Senior Scientists

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.

Hertzel Gerstein

Interim Executive Director; Senior Scientist

Hertzel Gerstein is PHRI’s Interim Executive Director and Senior Lead of the Diabetes Scientific Program. He is also a Professor of Medicine at McMaster University where he holds the Population Health Research Institute Chair in Diabetes; an Endocrinologist; Director of the Boris Clinic Diabetes Care and Research Program; Chair of Diabetes Clinical Trials Network Canada; and a Fellow of both the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada.

Gerstein pioneered and firmly established international long-term diabetes-focused outcomes trials as the norm to support Evidence-Based Diabetes Care. Randomized trials that he designed and led have collectively included more than 90,000 people with either diabetes or prediabetes to date, and have studied and identified clinically important, life-saving diabetes therapies. These trials were supported by the US National Institute of Health, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, other Canadian peer-review agencies, and by industry. Together, they have substantially expanded the evidence-base pertaining to the prevention, remission, and treatment of diabetes and its consequences, and some of their findings have provided the evidence base for international diabetes guidelines and novel drug indications that have improved the lives of people living with diabetes or prediabetes.

His research has been published in over 600 papers and his h index is 100. His work has been recognized by many awards, including the 2012 Canadian Diabetes Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2022 American Diabetes Association’s Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Diabetes Research Award.

Sonia Anand

Senior Scientist

Sonia Anand is a Professor, Medicine and Epidemiology at McMaster University; Associate Chair, Diversity and Equity in McMaster’s Department of Medicine; Director of McMaster’s Population Genomics Program; inaugural Chair, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society; and Director, Chanchlani Research Centre for Global Health at McMaster, among other roles.

Her present research focuses upon the environmental and genetic determinants of vascular disease in populations of varying ancestral origin, women and cardiovascular disease. Sonia has published more than 200 articles in peer review journals. Shas been inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, and received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Shrikant Bangdiwala

Director, Statistics; Senior Scientist

Shrikant Bangdiwala, PhD, has extensive experience in the design, conduct and analysis of multi-center observational and experimental studies, having worked on clinical and community-based randomized controlled trials in congestive heart failure, cardiovascular risk factors, functional bowel disease, and obesity prevention. His statistical research interests include non-parametric methods, methodology for clinical trials, reliability and validity of diagnostic tests, and graphical methods for descriptive analyses.

A Professor in McMaster University’s Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, he is a former Fulbright senior specialist in global public health, and holds faculty positions in universities in Chile, South Africa and India.

He is a member of the USA NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) “COVID-19 Preventive mAb Data and Safety Monitoring Board” (DSMB) that will be reviewing and monitoring the US government-supported clinical trials of candidate preventive monoclonal Antibodies for SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19. He also chairs the Multinational DSMB for the division of AIDS at NIH, and is a member of the Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee of the FDA.

PJ Devereaux

Deputy Director, Senior Scientist

Devereaux is a cardiologist, perioperative care physician, and clinical epidemiologist. He is the Director of the Division of Perioperative Care at McMaster University and a Deputy Director, Senior Scientist, and Scientific Leader of the Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine, and Surgical Research Group at PHRI. He is the Nominated Principal Applicant of the Accelerating Clinical Trials (ACT) Consortium, which is the Pan-Canadian Clinical Trials Consortium funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Additionally, he holds a Tier 1 Canadian Research Chair in Perioperative Medicine.

Devereaux is a full Professor at McMaster University and the President of the Society of Perioperative Research and Care. He has published over 450 peer-reviewed papers and more than 85 book chapters, editorials, and commentaries, including 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine, 13 in the Lancet, and 11 in JAMA. He has an h-index of 115 and has given over 1000 lectures and research presentations in 41 countries. His research program focuses on major vascular complications during and after surgery, and he has led many large international randomized trials and prospective cohort studies on this topic.

John Eikelboom

Senior Scientist

John Eikelboom is Professor, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Senior Scientist, Population Health Research Institute, Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation, and Hematologist, Thrombosis Service, Hamilton General Hospital. He completed training in Internal Medicine and Hematology in Perth, Australia, in 1998 and in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University, Canada, in 2000.

He has authored or co-authored more than 800 articles in peer-reviewed journals and for the past decade has been listed annually by the Web of Science among the top 1% of cited researchers. He holds the Jack Hirsh/Population Health Research Institute Chair in Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis. His current research, supported by peer reviewed funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Gates Foundation focuses on the efficacy and safety of antithrombotic therapies in arterial, venous, cardiac, and procedure-associated thromboembolism as well as strategies to reduce the burden of the “big three” infectious diseases (HIV, TB, malaria) on the African continent.

Robert Hart

Emeritus Scientist

Robert Hart is Professor of Medicine (Neurology) at McMaster University and a vascular neurologist at Hamilton Health Sciences. After completing a fellowship in cerebrovascular disease at the Oregon Health Sciences University, he spent most of his career at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio before relocating to McMaster University in September 2011.

He has a long-standing interest in stroke, stroke research, and clinical trials. He has directed several randomized clinical trials serving as the principal investigator of the NIH/NINDS-sponsored Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation (SPAF) I, II and III trials (1987-2000) and co-principal investigator of the NIH/NINDS-sponsored Secondary Prevention of Small Subcortical Strokes (SPS3) randomized trials (2001-2013). Antithrombotic therapies to prevent stroke in atrial fibrillation and especially novel oral anticoagulants are areas of special interest. He has published more than 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals.

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.

Eva Lonn

Senior Scientist

Eva Lonn is a Principal Investigator for the Atherosclerosis Imaging and Cardiovascular Prevention programs at PHRI, and  a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at McMaster University.

