The Rogers Foundation announces a second landmark gift, building on its $130 million gift in 2014, to sustain the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research in perpetuity and bring the promise of precision cardiac health to patients across Canada and globally. In 2014, the...
Ted Rogers Chair in Heart Function Outcomes Dr. Douglas Lee leads new Heart-Brain Connection $3 million IMPACT Award project
Four unique educational events in October and December
Targeting heart failure in Indigenous communities
Our funded study reveals inequitable COVID-19 rates from the start
Remembering Loretta Rogers
Join us at Canada’s biggest conference dedicated to heart failure. Our two-day symposium brings together leading experts, clinicians and researchers in the cardiac space, to highlight scientific advances, emerging therapies, and innovative approaches to patient care.
Day One | Friday, December 16 – 7:45 am to 4:00 pm EST
Day Two | Saturday, December 17 – 8:00 am to 1:30 pm EST
Note: this event has now passed.
On Friday, December 16th, our research-focused symposium examines subcellular regulation of heart function and microvascular dysfunction. It also highlights how to find success with translational research and up-and-coming innovations.
On Saturday, December 17th, we will reprise a very popular program for primary care providers who manage patients with (or at risk of) heart failure, as well as other front-line health-care professionals. Experts will address a range of topics that include heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, the management of heart failure with comorbidities, and closing the gaps in heart failure care.
This Group Learning program has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Ontario Chapter for up to 4.00 Mainpro+ credits.
| 7:45 – 8:30 AM | Registration & Breakfast |
| 8:30 – 8:40 AM | Opening remarks |
| 8:40 – 10:00 AM | Session I: Small Vessels, Big Problems – Microvascular Dysfunction |
| Animal Models of Microvascular Dysfunction in Heart Failure Margaret Cheng, University of Toronto |
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| Imaging Microvascular Dysfunction Matthias Friedrich, University of McGill |
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| Building Networks: Vascularization of Engineered Tissue Models Milica Radisic, University of Toronto |
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| 10:00 – 10:10 AM | Flash Science |
| 10:10 – 10:25 AM | Break |
| 10:25 – 11:50 AM | Session II: Subcellular Regulation of Heart Function |
| Metabolic Modulation of Heart Failure in Diabetes John Ussher, University of Alberta |
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| Epigenetic Mechanisms in Heart Failure Saptarsi Haldar, Amgen |
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| Targeting Sub-cellular Mechanisms to Treat Heart Failure Stefanie Dimmeler, Goethe University (Frankfurt) |
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| 11:50 – 12:55 PM | Lunch |
| 12:55 – 2:15 PM | Session III: How to Succeed in Translational Research |
| Taking an Idea from Lab to Clinical Trial: Academia vs Industry Duncan Stewart, University of Ottawa |
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| Patient Engagement in Research Anne Simard, University Health Network Julie Vizza, University Health Network |
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| The Value of EDI in Translational Research Mena Gewarges, University Health Network |
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| 2:15 – 2:30 PM | Break |
| 2:30 – 3:45 PM | Session IV: Hot Innovations on the Horizon |
| Predicting Sudden Death in Childhood Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (PRIMaCY): From Discovery to Application Seema Mital, The Hospital for Sick Children |
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| Novel Approaches to Predication of Heart Failure Readmission Doug Lee, University Health Network |
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| An Update on BioSenseTex Azadeh Yadollahi, University Health Network |
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| An Update on Kardiolabs AI Prashant Raghav, University Health Network |
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| 3:45 – 4:00 PM | Closing Remarks & End of Program |
| 8:00 – 8:30 AM | Registration & Light Breakfast |
| 8:30 – 8:40 AM | Opening remarks |
| 8:40 – 10:00 AM | Session I: Heart Failure Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF) |
| HFpEF: Ongoing Challenges and Exciting Breakthroughs Natasha Aleksova, Women’s College Hospital |
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| Interactions Between COPD and HF Owen Lyons, Women’s College Hospital |
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| SGLT2i for HFpEF Jay Udell, Women’s College Hospital |
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| 10:00 – 10:25 AM | Brunch |
| 10:25 – 11:45 AM | Session II: Heart Failure and Comorbidities |
| Sleep Apnea in Heart Failure John Floras, University Health Network |
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| Treating Coronary Disease in HF: What Did We Learn From REVIVE Jennifer Amadio, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre |
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| Managing HF in the Patient with Comorbidities Harriette Van Spall, McMaster University |
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| 11:45 – 12:00 PM | Break |
| 12:00 – 1:25 PM | Session III: Closing the Gaps in Heart Failure |
| A Guide to Optimization of GDMT in Heart Failure Darshan Brahmbhatt, University Health Network |
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| Practical Nutrition Care for Heart Failure Jordan Mak, University Health Network |
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| Patients’ Guide to Heart Failure Guidelines Michael McDonald, University Health Network Tracy Bawtinheimer, University Health Network |
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| 1:25 – 1:30 PM | Closing Remarks & End of Program |
Dr. Michael McDonald is a cardiologist at Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, and a member of the cardiovascular investigations unit and heart function, heart transplant, and ventricular assist device clinics. His clinical focus is the management of patients with advanced heart failure, implantable devices and cardiac transplantation. Dr. McDonald’s areas of academic interest include clinical guideline development and knowledge translation, multilevel medical education, and quality improvement in heart failure.
