff cardiologist at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH) and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) and is the Cardiology Clinical Site Lead at the Juravinski Hospital. Conen obtained his MD degree at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and holds a Master of Public Health degree from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA. He completed a 2-year postdoctoral research fellowship in clinical epidemiology. His research focuses on perioperative medicine and atrial fibrillation.

Conen is the Principal Investigator of two large multinational clinical trials aimed at preventing and treating perioperative atrial fibrillation (COP-AF and ASPIRE-AF) and is involved in the leadership of many international cardiovascular and perioperative trials. COP-AF has recently been presented and published. His research activities also include conducting large epidemiological cohort studies that examine risk factors for the occurrence and consequences of atrial fibrillation. He has published over 250 manuscripts in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has received several prestigious grants and awards in both Switzerland and Canada. Conen has extensive knowledge in the design, development, management, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of clinical trials and large-scale epidemiology studies.

Darryl Leong

Senior Scientist

Leong’s clinical interests include cardio-oncology, frailty, multi-morbidity, and echocardiography. He is the Director of the McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences Cardio-Oncology Program. Leong graduated from the University of Adelaide Medical School with Deans Listing and Honours for academic excellence in 2000. He completed his cardiology training, Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Public Health, and Master of Biostatistics degrees at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He has completed a fellowship in cardiovascular imaging at the Leiden University Medical Centre, the Netherlands, before relocating to Canada.

Leong is an Associate Professor in the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences. His research is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Cancer Society, and the United States Department of Defense, among others. He has published approximately 200 manuscripts, including leading publications in the Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine as well as top cardiovascular journals. He is a Clinician Scientist of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and has received the Clive Kearon Mid-Career Award from McMaster University. Additionally, he serves as the Director of the Internal Medicine Resident Research Program and the Cardio-Oncology Program at McMaster University.

Jason Roberts

Scientist

Jason Roberts is a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist at Hamilton Health Sciences and an Associate Professor of Medicine at McMaster University. As a clinician researcher, Jason’s interests focus on the genetics of cardiac arrhythmias, and evaluating the clinical utility of new drugs and gene-based therapies as treatments for both rare and common forms of cardiac arrhythmias. Previously, he worked at the University of Western Ontario as part of the London Heart Rhythm Program, where his research focused on refining insights into the clinical and genetic features of inherited arrhythmia syndromes.

He completed his training in cardiac electrophysiology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and his cardiology fellowship at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, during which he worked with Spartan Biosciences to develop the first point-of-care genetic test in clinical medicine (trial results published in The Lancet). He holds a Master’s degree in clinical epidemiology and biostatistics from UCSF.

Harriette Van Spall

Senior Scientist

Harriette Van Spall is currently an Associate Professor in the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, at McMaster University. She also serves as a Cardiologist at Hamilton Health Sciences and is a Scientist at the Population Health Research Institute and the Research Institute of St. Joe’s, Hamilton. Additionally, she is an Associate Member of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact. Van Spall obtained her Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees and completed postgraduate training at the University of Toronto. She then earned a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. As a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, she holds certifications in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and Level III Echocardiography, with appointments in both the Department of Medicine and the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact at McMaster University.

Van Spall is a full-time cardiologist with a clinical focus on Heart Failure, Echocardiography, and Acute Care Cardiology. She is a data scientist and clinical trialist with expertise in heart failure, health research methods, and implementation science. Van Spall leads both industry-sponsored and investigator-initiated phase III trials and is well known for her work in health and research equity. She is a primary research supervisor and mentor to several medical trainees, graduate students, and postgraduate fellows.

Van Spall has published more than 220 manuscripts, with a significant proportion appearing in high-impact medical journals, including JAMA, Lancet, Annals of Internal Medicine, Circulation, JACC, and European Heart Journal. She has received several prestigious research awards, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research-Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health Mid-Career Lectureship Award in Cardiovascular Sciences and the American Heart Association Dr. Nanette K. Wenger Research Goes Red Award. Van Spall has secured over $6.0 million in peer-reviewed funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and other funding agencies. She is an invited speaker at international cardiovascular conferences, a media correspondent, and an editorial board member for leading journals. Additionally, she is a chair or member of several international research networks, trial executive committees, and guideline committees.

Philip Joseph

Scientist

Philip Joseph’s research interests include cardiovascular prevention, global health, heart failure, and cardiac imaging. He is the principal investigator for the PURE-AF substudy, and the SPECT-MINS study, an investigator in the PURE study, and the G-CHF registry. He is also the project officer for the TIPS-3 study. He has published more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers.

He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, with certification in both internal medicine and cardiology. obtained his B.A.Sc at McMaster University in 2000, and his M.D. at Western University in 2004. His internal medicine (2004-2007) and cardiology (2007-2010) residencies were completed at the University of Ottawa. Subsequently, he completed additional clinical training in Nuclear Cardiology at McMaster University (2013), a M.Sc. in Health Research Methodology at McMaster (2010-13), and a post-doctoral research fellowship in PET imaging at Harvard University (2015).

