Perioperative and Surgery

PJ Devereaux

Senior Scientist

PJ Devereaux is Senior Scientific Lead, Perioperative and Surgery, PHRI, Professor and University Scholar in the Departments of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI) and Medicine at McMaster University, and Director of the Division of Cardiology at McMaster.

The focus of his clinic research is vascular complications around the time of surgery, leading several large, international RCTs and observational studies addressing this issue. He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed papers and more than 50 book chapters and editorials. He is supported by a Tier 1 Canadian Research Chair in Perioperative Medicine, and holds the Yusuf Chair in Cardiology at McMaster University.

David Conen

Scientist

David Conen is an investigator at PHRI, and Associate Professor, Medicine, McMaster University. A clinical cardiologist with training in performing echocardiography, David’s research involves the conduct of large epidemiological cohort studies to study risk factors for the occurrence of atrial fibrillation and its consequences. He is also interested in clinical trials on therapies to prevent atrial fibrillation and the complications associated with the arrhythmia.

He received numerous prestigious grants in Switzerland and is the Principal Investigator of a large national cohort study to assess the relationship between atrial fibrillation and cognitive decline (Swiss-AF). He also leads another large cohort study of young and healthy individuals (GAPP), with a key focus on assessing risk factors for the development of cardiovascular risk factors in the general population.

Andre Lamy

Scientist

Andre Lamy is a cardiac surgeon practicing at the Hamilton Health Sciences since 1996, and Professor in the Department of Surgery, McMaster University. He led the Canadian Institute of Health Research funded CORONARY trial, which evaluated off-pump CABG surgery versus on-pump CABG surgery in 4752 patients. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2012 and 2013.

Michael McGillion

Scientist

Michael McGillion is an internationally-recognized researcher in the area of persistent forms of cardiac pain such as refractory angina and unrelieved chest pain following successful revascularization procedures. He was Chair of the Joint Canadian Cardiovascular Society – Canadian Pain Society guidelines for the management of refractory angina, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). He is Principal Investigator of the largest CIHR-funded, international prospective cohort study to examine social and psychological predictors of chronic post-surgical pain following cardiac surgery. His research focuses on remote automated monitoring and virtual recovery support for people recovering from cardiac and vascular surgery, decision support for people living with RFA, and global-scale, web-based dissemination of new evidence on persistent forms of cardiac pain.

Michael McGillion has been recognized for his research and advocacy by receiving the Canadian Pain Society Early Career Award and the McMaster University Arch Award for outstanding contributions to society; and was the first University Scholar (2019) from the McMaster School of Nursing.

Tej Sheth

Scientist

Tej Sheth is a Scientist with the Perioperative and Surgery research program at PHRI, as well as a Principal Investigator in atherosclerosis imaging, an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University, and a interventional cardiologist at Hamilton Health Sciences. His research interests include invasive and non-invasive coronary imaging modalities, including coronary angiography, optical coherence tomography, and CT coronary angiography. He is Director of the CT Angiographic Core Lab for the COMPASS CABG study and the COMPLETE trial at PHRI.

Richard Whitlock

Scientist

Richard Whitlock is Associate Chair, Research, and a Professor at the Department of Surgery, McMaster University. He was awarded the inaugural Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Surgery in 2020.

As well as being a PHRI Scientist, Richard is a cardiac surgeon and intensive care physician at Hamilton Health Sciences. His clinical focus is on aortic valve intervention and aortic surgery. He is a lead investigator for the CIHR funded studies SIRS, LAAOS III, and TRICS III, which have established a network of more than 120 centres to address important questions in his field.

He has published more than 90 articles in referred journals. Medically qualified at the University of Toronto, Richard received his specialist training in cardiac surgery and critical care medicine at McMaster University. In 2012, he received his PhD in clinical epidemiology.

Emilie Belley-Côté

Investigator

Emilie Belley-Côté is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University; she practices critical care cardiology in the cardiovascular intensive care unit and coronary care unit at the Hamilton General Hospital. Her research interests include perioperative cardiac surgery care, knowledge synthesis and guideline development. At this stage in her career, she has more than 120 publications, including articles in NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, as well as first-tier critical care journals.

