Distinguished Lecturer Award in Cardiovascular Sciences

Dr. Colleen Norris – Recipient of the 2023 CIHR-ICRH/CCS Distinguished Lecturer Award in Cardiovascular Sciences

Dr. Colleen Norris is a professor and the Associate Dean of Research with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta. She holds adjunct appointments in the Division of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and in the School of Public Health and is the Cavarzan Chair in Mature Women's Health Research. Dr. Norris is internationally recognized for her leadership in developing and disseminating evidence-informed strategies to transform clinical practice and impact policy related to women’s heart health. Her extensive research program focuses on sex and gender factors that impact women’s heart health. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the American Heart Association. Dr. Norris is one of the founding members and the past Chair of the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance Health Systems and Policy working group, whose mandate is to implement policies that advance our understanding of the unique sex and gender factors affecting the outcomes of women’s heart health. Dr. Norris has mentored more than 90 students/trainees and has more than 400 peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Philippe Pibarot - Recipient of the 2022 CIHR-ICRH/CCS Distinguished Lecturer Award in Cardiovascular Sciences

Philippe Pibarot obtained a doctorate in veterinary medicine (DVM) in 1987 at the University Claude Bernard in Lyon, France and a PhD degree in biomedical sciences from the University of Montreal in April 1995. He has received the FACC, FAHA, FASE, FESC, FASE, FCCS credentials. He is full professor at the Department of Medicine of Laval University and he holds the Canada Research Chair (Level I) in Valvular Heart Disease (VHD) at the Québec Heart & Lung Institute. He is the head of Cardiology Research at Québec Heart & Lung Institute.

The objective of his research program is to develop and validate novel patient-oriented approaches to improve the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of VHD. He is currently the principal investigator of several multicenter studies and trials funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research through a 7-year Foundation grant. He is director of the Echocardiography Core Laboratory at the Québec Heart & Lung Institute. He has published more than 650 articles and presented >900 invited conferences in the course of his career. He is associate editor for Structural Heart and Eurointervention journals and Imaging section editor for the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. He received the Annual Achievement Award of the Canadian Society of Echocardiography (2010), the Research Achievement Award, Canadian Cardiovascular Society (2010), and the Feigenbaum Lecture Award, American Society of Echocardiography (2012), and a Doctorate Honoris Causa of University of Liège, Belgium (2017). He is an ex-officio member of the nucleus of the Council in Valvular heart Diseases of the European Society of Cardiology. He is a founding member of Heart Valve Voice Canada. He is among the most influential scientists in the field of Medicine according to the Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

Dr. PJ Devereaux - Recipient of the 2021 CIHR-ICRH/CCS Distinguished Lecturer Award in Cardiovascular Sciences

Dr. Devereaux obtained his MD from McMaster University. After medical school he completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Calgary and a residency in cardiology at Dalhousie University. He then completed a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology at McMaster University under the tutelage of Drs. Gordon Guyatt and Salim Yusuf.

Dr. Devereaux is a cardiologist, perioperative care physician, and clinical epidemiologist. He is the Director of the Division of Perioperative Care at McMaster University. He is a Senior Scientist and the Scientific Leader of the Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine, and Surgical Research Group at the Population Health Research Institute. Dr. Devereaux is a full Professor in the Departments of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI) and Medicine at McMaster University. He is the President of the Society of Perioperative Research and Care.

Dr. Devereaux has published >370 peer reviewed papers and >80 book chapters, editorials, and commentaries. Dr. Devereaux has an h-index of 102 and 132,754 citations. He has given >1000 lectures and research presentations in 41 countries. Dr. Devereaux’s research program focuses on vascular complications during and after surgery. He is supported by the McMaster University / Hamilton Health Sciences Chair in Perioperative Care. Dr. Devereaux holds a Tier 1 Canadian Research Chair in Perioperative Medicine.

Dr. Jean L. Rouleau – Recipient of the 2020 CIHR-ICRH/CCS Distinguished Lecturer Award in Cardiovascular Sciences

Dr. Jean L. Rouleau obtained his medical degree from the University of Ottawa in 1974, did his training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at McGill University, and did his post-graduate training at the University of California in San Francisco. Dr. Rouleau has served as director of the coronary/cardiac care units of the Montreal General Hospital, Hôpital du Sacré Coeur, the Montreal Heart Institute, and Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN). Dr. Rouleau has also held a number of senior administrative positions including director of cardiology at the University of Sherbrooke from 1988 to 1993, and Director of the Cardiac Program and the Cardiology divisions at UHN and at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto from 1999 to 2003. He was Dean of the University of Montreal's Faculty of Medicine from 2003 to 2010. He was a member of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada’s (AFMC) executive committee, and co-chair of their research committee as well as the AFMC’s dean representative on the Canadian Medical School accreditation committee. Finally, he co-chaired the Association of Canadian Academic Health Organization (ACAHO) strategic plan in 2009.