Michelle Bendeck is professor and director of research in the U of T’s department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology. Principal investigator for Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, she runs a vascular biology lab that investigates molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Best known for pioneering work in vascular matrix biology, Michelle is a Heart and Stroke Foundation Career Investigator and past president of the Canadian Society of Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
Dr. Fish has been a Scientist at the Toronto General Research Institute and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto since 2010. He was promoted to Senior Scientist and Associate Professor in 2016. Dr. Fish holds the Canada Research Chair in Vascular Cell and Molecular Biology. His research interestes are in signaling and gene regulation in the endothelium in vascular diseases including arteriovenous malformations, diabetic cardiomyopathy, cancer therapy-related cardiac dysfunction, microRNAs and extracellular vesicles as biomarkers and effectors of cardiovascular disease.
Daniel Frankling is an assistant professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and the Ted Rogers Chair in Cardiovascular Engineering, U of T Translational Biology & Engineering Program (TBEP) at the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research. The Franklin Research Lab (FRL) employs adjacent branches of optics, engineering, and biology to produce the next generation of materials and devices for fundamental medical science and clinical translation.
Dr. Mansoor Husain is executive director of the Ted Rogers Centre. Professor of medicine at U of T, Dr. Husain is attending physician in the cardiac intensive care unit and nuclear cardiology laboratories of the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. His extensive research focuses on elucidating the molecular bases of cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure and diabetes, and identifying therapeutic targets involved in pathophysiology.
Bio to come
A frequent contributor to CBC News, Dr. Peter Lin is director of primary care initiatives at the Canadian Heart Research Centre. The Toronto family physician is associate editor of Elsevier’s PracticeUpdate Primary Care, as well as medical director of LinCorp Medical Inc. Dr. Lin was medical director at the Health & Wellness Centre at U of T Scarborough for seven years. He lectures and speaks throughout the world and maintains two busy family practices in Toronto.
Dr. Stephanie Protze obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biotechnolgy and her PhD in cell biology and biomedicine from the Dresden University of Technology (Germany). For her Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr. Protze trained in the laboratory of Dr. Gordon Keller at the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University Health Network. In August 2018, Dr. Protze joined UHN as a Scientist and started her independent research group. Her lab uses developmental biology based approaches to establish strategies for the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into cell types of the cardiac conduction system including sinoatrial node and atrioventricular node pacemaker cells. By using pluripotent stem cells as a developmental model system they obtain new insights into human heart development in these projects.
Soror Sharifpoor is director of strategy & translation at the Ted Rogers Centre’s Translational Biology and Engineering Program where she implements sustainable research plans, successful partnerships, scientific and clinical translation strategies, an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and multifaceted training programs in the cardiovascular health sector. She is co-founder of Entrepreneurship for Cardiovascular Health Opportunities (ECHO). Soror has over 15 years of experience in the fields of biomaterials, biomedical engineering, and regenerative medicine, specializing in cardiovascular and soft tissue research and innovation.