She obtained her MD from Université de Sherbrooke in 2006. After internal medicine and cardiology training, as well as an MSc in Clinical Sciences, she completed a critical care fellowship at McMaster. In 2019, she completed a PhD in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University.

Flavia Kessler Borges

Investigator

Flavia Kessler Borges is an investigator in the perioperative and surgery research group at PHRI, and internist, and an Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (perioperative care; general internal medicine), McMaster University. Her research is focused on perioperative cardiac biomarkers, and perioperative strategies to improve clinical outcomes in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery.

She undertook her Masters in Health Sciences and her PhD in Cardiovascular Sciences in Brazil, and a research and clinical perioperative vascular fellowship under the direction of PJ Devereaux at McMaster. She holds an Early Career Research Award from McMaster.

Maura Marcucci

Investigator

Maura Marcucci is an investigator in the Perioperative and Surgery research group at PHRI, and an Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, and Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, at McMaster University. Leveraging on her background in vascular medicine, thrombosis and hemostasis disorders, and geriatrics, Maura’s current main focus of clinical research is cardiovascular and neurocognitive outcomes in noncardiac surgery. She is currently the project officer of the PeriOperative ISchemic Evaluation (POISE)-3 trial and principal investigator of the POISE-3 sub-study on delirium and cognitive decline.

She obtained her medical training and residency in Internal Medicine in Italy. In 2012-2013 she completed an MSc in Health Research Methodology and a clinical fellowship in Hematology/Medicine at McMaster University. In 2014-2016 she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Milan in Italy, before returning to  Hamilton, Canada.

Sandra Ofori

Investigator

Sandra Ofori is a clinical fellow in Perioperative Medicine at McMaster University, a PhD candidate in the Health Research Methodology program under the supervision of PJ Devereaux, and an Investigator in the Perioperative and Surgery research group at PHRI. Her research interests are in the areas of perioperative care and cardiovascular disease prevention. Her current research program is focused on perioperative smoking cessation and strategies to improve long-term health in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. She is actively involved in the conduct of large international perioperative clinical trials coordinated from PHRI and was the project officer of the Post Discharge after Surgery Virtual Care with Remote Automated Monitoring Technology (PVC-RAM) Trial.

Sandra completed her residency training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, where she was an Assistant Professor and Consultant Cardiologist in the College of Health Sciences and its affiliated teaching hospital. She also has a Master’s degree in Preventive Cardiology from the Imperial College, London UK, and was in the third cohort of the World Heart Federation Salim Yusuf Emerging Leaders Program that was focused on the reduction of the global burden of hypertension.

Jessica Spence

Investigator

Jessica Spence is an anesthesiologist, ICU fellow, and PhD candidate under the supervision of Dr. PJ Devereaux. She is an Investigator in the Perioperative and Surgery research program at PHRI with a focus on the cognitive and functional outcomes of cardiac and non-cardiac surgery, and perioperative delirium.

Amit Garg

Associate Scientist

Amit Garg has practiced as a staff nephrologist at the London Health Sciences Centre in London, Ontario, Canada since 2003, and is a Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University, with a cross-appointment in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI) at McMaster University. A past president of the Canadian Society of Nephrology, Amit Garg serves as the current Ontario Lead of the Kidney, Dialysis and Transplantation Program at ICES.

He values his ongoing collaborations with PJ Devereaux and other leading clinician-scientists at PHRI, which has led to several sub-studies funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research which examined the effects of perioperative interventions on the risk of acute kidney injury (off-pump cardiopulmonary bypass surgery) in the CORONARY study, and more. A current interest is in pragmatic randomized trials embedded into routine healthcare delivery.

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.

Ingrid Copland

Senior Research Coordinator

Ingrid Copland has been working in research for McMaster University since 1991. She has been at PHRI for 23 years where she has coordinated large, international, industry and investigator initiated trials. Since 2014 she has been with the perioperative and surgery department coordinating observational, drug and device trials.