Speakers

- Associate Professor of Medicine
- University of Sherbrooke

Biography

Dr. Charles Dussault is cardiologist and electrophysiologist at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke and professor of medicine at the University of Sherbrooke.

After completing his cardiology training at the University of Sherbrooke in 2012, Dr Dussault pursued an advanced cardiac electrophysiology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital associated with Harvard University in Boston where he also completed a Master’s in Public Health with a concentration in clinical effectiveness from the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.

His main clinical and research interests are related to the treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia. He is also actively involved in the MD Program as well as the cardiology residency program at the University of Sherbrooke.

- Cardiology Division Director, and Yusuf Chair in Cardiology
- Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist; Hamilton Health Sciences
- Senior Scientist, Population Health Research Institute
- Professor of Medicine, McMaster University

Biography

Jeff Healey is a Cardiologist / Electrophysiologist and Professor of Medicine at McMaster University.

He is the director of the division of cardiology, and the Salim Yusuf Chair in Cardiology.  He is the chair of the Canadian Stroke Prevention and Intervention Network (CSPIN) and past chair of the Canadian atrial fibrillation guidelines committee.

He was the lead author of the ASSERT trial, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2012 and demonstrated the increased stroke risk associated with sub-clinical atrial fibrillation detected by pacemakers.  He was also the lead author of the RELY AF cohort study, a 15,000-patient worldwide registry, published in the Lancet in 2016, examining the causes, treatment and outcomes in patients with atrial fibrillation.

He currently leads the ARTESIA trial, evaluating the role of anticoagulation in patients with subclinical AF.

- Professor of Medicine
Western University

Biography

Dr. Klein is currently Professor of Medicine at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada. He received his medical degree in 1972 at the University of Toronto. He received his certification from The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Internal Medicine in 1976 and in Cardiology in 1978. He has been an Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Physiology at Western University since 1993. He was an Ontario Career Investigator with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario from 1987 to 1989. He received the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Research Achievement Award in 1988 (Cardiac Arrhythmias: From the Bench to the Operating Theater). The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario honored him with a Distinguished Research Professorship award from 1989-1994. His research focus has been in cardiac arrhythmia with contributions to the natural history and management of the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, the operative and ablative management of arrhythmias and the understanding of clinical syncope. He is the inventor of the implantable loop recorder (Reveal Rx). He is an associate editor of the Journal of Cardiac Electrophysiology (JCE), Associate Editor of Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology (PACE) and is on the Editorial Board of three scientific journals. He served on the Test Committee for cardiac electrophysiology of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) from 1996 to 2005 and was Chair of the Committee from 2000 to 2005. He was the 2003 recipient of the Distinguished Teacher Award of the North American Society for Pacing and Electrophysiology (now known as “Heart Rhythm Society”). He has supervised the arrhythmia training of over 148 Research Fellows over the years. He has published over 12 books, 100 book chapters and 600 papers and currently holds 12 US patents.

- Director of Inherited Heart Disease
- Division of Cardiology (Heart Rhythm Service)
- Associate Professor of Medicine, Dalhousie University

Biography

Dr. MacIntyre serves as the Director of the Inherited Heart Disease program and holds the position within the Heart Rhythm Service as Associate Professor of Medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

- Professor of Surgery, McMaster University
- Associate Chair, Research, Department of Surgery, McMaster University
- Chief and Division Head, Cardiac Surgery, Hamilton Health Sciences
- Lead Investigator, Population Health Research Institute
- Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Surgery

Biography

Dr. Whitlock is a Professor of Surgery at McMaster University and is the Associate Chair, Research, for the Department of Surgery. He is a practicing cardiac surgeon at Hamilton Health Sciences, and the Chief and Division head for Cardiac Surgery. He is a lead investigator at the Population Health Research Institute and the principal investigator of the LAAOS III trial, which established a new way of stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation. Dr. Whitlock holds the Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Surgery. Through the multinational studies that he has led, which include SIRS, TRICS III, VISION Cardiac, and LAAOS III, he has established a network of over 300 collaborating cardiac surgical centres in 32 countries to better the care of patients through robust evidence generation. He is currently leading several industry-partnered trials including LeAAPS, LAAOS IV, and STAR T.