Bio to come
Anne Simard is the Director of Strategy and Translation. In the past decade, Anne served as Chief Mission and Research at the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada and Chief, Knowledge Services at Public Health Ontario. Trained in journalism and public health, Anne is focused on intersectoral approaches to improving health that are wholistic, engage patients and communities, use data and technology in new and creative ways and focus on collaborative solutions.
Nadia Thomson is a nurse practitioner in the Ted Rogers Centre, with a specialty-based practice in advanced heart failure. In addition to her clinical practice, she has an interest in developing educational resources for patients living with heart failure and using remote monitoring programs to improve patient care. She is an adjunct faculty member at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at University of Toronto and currently teaches in the nurse practitioner program.
Dr. Matthias G. Friedrich earned his MD at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen/Nuernberg, Germany. He completed his training as an internist and cardiologist at the Charité University Medicine Center, Humboldt University in Berlin. He is currently a full professor at the Departments of Medicine and Diagnostic Radiology and acts as Chief of Cardiovascular Imaging and Scientific Director of the Courtois Cardiovascular Signature Program at the McGill University Health Centre. He also has an appointment with the Department of Medicine at Heidelberg University in Germany. He has focused the research activities of his team of 20+ researchers on cardiac MRI of myocardial injury, including acute ischemic and inflammatory conditions.
Prof. Cheng is an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Trained as an electrical engineer, she worked in industry on synthetic aperture radar surveillance before completing her PhD in Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto and spending the next decade at SickKids as an MRI physicist. She joined the university in 2014, where she expanded her suite of quantitative physiological MRI capabilities to target cardiovascular disease. Her current research is focused on real-time MRI, chemistry for molecular imaging, and early diagnostics for heart failure.
Dr. Milica Radisic is a Professor at the University of Toronto, Tier I Canada Research Chair and a Senior Scientist at the Toronto General Research Institute. She is also the Associate Editor for ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, the Director of the NSERC CREATE Training Program in Organ-on-a-Chip Engineering and Entrepreneurship and a co-Founder and co-Director of CRAFT. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada-Academy of Science, Canadian Academy of Engineering, AIMBE and TERMIS. The long term objective of her research is to enable cardiovascular regeneration through tissue engineering and development of new biomaterials. Her research findings were presented in over 260 publications with h-index of 68 and over 18,500 citations. She is a co-founder of two companies TARA Biosystems, that uses human engineered heart tissues in drug development and safety testing, and Quthero that advances regenerative hydrogels.
Dr. Haldar joined Amgen from the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and University of California San Francisco, where he was a Professor of Medicine. He received his B.S. from Cornell University and M.D. from Johns Hopkins University. He trained in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins followed by Fellowship training in Cardiovascular Disease at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He has had continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health and has been the recipient of several awards including the Jeremiah Stamler Distinguished Young Investigator Prize, election as a Fellow of the American Heart Association, and induction into the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Haldar also co-founded Tenaya Therapeutics, which is focused on developing therapies for heart failure.
John Ussher carried out his PhD training with Dr. Gary Lopaschuk at the University of Alberta (UofA; 2004-2010), where he acquired expertise in the molecular regulation of cardiac energy metabolism. Following his PhD training, John trained with Dr. Daniel Drucker at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at the University of Toronto (2010-2014) to acquire expertise in GLP-1 biology and how GLP-1 influences the cardiovascular system. Since joining the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the UofA, his lab investigates the mechanisms by which obesity perturbs energy metabolism and contributes to the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes, with a major focus on diabetic heart disease.
Bio coming soon.
Dr. Duncan Stewart is a Canadian cardiovascular researcher, recognized for his many important discoveries in blood vessel biology and regenerative medicine. He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has received a number of distinctions and prizes, including the Dexter Man Chair of Cardiology and Research Achievement Award of the University of Toronto, and the Research Achievement Award of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. As well as serving as Executive Vice-President of Research at The Ottawa Hospital and CEO and Scientific Director of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Dr. Stewart is an active senior scientist in The Ottawa Hospital’s Regenerative Medicine Program and holds the Evelyne and Rowell Laishley Chair. He is also a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, President and Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Scientific Director of the Canadian Vascular Network and a practicing cardiologist.
Anne Simard is the Director of Strategy and Translation. In the past decade, Anne served as Chief Mission and Research at the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada and Chief, Knowledge Services at Public Health Ontario. Trained in journalism and public health, Anne is focused on intersectoral approaches to improving health that are wholistic, engage patients and communities, use data and technology in new and creative ways and focus on collaborative solutions.