Dr. Rouleau was associate director of the research center of the Montreal Heart Institute from 1995-98 and is presently director of the cardiac research axis at the Montreal Heart Institute’s research center. From 2005 to 2019, he served as co-director of the NHLBI heart failure network pharmacogenomics core. He served as a member of the CIHR Governing Council from 2005 to 2010, and was the Scientific Director of the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health (ICRH) of the Canadian Institutes of Health and Research (CIHR) from 2010 to 2015. In 2011, he directed the development of what has become the largest strategic program of CIHR, the Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR).

Dr. Rouleau has been awarded the Canadian Centennial Medal, the Exceptional Merit Award given by the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ), the Canadian Henry Friesen Award, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society's Career Research Achievement Award, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society’s Annual Achievement Award, the Prestige Award given by the Quebec Medical Association and was named a member of the Order of Canada to recognize his contribution to the development of the field of cardiology as a researcher, a clinician and his high-caliber administrator.

Dr. Rouleau’s H index is 106, and he has published over 500 scientific articles in journals such as the American Journal of Cardiology, Circulation, the Journal of the American Medical Association, Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. He presently is an active clinician at the Montreal Heart Institute, an executive committee member of several large clinical trials, and member or chair of a several data safety monitoring committees of clinical trials.

Dr. Rob Beanlands – Recipient of the 2019 CIHR-ICRH/CCS Distinguished Lecturer Award in Cardiovascular Sciences

Rob Beanlands is Vered Chair and Chief of the Division of Cardiology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and The Ottawa Hospital; an international leader in cardiovascular imaging and founding Director of the National Cardiac PET Centre, (the only PET facility in Canada dedicated to cardiovascular disease); Professor in the Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine, Department of Radiology (Cross-Appointment), Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (Cross-Appointment) in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He has been a Career Investigator supported by the Heart and Stroke Foundation(HSF) and is a Tier 1 uOttawa Chair in Cardiovascular Imaging Research. His research on cardiac metabolism, flow, cellular and neurohormonal function has led to pioneering translational work that has impacted understanding and the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, application in patient care, health policy and guidelines. He has led or co-led multicentre imaging research initiatives [PARR2, IMAGE-Heart Failure, Canadian Atherosclerotic Imaging Network (CAIN (Co-PI))]. He has >300 peer reviewed publications. He has served on several committees/advisory boards for government, industry and professional organizations impacting healthcare policies and practice guidelines. He also served on Ontario's Expert Panel for Appropriate Utilization of Diagnostic and Imaging Studies (EPAUDIS) and serves as cardiac representative on Ontario's PET Steering Committee. He was recently chair of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Scientific Review Committee. He is an Associate Editor for the Canadian Journal of Cardiology and had served in this capacity for the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology. Recent Awards include QEII Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) for contributions to Canada and Research Achievement Awards (RAA): Hermann Blumgart RAA - Society of Nuclear Medicine (2013); Canadian Cardiovascular Society RAA (2015). Dr. Beanlands is the current (2019) President of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology and a previous president of the Canadian Nuclear Cardiology Society.

Dr. Paul Dorian – Recipient of the 2018 CIHR-ICRH/CCS Distinguished Lecturer Award in Cardiovascular Sciences

Dr. Paul Dorian is the Department Director, Division of Cardiology, University of Toronto and Staff Cardiac Electrophysiologist at St. Michael's Hospital. He is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology and in the Division of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Toronto, and a Staff Scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute.

Dr. Dorian received his medical degree from McGill University in Montreal in 1976. He completed training in Internal Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology, and Cardiology at the University of Toronto and completed a Fellowship in Cardiac Electrophysiology at Stanford University. He is a recipient of the University of Toronto, Department of Medicine Research Award, and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Achievement Award.

He is the Past-President of the Canadian Heart Rhythm Society, head of the cardiac arrest committee of the Canadian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium, and serves on the steering committee of multiple multicenter clinical trials in arrhythmia care. He is the Chair of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Quality Program.

Dr. Dorian’s research interests include resuscitation science, basic science research in advanced cardiac life support and atrial fibrillation, sports cardiology, arrhythmias in athletes, and clinical research on implanted devices, antiarrhythmic drugs, and quality of life in patients with arrhythmias.

He was the principal investigator of the ALIVE RCT of antiarrhythmic drugs in cardiac arrest, the Family study on predicting and preventing sudden cardiac death, the CIHR funded EpiDOSE RCT, and the Program to reduce sudden death funded by the Canadian Arrhythmia Network. He has published over 420 peer reviewed papers and is Associate Editor of the textbook Electrophysiological Disorders of the Heart.