William McIntyre

Scientist

William is a cardiologist and a native of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. He completed Medical School and Internal Medicine Residency at Queen’s University and Adult Cardiology Residency at the University of Manitoba. He completed a Fellowship in Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacing and a PhD in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University. He is the only Canadian to receive the European Heart Rhythm Association’s Diploma of Advanced Studies in Cardiac Arrhythmia Management.

He is a consultant cardiologist and arrhythmia service lead at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. He leads the post-operative atrial fibrillation program at Hamilton Health Sciences.

William is a Scientist at PHRI and an Assistant Professor at McMaster University. He holds research funding from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of the Canadian Stroke Prevention Intervention Network (C-SPIN), the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Atrial Fibrillation Awards Program and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

He has published more than 150 peer-reviewed articles, including first author works in JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, Circulation and the European Heart Journal. He was the 2023 recipient of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society’s Young Investigator Award. His research interests include atrial fibrillation screening, medical therapy of atrial fibrillation and the treatment of new-onset atrial fibrillation in cardiac surgery patients.

Jorge Wong

Scientist

Jorge Wong is a cardiologist and cardiac electrophysiologist at Hamilton Health Sciences, as well as a scientist in the Arrhythmia and Heart Failure program at PHRI. His research interests focus primarily on the intersection between atrial fibrillation and heart failure, atrial fibrillation epidemiology and catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation. He holds research grants from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, and Hamilton Health Sciences.

He obtained his MD at McMaster, followed by his internal medicine and cardiology training at the University of Western Ontario. Jorge subsequently completed his clinical electrophysiology fellowship at the University of Calgary and at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He has a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health, and is currently pursuing his PhD in Health Research Methods at McMaster.

Michael Wang

Investigator

Michael Ke Wang is an Investigator at PHRI and an MSc student in the Health Research Methodology Program at McMaster University, supervised by David Conen. His main interests are in perioperative medicine and perioperative atrial fibrillation. Michael is actively involved in the conduct of large international perioperative clinical trials coordinated from PHRI; he is the project officer of the COP-AF and ASPIRE-AF trials.

Michael is a Clinical Scholar in the Division of General Internal Medicine at McMaster University. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Ottawa and completed his internal medicine residency, general internal medicine fellowship, and perioperative vascular training at McMaster University.

Linda Johnson

Associate Investigator

Linda Johnson is an Imaging Specialist and an Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology at Lund University in Sweden. Her main research interest is atrial fibrillation prediction using diverse diagnostic modalities. Other interests are modifiable risk factors and disease prevention. She has been working with the PHRI Arrhythmia Research group since 2017.

Tara McCready

Program Director

Tara McCready, PhD, oversees a variety of collaborative programs at PHRI, and serves as Project Manager for PHRI research studies and registries.

She was recruited to PHRI as a Program Director for the Canadian Network and Centre for Trials Internationally (CANNeCTIN), a national network funded by the CIHR/CFI Clinical Research Initiative program to improve the prevention and treatment of cardiac and vascular diseases and diabetes.

Previously the Executive Director of the Canadian Maternal, Infant, Child and Youth Research Network, Tara holds a PhD in Biochemistry and a MBA in Technology Commercialization from the University of Alberta.

Jessica Vincent

Program Director

Jessica Vincent has more than 15 years’ experience in coordinating and managing large, international clinical trials. As Associate Program Manager, she oversees interventional trials, registries, and observational research studies in the areas of perioperative medicine, cardiac surgery, and digital health.

She holds an Honours Bachelor of Science Degree from Queens University, and a Master of Clinical Epidemiology Degree from the University of Newcastle.

Sumathy Rangarajan

Program Director

Sumathy Rangarajan has been Program Director, Global Health, since 2016, preceded by many years’ service at PHRI in other roles. She oversees the PURE study team, as well as the INVICTUS rheumatic AF treatment trial, the CANPWR pediatric weight management registry, and others.

She holds both a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Master of Science degree from Pune University in India.

Alex Grinvalds

Project Manager

Alex Grinvalds has more than 15 years experience in clinical research, of which 13 have been at PHRI. He has worked on randomized studies, device trials and numerous registries. Currently, Alex is working on studies involving patients with heart failure and arrhythmias.

Alex holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University and a Certificate in Clinical Research from Humber College.

Amy Krol

Project Manager

Amy Krol has been employed by the Population Health Research Institute over the last 19 years where she has worked on a number of large, international, industry-sponsored trails. For the past six years, she has focused her efforts on coordinating site management for the INVICTUS study, an investigator-initiated rheumatic AF trial & registry.

She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (Honours Biology) from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Clinical Research Associate Certificate from McMaster University.