Sonia Anand
PHRI senior scientist Sonia Anand has been named the recipient of the prestigious Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Research Achievement Award for her contributions to cardiovascular, population and global health research.
The annual award recognizes established investigators who have made significant contributions to cardiovascular research in Canada. Anand will be formally recognized at a plaque ceremony in October.
A physician-scientist and global health researcher, Anand’s work focus on understanding the factors that influence cardiometabolic disease risk, including the role of sex, ethnicity and social determinants of health. Her work has helped transform Canada’s approach to cardiovascular health, health equity, and Indigenous and population health research.
She has led major PHRI cohort studies, like SHARE, PURE, CAHHM and clinical trials including COMPASS, WAVE, and SAHARA. These studies have set new standards for defining obesity, created validated ethnic-specific risk scoring systems, and led to the development and testing of community-based interventions in South Asian and Indigenous communities.
Anand has published more than 500 peer-reviewed papers and is widely recognized for her contributions to cardiovascular, population, and global health research. Her many honours include the Margolese National Heart Disorders Prize, election to the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada.
She is a professor in McMaster University’s Department of Medicine, associate vice-president of Global Health, and inaugural leader of the Mary Heersink School of Global Health and Social Medicine. She also practices as a vascular medicine specialist at Hamilton Health Sciences.
Anand is the latest PHRI researcher to be recognized with the CCS Research Achievement Award. Previous recipients include PHRI founder and emeritus executive director and senior scientist Salim Yusuf, senior scientist Shamir Mehta and the late Stuart Connolly.
