Cardiovascular Care Connections: Advancing Primary Prevention & Management

Husam Abdel-Qadir is a cardiologist at Women’s College Hospital and the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. His research interests include cardio-oncology and atrial fibrillation. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Outcomes, a Hold’ Em for Life Professorship in Cancer Research, and an early career Chair in Heart and Brain Health from Heart and Stroke. His recognitions include Young Investigator Awards from the European Society of Cardiology, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the inaugural Global Cardio-Oncology Summit Young Investigator Competition.

Dr. Udell is a Cardiologist and Clinician-Scientist at Women’s College Hospital and the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the University Health Network; an Adjunct Scientist at ICES; and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. His research group conducts large observational studies and clinical trials testing strategies and treatments for primary and secondary prevention of ischemic heart disease and heart failure. As a co-PI, national lead investigator, or steering committee member, Dr. Udell has studied the cardioprotective effects of influenza vaccine, SGLT2 inhibitors and mineralocorticoid antagonists among other novel therapies in various high-risk populations. Currently he is the co-PI of CHOICES, a Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR)-funded Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) Innovative Clinical Trial, which is a randomized trial testing the utility of a clinical practice report card on cardiovascular risk factor performance to primary care physicians across Ontario.

Dr. Antao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. She practices comprehensive family medicine at Women’s College Hospital and is a Fellow of the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Her areas of academic focus include Faculty development, mentorship, medical education, interprofessional teams, and leadership. She received her CPC(HC) credentials (Certified Professional in Continuing Professional Development -Health Care).

She is the recipient of the Education Innovation Award, Faculty of Medicine, Women’s College Hospital, the Jamie Meuser Award for Excellence in Leadership and Professional Development, Department of Family and Community Medicine, and the AMEE ASPIRE award 2017 for Faculty Development (group award).

Dr. Sean Balmain is an Associate Professor in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Toronto and a staff cardiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital and Toronto General Hospital. He completed medical and cardiology clinical training in Glasgow and Edinburgh, UK and cardiology research training in Glasgow, studying heart failure and preserved ejection fraction, being awarded a research doctorate (MD). His sub-specialty fellowship training at Mount Sinai and Toronto General Hospitals in Toronto was in heart failure and cardiac devices. His clinical focus remains heart failure and complex and simple cardiac device implantation. His academic focus is education, including procedure education using simulation.

Dr. Edward Etchells is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is the Division Head of General Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology at Women’s College Hospital, he is also the Medical Lead for Virtual Care at WCH. He also does clinical inpatient work at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

Amanda Gin is a Clinical Pharmacist specializing in cardiology at Women’s College Hospital. Amanda provides patient-centered care in multidisciplinary ambulatory clinics, including the Heart Function Clinic and the Cardiac Dysautonomia and Complex Blood Pressure Disorders Clinic. Her expertise includes medication optimization, chronic illness management, patient education, and clinical trials operations.

Amanda is a dedicated educator, mentoring pharmacy residents and students, and leading quality improvement initiatives such as her project on best practices in tobacco use documentation, which was presented at the CQUIPS Symposium. She has also contributed to several quality improvement projects focused on enhancing patient care processes, patient education and improving interprofessional collaboration.

Amanda holds a post-doctorate PharmD from the University of Toronto, a pharmacy residency from Hamilton Health Sciences, and is a 2024 recipient of the Teacher-Educator/Clinical Instructor/Preceptor Award.

Dr. Malini Hu is the Chief Medical Resident at Women’s College Hospital and an incoming Gastroenterology Fellow at the University of Toronto. She is passionate about advancing medical education and teaching with scholarly interests in the integration of quality improvement initiatives to drive health system change. She is currently pursuing an MPH at Harvard University and earned her MD from McMaster University.

Dr. Osuntokun is a cardiologist at Women’s College Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. She obtained her medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and went on to complete internal medicine and cardiology training in Ireland. She then did sub-specialty clinical training in non-invasive cardiology and inherited cardiac conditions at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals in London, UK.

Dr. Osuntokun completed cardiology clinical fellowship at Women’s College Hospital in complex hypertension, dysautonomia and disorders of blood pressure control. Her other areas of clinical interest include cardiovascular disease associated with rheumatological conditions, cardiovascular complications in Turner syndrome and heart disease in women.