I am a Patient Partner at the University Health Network, whose lived experience as an individual with chronic and complex care needs has strengthened my conviction that the perspectives of patients, as well as, collaboration with and among providers are fundamental in establishing and delivering optimal patient-centred care. Living with, and managing my health needs, while also constantly adapting to and navigating our healthcare system has led to my pursuit of a PhD in Health Science. My own research explores the lived experience of self-management among individuals with multiple chronic conditions and within team-based care settings.
Dr. Mena Gewarges is currently a clinical fellow in the advanced heart failure, transplantation, and mechanical circulatory support program at Toronto General Hospital. She completed her undergraduate, graduate, and medical degree at the University of Toronto, as well as her residency training in internal medicine and adult cardiology. Inspired by her graduate training in sociology, she is the co-founder of the Diversity and Inclusion in Cardiology Education (DICE) mentorship program for students who identify as Black or Indigenous alongside her co-fellow, Dr. Tahira Redwood.
Dr. Seema Mital is a Heart Failure & Transplant Cardiologist, Professor of Pediatrics, Senior Scientist, & Head of Cardiovascular Research at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. She is the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Chair of Cardiovascular Science, and Scientific Co-Lead of the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research. She is Pediatric Co-lead and AI/Precision Medicine Lead for the CIHR CHF Alliance. She leads the Ontario-wide biobank for childhood heart disease (>10,000 families). Her research in cardiac precision medicine leverages genomics, stem cells, AI and digital technology to model disease, test therapies, and implement precision-focused decision support tools.
Dr. Lee is the Ted Rogers Chair in Heart Function Outcomes and a staff cardiologist at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre of University Health Network. He is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and senior scientist and leader of the Cardiovascular Program at ICES. He has published 261 peer-reviewed and has expertise in outcomes and health services research, health policy, prospective studies and large database research. Dr. Lee’s work aims to improve the quality and outcomes of cardiovascular care using advanced analytic approaches such as high dimensional predictive modeling, statistical learning, and also aims to understand where disparities and variations occur and improve access to high quality cardiovascular care by developing strategies and policies for all individuals.
Dr. Azadeh Yadollahi is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. Her work focuses on developing devices, techniques, and protocols that will assist people with trouble breathing particularly while they are sleeping or if they are suffering from a chronic sleep disorder. Dr. Yadollahi hopes to improve innovative medical devices for the diagnosis and management of chronic diseases which will help patients live comfortably and safely in their homes and not in hospitals or nursing homes.
Bio coming soon.
Michelle Bendeck is professor and director of research in the U of T’s department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology. Principal investigator for Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, she runs a vascular biology lab that investigates molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Best known for pioneering work in vascular matrix biology, Michelle is a Heart and Stroke Foundation Career Investigator and past president of the Canadian Society of Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
Dr. Owen Lyons is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Respirologist and Sleep Physician at Women’s College Hospital and the University Health Network. He obtained his medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons (National University of Ireland) and went on to complete his internal medicine and respirology training in Ireland. Subsequently, he completed sub-specialty clinical training in weaning, home mechanical ventilation and sleep medicine at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals in London, before taking up a staff position there. He was the inaugural recipient of the Peter Macklem Joint Fellowship award from the Canadian Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society in 2012, which facilitated his move to Toronto where he completed a 3 year clinical research fellowship in sleep medicine at UHN.
Dr. Jacob (Jay) Udell is a Staff Cardiologist within the Department of Medicine at Women’s College Hospital and the University Health Network, and a Clinician Scientist at the Women’s College Research Institute and University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. Dr. Udell’s research focus is on cardiovascular outcomes studies, with an emphasis on a) sex-based differences in risk and response to therapy; and b) innovative cardiac risk evaluation and models of care. Dr. Udell’s research focuses on novel cardiovascular risk factors, including influenza infection and fertility treatment. He is Co-Principal investigator of the INVESTED trial, a multisite, international study investigating whether a high-dose flu vaccine could prevent heart attack, heart failure, stroke and pneumonia in heart disease patients.
Bio coming soon.
