Researchers

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.

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).

Sonia Anand

Senior Scientist

Sonia Anand is a distinguished physician-scientist and global health leader whose work has transformed Canada’s approach to cardiovascular health, health equity, and Indigenous and population health research. She serves as Associate Vice-President of Global Health and Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at McMaster University and holds a Heart & Stroke Chair recognizing her national impact. Dr. Anand’s research has revealed how sex, ethnicity, and social determinants influence cardiometabolic risk—shifting practice away from “one-size-fits-all” models toward equity-focused care. Her 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 populations. Her findings have shaped clinical guidelines, policy frameworks, and global conversations on health equity. She has published over 500 peer-reviewed papers, led large-scale cohort studies (e.g., SHARE, PURE, CAHHM) and clinical trials (e.g., COMPASS, WAVE, SAHARA), and forged research partnerships with Indigenous communities grounded in ethical co-design. As a vascular medicine specialist, she also delivers care at Hamilton Health Sciences and mentors future clinician-scientists through Canada’s only Vascular Medicine Fellowship. Dr. Anand’s scholarship and leadership have been recognized by her election to both the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2019) and the Royal Society of Canada (2022). She currently leads McMaster’s new School of Global Health and Social Medicine—a platform for interdisciplinary solutions to health inequities in Canada and around the world. Her work exemplifies the power of science for impact—advancing discovery, implementation, and health system transformation with methodological rigor and cultural humility. Dr. Anand’s leadership continues to position Canada at the forefront of global health and health equity innovation.

Emilie Belley-Côté

Associate Deputy Director, Scientist

Emilie Belley-Cote obtained her MD from Université de Sherbrooke. After internal medicine and cardiology training, as well as an MSc in Clinical Sciences – research profile at Université de Sherbrooke, she completed a critical care fellowship at McMaster University. In 2019, she completed a PhD in Health Research Methodology at McMaster University. She is now an associate 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 leads the CIHR-funded LIMIT, DANCE and PRINCE trials. She has over 300 publications, including articles in NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, as well as first tier critical care journals.

Jackie Bosch

Scientist

Jackie Bosch is the Assistant Dean of the McMaster Occupational Therapy Program and a PHRI Scientist. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Occupational Therapy, a Master’s degree in Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and a PhD in Rehabilitation Science. She also serves as a Professor in the School of Rehabilitation and has an Adjunct Appointment with the University of Galway College of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences.

Her research focuses on improving functional outcomes in clinical trials, particularly for stroke survivors in low-resource settings, and enhancing clinical trial methods. Bosch has taken on leadership roles in large-scale trials such as HOPE, HOPE-TOO, HOPE-3 (NCT00468923), DREAM (NCT00095654), ORIGIN (NCT00069784), TIPS-3 (NCT01646437), and COMPASS (NCT01776424). She leads the Organized Stroke Care Across Income Levels (OSCAIL) group, which has conducted a proof-of-concept study implementing key aspects of stroke unit care in hospitals within low-resource settings. Currently, the OSCAIL group is working on a community-based study aimed at improving outcomes for stroke survivors in these challenging environments. Bosch is also interested in optimizing how clinical trials are conducted, especially by finding new ways to make the start-up and execution processes more efficient.

Jackie Bosch has published 184 articles and received several awards, including the Lorna Reimer Award for Leadership from the Canadian Occupational Therapy Foundation in 2019 and the Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Programs Award for Graduate Students in 2014.

Noel Chan

Scientist

Noel Chan is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Thromboembolism, Department of Medicine, McMaster University, specializing in anticoagulant therapy and thrombosis medicine. His research seeks to improve our understanding of the triggers for thrombosis (including the role of inflammation) and the determinants of variable response to antithrombotic therapies to inform on novel strategies that have the potential to further reduce the burden of thrombosis.

Vinai Bhagirath

Investigator

Vinai Bhagirath is a hematologist working clinically in benign hematology and thrombosis at the Hamilton General Hospital. He holds a Master’s degree in Medical Sciences, for which he studied molecular mediators of inflammation in sepsis, after which he trained as a clinical research fellow under the mentorship of John Eikelboom, a Senior Scientist at PHRI.