Savita Parmar is a Nurse Practitioner specializing in cardiology at Women’s College Hospital, where she has served since 2022 in both the Cardiac Dysautonomia and Complex Blood Pressure Disorders Program and the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Initiative – Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. With over a decade of nursing experience, she began her career as a Registered Nurse in 2012 after completing her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Toronto. Since earning her Master of Nursing-Nurse Practitioner degree from the University of Toronto in 2018, she has focused on delivering specialized cardiovascular care, with particular expertise in managing complex cardiac conditions and promoting women’s heart health.

Kawalpreet (KP) Singh is the ‘Head of Strategic Research Partnerships, Innovation and Knowledge Translation’ and a ‘Clinical Research Manager’ at the Clinical Trials and Translation Unit (CTTU) at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC), Toronto General Hospital, UHN.

He is a foreign-trained physician and a Certified Clinical Research Professional with more than 20 years of professional experience (as a physician in India and in clinical research in Canada). During this time, he has held many leadership positions and introduced numerous innovative projects and platforms that optimize clinical trial operations. KP has received research excellence awards and completed leadership courses including the UHN Emerging Leaders Program, Courage to Lead, Leadership Matters and Leading@UHN.

KP leads a centralized team of experienced research professionals at the CTTU supporting PMCC investigators. These trials include HC and FDA regulated trials; industry sponsored and academic studies; drug and device trials; prospective, retrospective, and registry projects. CTTU is also a Clinical Coordinating Centre for many sponsor-investigator led national and international multi-site trials.

Beth Abramson MD is the Paul Albrechtsen Professor in Cardiac Prevention and Women’s Health in the Division of Cardiology at St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto. Her interest is in knowledge translation, including writing guidelines to educate physicians on preventive cardiology and women’s health issues. Dr. Abramson is currently a member of the American College of Cardiology Prevention Council.

She is a founding member of the Canadian Society of Vascular Medicine and was a founding member and inaugural Chair (2018-2020) of the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance Education Working group.

In 2015 she was awarded the prestigious Harold N. Segal award of Merit, in recognition of her many contributions to preventing heart disease amongst Canadians. Her book, Heart Health for Canadians, published in 2013, was written to help people prevent and understand heart disease. She currently directs a fellowship in Preventive Cardiology at the University of Toronto and has established a Cardiometabolic Clinic at St. Michael’s Hospital to close care gaps.

Husam Abdel-Qadir is a cardiologist at Women’s College Hospital and the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. His research interests include cardio-oncology and atrial fibrillation. He holds a Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Outcomes, a Hold’ Em for Life Professorship in Cancer Research, and an early career Chair in Heart and Brain Health from Heart and Stroke. His recognitions include Young Investigator Awards from the European Society of Cardiology, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the inaugural Global Cardio-Oncology Summit Young Investigator Competition.

Natasha obtained her medical degree from the University of Western Ontario and completed her cardiology residency at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. She pursued a fellowship in advanced heart failure and transplantation at Toronto General Hospital and a subsequent echocardiography fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital. Natasha obtained her MSc in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University and successfully defended her thesis in 2022. Natasha is a heart failure cardiologist at Women’s College Hospital and Toronto General Hospital. Her current clinical and research interests include optimizing post-discharge care for patients hospitalized with heart failure and evaluating outcomes in heart transplant recipients.

Dr. Carolina Carvalho is a Cardiologist and Clinician Educator at UofT. She works at the Toronto Rehabilitation (TR), Rumsey Cardiac Rehab, providing primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention and rehabilitation. She has a special interest in women’s cardiovascular health, cardiometabolism, and education.

Originally from Brazil, Dr. Carvalho completed her Cardiology training in 2007 and furthered her studies in arterial hypertension at UAB, USA. In 2014, Dr. Carvalho received her PhD after exploring the effects of sleep apnea on blood pressure, glucose and lipids. In 2015, she pursued a post-doctorate fellowship at UHN to further analyze the impact of sleep apnea on the cardiovascular system.

Since earning a Master’s degree at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and completing a fellowship in Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation at UHN, Dr. Carvalho has leveraged education at TR/TW Cardiac Rehab. She aims to expand educational resources for healthcare providers and patients, ultimately enhancing patient care.

Debbie Childerhose is a Regulated Physiotherapist and Program coordinator of the Cardiac rehabilitation and primary prevention, the first women-only program started in 1996 by Dr Len Sternberg and Advanced Practice Nurse Dr Jennifer Price at Women’s College Hospital.  She has a Bachelor of Physical Education (BPE) and a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Physiotherapy (BHSc PT) and as a life long learner, she is now completing her Masters of Health Management from McMaster University this spring.