Dr. Jennifer Amadio completed her residency training at the University of Toronto and went on to complete a two-year fellowship in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplantation at the University Health Network in Toronto, Ontario. During this time, she was the Chief Fellow for the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Currently, she is blending her interests in heart failure, complex valve disease, and imaging by pursuing an echocardiology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Dr. Amadio was the inaugural Canadian Heart Failure Society trainee representative and currently serves on the CCS Trainee Committee and Affiliate Senate.
Dr. Van Spall is a CIHR-funded cardiologist, data scientist, and clinical trialist with expertise in heart failure, health research methodology, and implementation science. She was recently awarded the CIHR/ICRH-CCS Mid-career Lecturer Award in Cardiovascular Sciences and the American Heart Association Nanette Wenger Research Award. Dr. Van Spall is an invited speaker, media correspondent, editorial board member at a few high-impact journals, and a member of international cardiovascular society guideline committees. She has a strong record of mentorship to several diverse Canadian and international trainees, who have successfully won grant funding and published in top medical journals under her supervision. With degrees from the University of Toronto and the Harvard School of Public Health, she is an Associate Professor of Medicine at McMaster University.
Darshan Brahmbhatt is a cardiologist who joined the HF/Transplant team in Toronto as a clinical fellow from London, UK in October 2019. He completed his clinical training in Cardiology, sub-specialising in heart failure/cardiac transplant and complex device implantation at Royal Papworth Hospital, subsequently completing his Doctoral research at the Royal Brompton Hospital & Imperial College London on digital health in heart failure. He has recently taken up a post as Heart Failure Attending at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.
Jordan Mak is a Registered Dietitian at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, working in the Coronary Care Unit and inpatient Cardiology ward. Jordan received his dietetic training at McGill University in 2013 and Master of Science at University of Toronto in 2019. Jordan works closely with patients experiencing heart failure, providing comprehensive nutrition care to improve heart failure symptoms, manage chronic disease, maintain nutrition status and optimize nutrition quality of life. Jordan’s favourite part of his work is being able to collaborate closely with an interprofessional team to support patients and their health outcomes.
Dr. McDonald is currently an Associate Professor in the Division of Cardiology at the University Health Network/Mount Sinai Hospital, where his clinical focus is the management of patients with advanced heart failure, cardiac transplantation and implantable device therapy. He is the inaugural Martha Rogers Chair in Heart Failure Training and Education and is the immediate past-chair of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society’s Heart Failure Guidelines Committee.
Tracy Bawtinheimer holds a B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Victoria. In 2013 she was diagnosed with heart failure caused by Cardiac Sarcoidosis. Prior to diagnosis she was a Director of Learning & Development in the private sector. Tracy is currently the BC Champion for The HeartLife Foundation, a heart health patient advisor at the Royal Jubilee Hospital, and is involved in multiple projects to further patient care and quality of life. She advocates for equitable, standardized access to multidisciplinary care for all heart failure patients, including ongoing mental health and community supports. Tracy is passionate about patient education, self-management and partnership with health care teams to improve quality of life.
These learning objectives are set for the program on Saturday, December 17th.
*This Group Learning program has been certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Ontario Chapter for up to 4.00 Mainpro+ credits.
At conclusion of this session, participants will be better able to:
The following presentations and their learning objectives are presented in chronological order.
| Ticket Type | Fee |
|---|---|
| In-person and Virtual Early Bird Admission* (ends December 2) | $125.00 |
| In-person and Virtual General Admission* | $175.00 |
| Virtual Admission Only | $50.00 |
*This ticket provides in-person and virtual access to the full two-day symposium.
Attendees from our partner organizations can register for free using the following promo codes when registering through Eventbrite. Please be sure to use your organization email when registering using the promo codes below.
| Partner Organization | Promo Code* |
|---|---|
| SickKids | SICKKIDS |
| University Health Network | UHN |
| U of T – Translational Biology and Engineering Program (TBEP) | TBEP |
*Registrations will be screened to ensure promo codes have been applied appropriately.
*Applying your promo code: When the ticket options appear, click Enter promo code (in the upper left corner, above the first ticket option). Type in your code and click Apply.