His current research interests include optimal measurement and dosing of direct oral anticoagulants, innovative digital platforms to improve trial efficiency, and predictors of bleeding.

Luciana Catanese

Investigator

Catanese is an Associate Professor of Medicine (Neurology) at McMaster University and a Stroke neurologist at Hamilton General Hospital. She is the physician lead for hyperacute stroke services at Hamilton Health Sciences and the Central-South Stroke Network in Ontario. She is the Physician Lead of the Stroke Unit at Hamilton General Hospital and the director of the McMaster Stroke fellowship program.

She completed her training in Neurology at Boston University, followed by a fellowship in Vascular Neurology at Harvard Medical School and training in Biostatistics at Harvard University. Dr Catanese has participated in multiple international trials testing novel therapies in acute ischemic stroke patients and has multiple publications in high impact journals, including articles in Lancet, Circulation research, JAMA Neurology. She holds several grants, is involved in the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations, and serves as an Associate Editor of the Stroke journal and a full reviewer for CIHR.

Her research interests include hyperacute stroke therapies, acute stroke neuroimaging, stroke in women, cerebrovascular complications of COVID-19 and acute management of intracranial hemorrhage.

Michael Chong

Investigator; Asst Director CRLB-GMEL

Michael Chong is a PHRI Investigator and Assistant Director of the Clinical Research Laboratory and Biobank – Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory (CRLB-GMEL). He is also an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University. To date, he has published > 60 articles related to stroke and cardiovascular disease genetics, mitochondrial genomics, biomarkers, and bioinformatics. He completed his MSc in Medical Sciences at McMaster University (2012-2014) under the supervision of Guillaume Paré, where he studied the role of rare genetic variants as risk factors for early-onset stroke.

From 2015-2017, he worked as a bioinformatician at GMEL and played key roles in the genetic analyses of several PHRI studies including INTERSTROKE and ORIGIN. From 2018-2021, he completed his PhD in Biochemistry at McMaster university, where he integrated genetics and biomarker data to uncover novel drug targets for stroke. 

Samuel Ramos Acevedo

Research Fellow

Samuel Ramos-Acevedo is a postdoctoral fellow under the supervision of Michael Walsh. He is an internationally registered dietitian specializing in kidney disease and earned both a Master’s and a Doctorate in Science, focusing on clinical epidemiology, from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). His research interests center on research methods and the intersection of nutrition, epidemiology, and clinical outcomes. Samuel is passionate about making healthy, active living accessible to all.

Alexander Benz

Research Fellow

Alexander Benz joined the Arrhythmia Research group at PHRI, supervised by Stuart Connolly, as a research fellow in January 2019, and is enrolled in the Health Research Methodology program at McMaster University. His primary research interest is clinical electrophysiology, with a particular focus on atrial fibrillation. Other areas of interest include oral anticoagulation in various settings, inflammation, cardiac implantable electronic devices and interventions such as catheter ablation.

He is actively involved in the conduct of large international clinical trials coordinated at PHRI. Alexander is the Principal Investigator of a randomized clinical trial testing a short-course treatment with colchicine in the setting of catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation that started enrollment in January 2020.

Alexander obtained his medical degree from Goethe University in Frankfurt (Germany) in 2015. He is pursuing a career in Cardiology.

Stephanie Carlin

Research Fellow

Stephanie Carlin is a PHRI Research Fellow and an MSc student in the Health Research Methodology Program at McMaster University, supervised by scientist Sandra Ofori and senior scientist John Eikelboom. Her research interests include antithrombotic therapy in special populations, including patients with mechanical valves, cirrhosis and drug interactions. She is a Thrombosis Pharmacist at Hamilton Health Sciences and Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Thromboembolism in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University.

Amit Garg

Associate Senior Scientist

Amit Garg is a kidney specialist and academic leader dedicated to improving health care through practical research. He is Associate Dean of Clinical Research at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University, a staff nephrologist at London Health Sciences Centre, and a Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western. He also holds a cross-appointment in McMaster University’s Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, where he earned his PhD in 2005.

