Dr. Mansoor Husain is professor of medicine at U of T, attending physician in the Cardiac ICU and Nuclear Cardiology Labs at UHN, and senior scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute.

His award-winning research efforts focus on uncovering the molecular bases of cardiovascular diseases – including diabetes and heart failure – and identifying therapeutic targets involved in pathophysiology.

He has developed several bench discoveries with translational potential and holds three distinct therapeutic patents. Dr. Husain has chaired peer-review panels at Heart & Stroke Canada and CIHR, and is a frequent invited lecturer at international conferences in his fields of research. His past affiliations include leadership positions at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, the Heart & Stroke/Richard Lewar Centre of Excellence, and Hypertension Canada.

Dr. Raymond Kim is associate professor of medicine at U of T and medical geneticist at The Hospital for Sick Children, University Health Network, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Sinai Health System.

Dually trained in internal medicine, Dr. Kim is a fellow of Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Internal Medicine and a fellow of the Canadian and American Colleges of Medical Genetics. As head of the Provincial Genetics Program at Ontario Health, he provides leadership and strategy for genetic services and testing for Ontario.

His clinical practice consists of patients with hereditary disorders and focuses on multi-disciplinary care, transition of pediatric patients, and rare diseases. His research interests include genomic medicine, rare disorder registries and incorporating novel genetic technologies in patient care. This includes whole genome sequencing and circulating DNA.

Along with heart failure genomics, cancer genetics is also a key area of focus for Dr. Kim. He leads the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research’s Ontario Hereditary Cancer Research Network and is medical director of early cancer detection at Princess Margaret.

Dr. Seema Mital is professor of medicine at U of T and at SickKids she is head of cardiovascular research and senior scientist in the genetics and genome biology program.

She established the SickKids Heart Centre Biobank, a multi-centre biorepository of children and adults with childhood onset heart disease for genomics research, one of the largest of its kind in the world. Her research interests include genomics, pharmacogenomics, and stem cell applications to model childhood heart disease and discover new therapies.

Dr. Mital is principal investigator in the CIHR-funded Canadian Heart Function Alliance and Canadian National Transplant Research Program, as well as the NIH-funded Pediatric Heart Network. She serves on the American Heart Association committees for Functional Genomics and Translational Biology Council as well as National Peer Review, as well as serving as vice-chair for the AHA Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young.

She is the first female editor of the “Moss and Adams’ Heart Disease in Infants, Children and Adolescents”, the definitive textbook for pediatric cardiology (10th edition).

Dr. Heather Ross is a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto and Head of the Division of Cardiology at UHN. She received the Order of Canada in 2020 (CM), and an Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) from Queen’s University 2021. Past president of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, Dr. Ross is one of Canada’s most esteemed cardiologists.

She is the site lead for the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, and currently holds the Loretta A. Rogers Chair in Heart Function and the Pfizer Chair in Cardiovascular Research.

Founder of TestYourLimits.ca dedicated to improving heart health and research in heart failure, Dr. Ross was named as one of the top 100 modern day explorers by Canadian Geographic.

She has published over 360 peer reviewed articles and won many awards including the inaugural CCS Women in Cardiovascular Medicine/Science Mentorship Award (2020) and the Canadian Heart Failure Society Annual Achievement Award (2019). Through advanced data science and digital health initiatives, she is committed to helping all communities receive equitable access to high-quality heart failure care and patient empowerment.

Craig Simmons is professor of mechanical engineering and distinguished professor of mechanobiology at U of T’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering. He has been named a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Biomedical Engineering Society, the American Institute for Medical & Biomedical Engineering, the Engineering Institute of Canada, and the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering.

Dr. Simmons has made pioneering contributions in understanding how biomechanical forces contribute to heart valve disease and regeneration and has developed lab-on-a-chip microtechnology to model tissues and organs for drug discovery. His lab seeks to discover new treatments for heart valve, heart muscle, and blood vessel diseases, including strategies to regenerate cardiovascular tissues using stem cells and biomaterials.

Prof Simmons is former director of the NSERC CREATE Program in Microfluidic Applications and Training in Cardiovascular Health. His many research and teaching awards include the Ontario Early Researcher Award, the McCharles Prize, the McLean Award, the Heart & Stroke CP Has Heart Award, and the Northrop Frye Award for excellence in teaching and research.

Professor Shoumo Bhattacharya is British Heart Foundation Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Oxford. An expert in molecular, cell and systems biology, he seeks to develop novel therapeutics and targets in inflammation and fibrosis while exploring how genetic and environmental factors play a role in congenital heart disease and heart failure.