She has been passionate about women’s health and cardio-respiratory health for her whole career. She is an adjunct lecturer at University of Toronto School of Rehabilitation with the masters students along with the internationally trained Physiotherapy students.  She believes and practices in interprofessional care models her whole career- expanding thirty years in cardiac rehab, lung rehab and cancer rehab.

Most recently, Debbie served as a Delphi panelist on the 2022 article titled “Women-Focused Cardiovascular Rehabilitation: An International Council of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation Clinical Practice Guideline,” and as presently involved in updating the Ontario Standards for “Cardiac rehabilitation.”  Debbie was named a ‘pioneer’ from the UK STARS program along with team members, Dr Paula Harvey and Dr Tosin Osuntokun and Dr Neuendorff-El Helou for work done with patients living with POTS –  postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.

Dr. Eleni Dimaraki is a Staff Endocrinologist at Women’s College Hospital and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. Dr. Dimaraki graduated from the University of Athens Medical School and completed her endocrinology training at the University of Michigan. She also obtained a Masters of Science in clinical research design and statistical analysis from the University of Michigan. Prior to coming to Women’s College Hospital in 2016, she was on faculty at Northwestern University and the University of Michigan. Her clinical interests include type 1 diabetes mellitus in young adults, pituitary disorders, and osteoporosis. She is the Clinical Director of the Centre for Integrated Diabetes Care at Women’s College Hospital. Dr. Dimaraki is also very active in the education of University of Toronto medical students, residents, and fellows.

Dr. Gewarges is an advanced heart failure/critical care cardiologist at Toronto General  Hospital, University Health Network, and Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She completed her academic training at the University of Toronto, earning her MD, as well as certifications in internal medicine, cardiology, advanced heart failure/transplant, and cardiac critical care. Her academic interests center on equity, diversity, and inclusion, with a clinical focus in durable remote/on-reserve monitoring strategies for advanced heart failure patients.

Amanda Gin is a Clinical Pharmacist specializing in cardiology at Women’s College Hospital. Amanda provides patient-centered care in multidisciplinary ambulatory clinics, including the Heart Function Clinic and the Cardiac Dysautonomia and Complex Blood Pressure Disorders Clinic. Her expertise includes medication optimization, chronic illness management, patient education, and clinical trials operations.

Amanda is a dedicated educator, mentoring pharmacy residents and students, and leading quality improvement initiatives such as her project on best practices in tobacco use documentation, which was presented at the CQUIPS Symposium. She has also contributed to several quality improvement projects focused on enhancing patient care processes, patient education and improving interprofessional collaboration.

Amanda holds a post-doctorate PharmD from the University of Toronto, a pharmacy residency from Hamilton Health Sciences, and is a 2024 recipient of the Teacher-Educator/Clinical Instructor/Preceptor Award.

Dr. Shaun Goodman is a Staff Cardiologist and Associate Head in the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto.  He is an Associate Director and Senior Scientist, Clinical Trials and Translation Unit, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Division of Cardiology, at the University Health Network.  He is a Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto.  He is a Consultant to the Canadian Heart Research Centre.  He is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta and a Co-Director of the Canadian VIGOUR Centre.  Over the past 30 years, he has been involved in randomized clinical trial and observational research, continuing medical education and knowledge translation initiatives in cardiovascular medicine, and has published more than 500 peer-reviewed papers.

Dr. Harvey is an Australian Medical Graduate. After completing her specialty training and subsequent PhD in 1999 she re-located to Canada as a NH&MRC Scholar to complete post-doctoral training in Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Toronto. In 2002 Dr. Harvey was appointed to faculty in the Division of Cardiology, University Health Network. In 2010 Dr Harvey joined Women’s College Hospital (WCH) as Director, Cardiovascular Research and subsequently also as Medical Director, Women’s Cardiovascular Health initiative. In December 2013 Dr. Harvey was appointed Division Head, Cardiology at WCH. In 2017 she was appointed Physician in Chief of the Department of Medicine at WCH and the F.M. Hill Chair in Women’s Academic Medicine. Dr. Harvey’s clinical and research focus is on cardiovascular disease in women across the lifespan, with a special interest in hypertension and complex blood pressure disorders, autonomic disorders such as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), cardiovascular disease prevention through lifestyle interventions (such as exercise) and cardiovascular disease in autoimmune and inflammatory rheumatological disorders (cardio-rheumatology).