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Biography

Dr. Carlos A. Morillo is a Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist and currently a Senior Visiting Scientist within the Molecular and Novel Arrhythmia Mechanisms group at the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Clinicas (CNIC), in Madrid, Spain. Dr. Morillo is a Full Professor in the Department of Cardiac Sciences, and Medicine, and served as the Section Chief Cardiology Division at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta, Cummings School of Medicine, University of Calgary and Zone Head Cardiology for the Calgary & Southeastern Alberta Region, Alberta Health Services, from 2015-2023 (currently on Academic Sabbatical leave). He also holds and Adjunct Full Professor appointment at the Department of Medicine at McMaster University. Dr. Morillo was the Director of the Hamilton Atrial Fibrillation Reference Centre, Director of the Syncope Autonomic Disorder Unit at McMaster University (2002-2014). Dr. Morillo is the past Director of the Arrhythmia & Pacing Services from 2002-2012, a Cardiac Electrophysiology & Pacing program director at McMaster University. Dr. Morillo received his MD and Internal Medicine and Cardiology certifications from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, respectively in Bogota, Colombia. He trained as a Cardiologist and Cardiac electrophysiologist at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario Canada under the mentorship of Professor George Klein; he performed a post-doctoral fellowship sponsored by the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada in Cardiovascular Autonomic Physiology, under the mentorship of Professor Dwain Eckberg, and Kenneth Ellenbogen at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, where he was on staff for 5 years.

- Clinical Associate Professor, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia
- Director Cardiac Device Clinic, St Paul’s Hospital
- Staff Cardiologist Heart Rhythm and Adult Congenital Heart Services, Division of Cardiology, St Paul's Hospital

- Clinical Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University
- Director, Cardiac Electrophysiology
- Institut universitaire de cardiologie et pneumologie de Québec

Biography

Dr Jean-François Sarrazin is a cardiologist and electrophysiologist at the "Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Quebec" in Canada since 2008. He completed a Medical degree at McGill University in Montreal in 1999. He then did his Cardiology training at Laval University in Quebec, followed by a two-year fellowship in Clinical Cardiac Electophysiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is the Director of the Electrophysiology Division in Quebec since January 2020. He is particularly involved with complex ablations. His publications focused primarily on atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia and premature ventricular contraction ablations.

- Associate Professor of Medicine
- Department of Medicine
- Division of Cardiology
- Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
- Western University

Biography

Dr. Manlucu is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Western University and a member of the London Heart Rhythm Program at the London Health Sciences Centre (University Hospital) in London, Ontario.

She is a medical graduate of McMaster University and completed her Internal Medicine and General Cardiology training at Western University before going on to subspecialty training in Advanced Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Ottawa Heart Institute and Brigham and Womens Hospital (Harvard University, Boston, MA).

She joined the London Heart Rhythm Program in 2012, where she is currently the Director of the Cardiac Implantable Device Lab and Program Director for the Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship Training Program. She has a special interest in implantable cardiac devices, laser lead extraction and complex catheter ablation. Her research interests include cardiac resynchronization therapy, the management of atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, and the prevention of sudden death.

- Professor of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke
- Adjunct Professor of Medicine, McGill University

Biography

Dr. Jean-François Roux is cardiologist and electrophysiologist at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke.

He is professor of medicine at the University of Sherbrooke and adjunct professor of medicine at McGill University. After completing his cardiology training at the University of Sherbrooke in 2005, Dr Roux pursued a cardiac electrophysiology training at the Montreal Heart Institute, followed by an advanced cardiac electrophysiology fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

His main clinical and research interests are related to the treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia. He is also program director for the internal medicine residency program at the University of Sherbrooke.