A key focus of his lab for years has been the development of anti-inflammatory peptide therapeutics isolated from tick saliva that may have applications to myocarditis, cardiac fibrosis and injury to the heart following a heart attack.

Dr. Christopher Chen is professor of biomedical engineering and director of the tissue microfabrication laboratory at Boston University. His lab aims to identify the underlying mechanisms by which cells interact with materials and each other to build tissues – and apply this to the biology of stem cells, tissue vascularization and connective tissues.

Past roles include Skirkanich Professor of Innovation at Johns Hopkins University and director of the Center for Engineering Cells and Regeneration at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Chen is a highly-awarded investigator who has earned, among many accolades, the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Karen Hirschi is alumni professor of cell biology at the University of Virginia and, there, directs the Developmental Genomics Center. She is a global expert in vascular development and regeneration, seeking to define the cellular and molecular events that lead to blood and blood vessel formation. She has made multiple key contributions to science, particularly around the role of endothelial cells.

Prof. Kirschi’s distinguished career has previously brought her through Harvard Medical School, Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and Yale. She is past president of the North American Vascular Biology Organization and is an advisor for the NIH National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

Mark Mercola is professor of medicine at the Stanford University Cardiovascular Institute and is a leading expert in heart failure and bioengineering. He co-founded the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics and, in his career, has identified many factors involved in inducing and forming the heart, helping propel the field of cardiac stem cell research.

Prof. Mercola’s lab hunts for molecules that help form new heart cells or preserve heart function after injury or during chronic heart failure – with an eye to develop novel drugs that will regenerate the heart. He was previously a professor of cell biology at Harvard University and of bioengineering at UC-San Diego.

Dr. Lynne Warner Stevenson is professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University and fellowship director for heart failure. She was previously director of cardiomyopathy and heart failure at Harvard Medical School, and founder of the UCLA Heart Transplant Program and Ahmanson Cardiomyopathy Center.

Dr. Stevenson is a U.S. leader in heart failure strategies, having helped guide many NIH trials, found an extensive registry for mechanical circulatory support, author more than 250 publications, and develop 30 national guideline documents. Her vision for personalized care involves integrating molecular and clinical profiling, attention to patient-reported outcomes, triage and incorporation of patient goals into shared decision-making for advanced therapies. She is committed to collecting and presenting contemporary data to inform decision-making for individual patients.

Dr. Duncan Stewart is professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa, vice-president of research at the Ottawa Hospital, CEO and scientific director of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. His many distinctions include the Dexter Man Chair of Cardiology and Research Achievement Award of the University of Toronto.

He is a pioneering cardiovascular researcher, renowned for making and translating important discoveries in blood vessel biology – notably the role of nitric oxide in angiogenesis and of endothelin-1 in pulmonary hypertension. He is a leader in cell- and gene-based therapies for cardiovascular disease, a trailblazer in clinical trials for angiogenic gene therapy and enhanced progenitor cell therapy for heart repair, and gene-enhanced cell therapy for pulmonary hypertension.

Dr. Douglas Lee is professor of medicine at U of T, cardiologist at Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, and and senior scientist and leader of the Cardiovascular Program at ICES. He is an expert in outcomes and health services research, health policy, prospective studies and large database research (using extensive data through ICES). In 2014, he won the Canadian Cardiovascular Society’s Robert E. Beamish Award for research carrying the greatest potential impact. In 2009, he won a CCS Young Investigator Award for outstanding achievements in clinical or basic science.

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Dr. Slava Epelman is assistant professor of medicine at U of T, cardiologist and immunologist at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, and senior scientist at the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute. A leading expert in how immunology affects heart health, Dr. Epelman focuses on how the immune system contributes to damage after such an injury to the heart – and its potential in repairing that damage. To that end, the group has defined and tracked each individual immune cell subset that is active in the heart following tissue injury.

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Daniel Franklin is assistant professor of biomedical engineering at U of T and principal investigator at the Ted Rogers Centre’s Translational Biology and Engineering Program. His lab employs optics, engineering, and biology to produce the next generation of materials and devices that can help treat, monitor and diagnose heart failure. Prof. Franklin seeks wearable technology beyond measuring conventional metrics, to be able to measure blood pressure, ejection fraction and vascular resistance in non-invasive ways.

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Dr. Michael McDonald is associate professor of medicine at U of T and medical director of both the Ted Rogers Centre of Excellence in Heart Function and the Ajmera Transplant Centre at Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. His clinical efforts focus on advanced heart failure, transplant and implantable device therapy, and Dr. McDonald also directs UHN’s Advanced Heart Failure/Transplantation Fellowship Program. He is past-president of the Canadian Cardiac Transplant Network and co-chair of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society’s Heart Failure Guidelines Committee.

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