She has led several large international trials and was a member of the International Steering Committee of additional landmark cardiovascular prevention trials. She directed the Vascular Research Ultrasound Laboratory at PHRI for more than 20 years. She served for many years on the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Council and Executive Committee. She has received research grants from the Medical Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. She published over 220 peer reviewed articles, and 8 book chapters.

After obtaining her medical degree from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Eva Lonn completed clinical training in Internal Medicine, Cardiology and Advanced Imaging at the University of Toronto and research fellowships at the University of Toronto and at McMaster University, where she obtained also a Master of Science degree in Health Research Methodology.

Shamir Mehta

Senior Scientist

Shamir Mehta is a Senior Scientist with the Acute Coronary Syndrome and Interventional Cardiology research program at PHRI. He holds the Douglas A. Holder Endowed Chair and is a Professor of Medicine at McMaster University. Mehta directs the Royal College fellowship in interventional cardiology and leads the mitral and tricuspid valve transcatheter edge-to-edge repair programs at Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University. He completed his medical education and postgraduate training at the University of Toronto, followed by a research fellowship at McMaster University, supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award.

At PHRI, he leads landmark clinical trials that evaluate revascularization strategies and new pharmacologic interventions for patients with acute coronary syndromes. Mehta is the Principal Investigator of the COMPLETE-2 trial, a 5,100-patient multinational study comparing physiology-guided and angiography-guided PCI strategies for treating non-culprit lesions in patients with acute coronary syndrome and multivessel coronary artery disease. This trial includes a large-scale intracoronary imaging study using optical coherence tomography to predict cardiovascular events. He also serves on the executive committee of the Librexia ACS trial, which is testing a novel Factor XIa inhibitor in acute coronary syndromes, and he is a steering committee member of OCEAN(a), focusing on targeted lowering of lipoprotein(a) with a novel small interfering RNA after acute coronary syndrome or PCI.

Dr. Mehta has published hundreds of research articles and has secured millions of dollars in peer-reviewed research grants from CIHR and industry. In 2022, he received the Canadian Cardiovascular Society’s Research Achievement Award. In 2024, he received the Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology Outstanding Achievement Award.

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. 

Koon Teo

Emeritus Scientist

Koon Teo is a Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, McMaster University, and provides senior leadership to PHRI’s direction and research studies. He has served as the acting director of the Division of Cardiology at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, and Chief of Cardiology, McMaster University Medical Centre. His wide range of work includes 16 book chapters, 356 articles and 280 abstracts featured in more than 15 medical journals worldwide.

He was the Canadian Principal Investigator for the COURAGE trial the results of which impact the practice of cardiology worldwide, and for the Canadian Institute for Health Research funded ongoing FAMILY study examining the origins of obesity and cardiometabolic risk factors in early childhood. He is also co-principal investigator of The International Polycap Study (TIPS).

Ashkan Shoamanesh

Senior Scientist

Ashkan Shoamanesh is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Div. of Neurology) and a stroke neurologist at McMaster University, where he holds the Marta and Owen Boris Chair in Stroke Research and Care. He is the founding Director of the Hemorrhagic Stroke Research Program and a Senior Scientist at the Population Health Research Institute in Hamilton, Canada. Shoamanesh’s clinical trials program focuses on advancing treatment and establishing new standards of care to prevent stroke or reduce stroke-related death and disability. He is the principal investigator (PI) or Co-PI of multiple international multicentre randomized trials, including ENRICH-AF (NCT03950076; Lancet 2023), OCEANIC-STROKE (NCT05686070), SATURN-MRI (NCT03936361) and CoVasc-ICH (NCT05159219). He has also held central leadership roles in the ANNEXa-I (NEJM 2024), PACIFIC-STROKE (Lancet 2022) and NAVIGATE-ESUS (NEJM 2018) trials. Shoamanesh is the founding Chair of the Canadian Hemorrhagic Stroke Trials Initiative (CoHESIVE; www2.phri.ca/CoHESIVE) and was the lead author of the first Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations on the Management of Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage.

Shoamanesh has published over 170 peer-reviewed manuscripts in top-tier scientific journals. He serves on the editorial boards of Stroke, the International Journal of Stroke, and the Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. He is an active contributor to international scientific meetings and previously co-chaired the World Stroke Congress (World Stroke Organization) and the World Intracranial Hemorrhage Conference.

His research program receives funding from several bodies, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institutes of Health, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Brain Canada, the Australian Government Medical Research Future Fund, British Heart Foundation, and multiple industry partners. His contributions have been recognized with numerous accolades from international organizations, such as the American Academy of Neurology (Pessin Award), American Heart/Stroke Association (Globus Award, Siekert Award, Dudley White Award), American Neurological Association (Denny-Brown Award), European Stroke Organization (Young Investigator Award, Scientific Excellence Award), Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (National New  Investigator Award, Barnett Scholarship) and the World Stroke Organization (Future Leaders Program).

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.

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.

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.

Michael Walsh

Senior Scientist

Michael Walsh is a Principal Investigator in the Renal research program at PHRI, and an Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (nephrology), McMaster University. His research activities are in the areas of the treatment of patients who require dialysis, severe glomerular disease, and perioperative acute kidney injury. He has published more than 70 papers and two book chapters.

He holds a Kidney Research Scientist Core Education and National Training (KRESCENT) Program New Investigator award through CIHR and the Kidney Foundation of Canada.  He’s received multiple Top Abstract awards from the Canadian Society of Nephrology, the Chalmers Prize from the Society for Clinical Trials, and the Detweiller Traveling Scholar Award from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.