- Assistant Researcher
- Associate Professor
- Cardiovascular Research - Epidemiology

Biography

Linda Johnson is a board certified diagnostic specialist in Sweden. She obtained a PhD in Cardiology in 2016 at Lund University in Sweden, and was appointed an Associate Professor in Cardiovascular Epidemiology at the same institution in 2021. She is also affiliated with the Population Health Research Institute in Hamilton, ON, as an Associate Investigator. Her main research topic is arrhythmia diagnostics, prediction and prevention.

She also serves as a consulting Chief Scientific Officer for MEDICALgorithmics, which is a Polish med-tech business that develops cutting edge artificial intelligence solutions for cardiac diagnostics.

- Director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Initiative & Martha Brauer Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Health Research, Libin Cardiovascular Institute Medical Director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Clinic Cardiologist (Electrophysiology)
- Professor, Department of Cardiac Sciences Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary

Biography

Roopinder K. Sandhu, is Professor of Cardiac Sciences, Director of the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Initiative and Martha Brauer Chair in Women’s Cardiovascular Health Research at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute, University of Calgary. She is a clinician-scientist focused on arrhythmia health services research including gaining a better understanding of arrhythmia epidemiology, identifying gaps in treatment and pursuing strategies to improve outcomes.

- Cardiac Electrophysiology, Vancouver General Hospital
- Clinical Faculty, University of British Columbia
- Assistant Professor, Université de Montréal
- Director, Electrophysiology, Vancouver General Hospital
- Director, Atrial Fibrillation Clinic, Vancouver General Hospital
- Medical Chair, Heart Rhythm Disease - BC Cardiovascular Disease Network
- Co-Chair, Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines - Canadian Cardiovascular Society
- Chair, Device Committee - Canadian Heart Rhythm Society
- Social Media Editor - HeartRhythm Journal

Biography

Jason Andrade is a Cardiac Electrophysiologist at Vancouver General Hospital in Canada. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, and an Assistant Professor at the Université de Montréal. He is the Director of Electrophysiology at Vancouver General Hospital. He is co-chair of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) Atrial Fibrillation Guidelines and the CCS Device Therapy Guidelines, chair of the Canadian Heart Rhythm Society Device Committee, and medical chair for Heart Rhythm Disease for the province of British Columbia. He has authored over 295 publications and was the PI for the CIRCA-DOSE, EARLY-AF, and CRYO-LATS randomized clinical trials.

- Director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Services, The Mount Sinai Hospital

- Associate professor, Medicine department, Université de Montréal
- Cardiac electrophysiology service, Adult Congenital Heart Disease Center, Montreal Heart Institute

Biography

Dr. Blandine Mondésert has graduated in 2008 as a cardiologist and worked for two years as a chief of arrhythmia clinic at the University Hospital of Grenoble in France. She then completed a fellowship in electrophysiology at the Montreal Heart Institute between 2011 and 2013, where she specialized in the fields of electrophysiology (pacing and ablation), particularly in adult patients with congenital heart disease, within Dr. Paul Khairy's team. She is also developing expertise in the extraction of implantable cardiac material for which she completed her training in extraction at the Lille University Hospital in France in 2014. In July 2014, Dr. Blandine Mondésert joined the team at the Montreal Heart Institute as a cardiologist. She also serves as an associate clinical professor of medicine at the University of Montreal.

Research interests
• Technological innovations in terms of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs), extraction of cardiac implantable electronic devices and arrhythmia ablation technologies.
• Stroke prevention: medical/pharmacological treatment and invasive procedure (left atrial appendage closure, atrial fibrillation research);
• Clinical research in clinical electrophysiology, extraction of transvenous leads, new technologies in cardiac implantable electronic devices, ablations and cardiac implantable electronic devices, atrial fibrillation, left atrial appendage closure.