Since 2003, Garg has cared for patients in London, Ontario, while building a research program aimed at making health care more effective and evidence-based. A past president of the Canadian Society of Nephrology, he currently serves as Ontario Lead of the Kidney, Dialysis and Transplantation Program at ICES and as a member of the Leads team at Health Data Research Network Canada.

He values his collaborations with PJ Devereaux and other leading clinician-scientists at PHRI, which have led to several kidney studies funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. His current focus is on pragmatic clinical trials embedded in everyday care, using existing health data to answer important questions in ways that are efficient, innovative, and meaningful for the public.

David Jenkins

Associate Senior Scientist

David Jenkins is a Professor, Departments of Medicine and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto, a staff physician in the division of endocrinology and metabolism, Director of the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center, and a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital., Unity Health Toronto.

Educated at Oxford University, he was the first researcher to demonstrate the breadth of metabolic effects of viscous soluble fiber on blood glucose and cholesterol lowering of relevance to prevention and treatment of diabetes and heart disease. David  Jenkins’ studies on combining cholesterol lowering food components (dietary portfolio) have been recognized as creating an effective dietary alternative to drug therapy (statins) for lower risk people.

Paul Moayyedi

Associate Senior Scientist

Professor, Department of Medicine (gastroenterology), and Assistant Dean, Research at McMaster University, Paul Moayyedi is Principal Investigator of the IMAGINE-SPOR study at PHRI, and leads the CIHR Strategy for Patient Oriented Research funded consortium across Canada evaluating impact of diet and the microbiome on inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome and related psychiatric disorders.

He received his medical education at Bristol University, and trained in gastroenterology at Leeds’ General Infirmary, UK. He was awarded a PhD and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Leeds. Moayyedi was a professor of gastroenterology health services research at the University of Birmingham before coming to McMaster to serve as the inaugural Richard Hunt/AstraZeneca Chair of Gastroenterology in 2004. He has been the director of the division of gastroenterology and currently holds the Audrey Campbell Chair of Ulcerative Colitis Research.

Heather Arthur

HEATHER ARTHUR was a pioneer in cardiac rehabilitation research in Canada, Professor Emeritus at McMaster’s School of Nursing, and the first woman and first nursing professional to be awarded the Canadian Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation Terry Kavanagh Prize in 2013, the year she retired. The Heather M. Arthur Population Health Research Institute/Hamilton Health Sciences Chair in Inter-Professional Health Research in the McMaster School of Nursing was created in 2019 in her honour, two years after her death.

Stuart Connolly

Stuart Connolly is a Professor of Medicine at McMaster University and a cardiac electrophysiologist at Hamilton Health Sciences. He became a faculty member at McMaster University in 1983 and was awarded a full professorship in 1994. He was also appointed as the inaugural holder of the Salim Yusuf Chair in Cardiology at McMaster University.

He has published more than 270 scientific articles in the field, and is currently a member of the editorial boards for a number of prominent cardiology journals, including Heart, the American Heart Journal and the Journal of Pacing and Electrophysiology. His main research interests are focused on the evaluation of treatments for heart rhythm disorders. His academic career has been largely devoted to the design and execution of controlled clinical trials in this area.

He holds a Masters degree from Fordham University, New York, and an MD from McGill University in Montreal. He received his specialist training in cardiology at the University of Toronto and at Stanford University.

Yannick Le Manach

YANNICK LE MANACH was an Investigator in the Perioperative and Surgery research program at PHRI, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesia and the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact, at McMaster University. He passed in July 2020.

His main clinical research interests included the prediction of postoperative complications after surgery, and perioperative hemodynamic management care and strategies to improve outcomes after surgery. With an MD in anesthesia and critical care from Paris VI University, a Masters of Cardiac Physiology from Paris VII University, and a PhD in Biostatistics and Epidemiology from Paris V University in France, he published more than 120 peer-reviewed scientific papers.