Researchers at the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research have developed an innovative approach to better understanding the complex signaling mechanisms underlying heart failure. A recent publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) offers...
Keynote Presentation – Naheed Kurji, MBA
Naheed Kurji, MBA
President, Recursion Canada
Naheed is the President of Recursion Canada, the Canadian wholly-owned subsidiary of Recursion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RXRX). Prior to joining Recursion, Naheed was the Co-founder, President and CEO of Cyclica, a Toronto-based biotech company (acquired by Recursion in May 2023). At Cyclica, Naheed had the distinct privilege of working with an incredibly talented and dedicated team that was considered one of the pioneers of what is now the increasingly hot space of AI for Drug Discovery and Development. Naheed is also a co-founder and Board Member of EntheogeniX Biosciences, a psychedelic inspired biotech company for mental health, co-founder of the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAIH) for which he served as Chair until May 2023, Board Member of the Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO), and Member of the Life Sciences Advisory Group for Global Affairs Canada. Naheed is passionate about how people interact with technology to inform effective decision making, while dedicated to advancing the responsible application of AI to healthcare and the impact on patients. Naheed holds an MBA from Rotman School of Business and an undergraduate degree from the University of Ottawa.
Seema Mital, MD, FACC, FAHA, FRCPC
Scientific Lead, Cardiac Precision Medicine Program
Dr. Seema Mital is a Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiologist and Head of Cardiovascular Research at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. She is Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the SickKids Research Institute. She is also the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada / Robert M Freedom Chair of Cardiovascular Science, and Scientific Lead of the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research. Mital has a strong translational research program focused on genomics, pharmacogenomics and stem cell applications to model childhood heart disease and discover new therapies. She has extensive experience in the genetics/genomics of congenital heart disease and heart failure, personalized medicine and clinical trials. 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 international repositories of its kind. Mital is the Principal Investigator of the CIHR-funded INSERT-HCM multi-centre project aimed at implementing digital health technology, the NIH-funded Pediatric Heart Network for clinical trials, and leads the international ERAPerMed funded PROCEED network for Personalized Genomics in congenital heart disease.