Dr. Michael McDonald is a cardiologist at Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, and a member of the cardiovascular investigations unit and heart function, heart transplant, and ventricular assist device clinics. His clinical focus is the management of patients with advanced heart failure, implantable devices and cardiac transplantation. Dr. McDonald’s areas of academic interest include clinical guideline development and knowledge translation, multilevel medical education, and quality improvement in heart failure.
Michelle Bendeck is professor and director of research in the U of T’s department of laboratory medicine and pathobiology. Principal investigator for Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, she runs a vascular biology lab that investigates molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Best known for pioneering work in vascular matrix biology, Michelle is a Heart and Stroke Foundation Career Investigator and past president of the Canadian Society of Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
Bio to come
Bio to come
Dr. Mansoor Husain is executive director of the Ted Rogers Centre. Professor of medicine at U of T, Dr. Husain is attending physician in the cardiac intensive care unit and nuclear cardiology laboratories of the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. His extensive research focuses on elucidating the molecular bases of cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure and diabetes, and identifying therapeutic targets involved in pathophysiology.
Bio to come
A frequent contributor to CBC News, Dr. Peter Lin is director of primary care initiatives at the Canadian Heart Research Centre. The Toronto family physician is associate editor of Elsevier’s PracticeUpdate Primary Care, as well as medical director of LinCorp Medical Inc. Dr. Lin was medical director at the Health & Wellness Centre at U of T Scarborough for seven years. He lectures and speaks throughout the world and maintains two busy family practices in Toronto.
Bio to come
Soror Sharifpoor is director of strategy & translation at the Ted Rogers Centre’s Translational Biology and Engineering Program where she implements sustainable research plans, successful partnerships, scientific and clinical translation strategies, an entrepreneurial ecosystem, and multifaceted training programs in the cardiovascular health sector. She is co-founder of Entrepreneurship for Cardiovascular Health Opportunities (ECHO). Soror has over 15 years of experience in the fields of biomaterials, biomedical engineering, and regenerative medicine, specializing in cardiovascular and soft tissue research and innovation.
Bio to come
Bio to come
Nadia Thomson is a nurse practitioner in the Ted Rogers Centre, with a specialty-based practice in advanced heart failure. In addition to her clinical practice, she has an interest in developing educational resources for patients living with heart failure and using remote monitoring programs to improve patient care. She is an adjunct faculty member at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at University of Toronto and currently teaches in the nurse practitioner program.
President, Sibel Health
President, Sibel Health
Matthew is president of Sibel Health, a cutting-edge medtech company focused on commercializing wearable sensors for patients in both the hospital and home. Prior to this role, Matt founded toSense Inc.—purchased by Baxter in April 2020—and served as the company’s President and Chief Scientific Officer. In this capacity, Matt directed projects relating to fundraising, development of new hardware platforms and algorithms, intellectual property, sales/marketing, clinical studies, and regulatory. He was the driving force behind the company’s novel wearable medical device—the CoVaTM Necklace—the first-ever FDA-cleared wearable for measuring stroke volume, cardiac output, and fluids from patients suffering from congestive heart failure. Before toSense, Matt founded three successful companies before the age of 40, and all in different industries, and all resulting in a financial exit. His first, Active Impulse Systems, developed a novel optical measurement of metal films for the semiconductor industry, and was purchased by Philips Electronics. After that, Matt founded Networkcar (which later became NetworkFleet), a leader in automotive telematics that was ultimately purchased by Verizon Wireless. And after that, he founded Sotera Wireless, a San Diego-based medtech company marketing the first-ever FED-cleared wearable monitor for measuring all vital signs, and particularly cuffless blood pressure. Sotera was purchased by Foxconn in 2017.
Matt’s areas of expertise include the development of innovative physiological measurements; product design for medical devices; drafting/prosecuting intellectual property; and drafting/prosecuting regulatory filings. He received his Ph.D. from MIT (where he was the Institute’s Kodak Fellow) and his undergraduate degree from University of California, San Diego. He is a registered U.S. Patent Agent, and the named inventor on over 300 pending and issued patents. In his spare time, Matt enjoys playing fast-pitch baseball, golf, and exercising to keep his blood pressure (as measured by either cuffless or cuff-based technologies) as low as possible. With his wife, Candice, he has also owned a martini bar in Maui. He survived stage-3 cancer in 2018.