Dr. Luise Neuendorff El Helou works in cardiology at Women’s College Hospital in the Dysautonomia Clinic. She holds a medical degree from Heidelberg University in Germany and has clinical experience in pediatrics and child psychiatry from Switzerland. Dr. Neuendorff El Helou completed her pediatric training through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

She also completed a fellowship in Environmental Medicine at the University of Toronto and a cardiology clinical fellowship at Women’s College Hospital, focusing on complex hypertension, dysautonomia, and disorders of blood pressure control. Dr. Neuendorff El Helou is board-certified in Autonomic Medicine by the UCNS.

Dr. Elsie T. Nguyen is an Associate Professor of Radiology at University Medical Imaging Toronto, University of Toronto. She completed her thoracic imaging fellowship at the University of British Columbia and cardiovascular imaging fellowship at Stanford University. Dr. Nguyen is the Vice-Chair of on SIDE (Support, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity), and the Cardiothoracic Division Lead for Medical Imaging at the University of Toronto. She is also the President of the Canadian Society of Thoracic Radiology (CSTR) and Secretary for the North American Society of Cardiovascular Imaging (NASCI).

She is passionate about education and has won several teaching awards at the undergraduate and post-graduate level and leads several research initiatives including creating a joint Breast and Cardiovascular Screening Program, optimization and utilization of coronary CT angiography among primary care physicians and MR imaging of non-ischemic cardiomyopathies.

Dr. Osuntokun is a cardiologist at Women’s College Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. She obtained her medical degree from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and went on to complete internal medicine and cardiology training in Ireland. She then did sub-specialty clinical training in non-invasive cardiology and inherited cardiac conditions at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospitals in London, UK.

Dr. Osuntokun completed cardiology clinical fellowship at Women’s College Hospital in complex hypertension, dysautonomia and disorders of blood pressure control. Her other areas of clinical interest include cardiovascular disease associated with rheumatological conditions, cardiovascular complications in Turner syndrome and heart disease in women.

Savita Parmar is a Nurse Practitioner specializing in cardiology at Women’s College Hospital, where she has served since 2022 in both the Cardiac Dysautonomia and Complex Blood Pressure Disorders Program and the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Initiative – Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. With over a decade of nursing experience, she began her career as a Registered Nurse in 2012 after completing her Bachelor of Science in Nursing at the University of Toronto. Since earning her Master of Nursing-Nurse Practitioner degree from the University of Toronto in 2018, she has focused on delivering specialized cardiovascular care, with particular expertise in managing complex cardiac conditions and promoting women’s heart health.

Dr. Sachin Pasricha is the current Co-Chief Nephrology Resident at the University of Toronto, and is concurrently completing his Master’s of Public Health at Harvard University. His primary clinical interest is hypertension and as a certified Hypertension Specialist, he sees patients with hypertension at Citrus Medical Centre.

Academically, he works with Diabetes Canada to improve blood pressure management in patients with diabetes using electronic clinical decision supports. He also holds executive positions with both Hypertension Canada and the Canadian Hypertension Specialist Society. With Hypertension Canada’s device recommendation committee, he evaluates the clinical validity of new blood pressure technologies and is specifically interested in how cuffless blood pressure technologies will change the landscape of care. He is also leading a national campaign to have the Canada Revenue Agency consider home blood pressure device a medical device eligible for tax credit or deduction.

Dr. Sridhar completed his residency training in Internal Medicine at McGill University followed by a residency in adult nephrology and a fellowship in kidney and pancreas transplantation at the University of Toronto. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto with a focus on cardio-kidney-metabolic disease in transplantation. He is supported by the Eliot Phillipson Clinician Scientist Training Program, a Banting and Best Diabetes Centre Postdoctoral fellowship, and a CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Research Award. He is co-investigator on peer-reviewed grants awarded by the Transplantation Society, University of Toronto Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, the UHN Ajmera Transplant Centre, Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the CDTRP/KFOC, and CIHR.

Kristine Turnbull is a nurse practitioner specializing in cardiology. She currently practices at Women’s College Hospital, providing care in outpatient cardiology. Previously, she worked as a Clinical Specialist at Teleflex Medical Canada, offering advanced training to interventional cardiologists on large-bore vascular closure devices. As an Advanced Practice Consultant at the College of Nurses of Ontario, she managed the NP practice portfolio. Kristine has also held roles in acute pain management at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and spent nearly a decade in the Coronary Intensive Care Unit at McGill University Health Centre. A former Director for the Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario, she is committed to NP advocacy and education. She holds a Master of Nursing from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Nursing from McGill University.

Mali Worme is a cardiologist at UHN specializing in heart failure and echocardiography. She completed her MPH at Harvard Chan school of Public Health. Her academic interests include improving access to equitable heart failure care. She is also the quality and innovation lead for the echocardiography lab at UHN.