Surviving a critical illness requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission often marks the beginning of a prolonged recovery process. Patients hospitalized in the ICU for severe COVID-19 are at a particularly high risk for long-term physical, cognitive, and mental health issues after leaving. Conditions like anxiety, depression, insomnia, and PTSD are common elements of post-intensive […]
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive condition where small lung arteries become abnormally thick and narrow, increasing blood flow resistance and forcing the heart’s right ventricle to work harder and eventually fail. While PAH remains a life-shortening condition, the past four decades have yielded notable progress in understanding its pathobiology, improving diagnostic precision, and […]
In collaboration with the Canadian VIGOUR Centre (CVC), the CVC Cardiovascular Health Foundation (CVCF) is pleased to announce the grant recipients of its inaugural Research Funding Program. This initiative supports CVC Faculty-led innovative projects, empowers high-reward ideas, and fills critical gaps in traditional research streams. Following a peer-review process, funding has been awarded to two […]
ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a severe type of heart attack that occurs when a coronary artery becomes fully blocked, cutting off blood flow to the heart muscle. Restoring that blood flow quickly, known as reperfusion, is critical to limiting damage. Two common reperfusion approaches exist: primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), an immediate catheter-based procedure […]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health measures and disruptions in healthcare delivery significantly impacted individuals with chronic lung diseases. While early reports suggested persons living with cystic fibrosis (CF) experienced fewer pulmonary exacerbations (sudden flare-ups in lung symptoms), less was known about broader trends in healthcare utilization and whether sex-based disparities in health outcomes emerged […]
Sudden cardiac death remains a significant clinical challenge in the management of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), a condition where the heart’s main chamber cannot pump normally. While clinicians routinely use electrocardiograms (ECGs) to identify electrical delays, this strategy has inherent limitations for predicting sudden cardiac death. Consequently, the precise relationship between systemic […]
Dr. Fernando Zampieri is an Associate Professor in the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the University of Alberta. He completed his medical degree and subsequently undertook his internal medicine and critical care residencies at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, followed by a PhD with a focus on inflammatory processes at the same institution. […]
Clinical research relies heavily on efficient participant recruitment, yet clear data on which digital outreach strategies work best remains limited. In a recent analysis from the RESILIENCE study, CVC faculty member and recent DCRI fellow Dr. Pishoy Gouda, along with his co-authors, sought to address this gap by evaluating how communication platforms and message framing impact participant interest. […]
The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued a new scientific statement to modernize patient selection in cardiac intensive care units (CICUs)—highly specialized environments designed for critically ill cardiovascular patients. Authored by a multidisciplinary writing group and chaired by CVC faculty member Dr. Sean van Diepen, the publication addresses a longstanding structural gap in cardiac care. While six decades […]
Sexual and gender minorities frequently face structural inequities within organ and tissue donation and transplantation systems. To assess the current landscape of policy and care, an interdisciplinary team of researchers, including CVC faculty member David Collister, MD, PhD (he/him/his), conducted a cross-sectional survey of Canadian healthcare workers in 2024, led by Murdoch Leeies, MD, MSc, from the University of […]
The Heart Failure Efficacy and Research Trial (HEART) Platform is a multicenter, randomized clinical trial infrastructure designed to improve outcomes for heart failure patients. Administered by the Canadian VIGOUR Centre (CVC), the HEART Platform Clinical Research Fellowship provides essential financial support to University of Alberta graduate trainees dedicated to advancing cardiovascular care. The program is […]
In October 2024, the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) convened a multidisciplinary think tank titled “Anti-Obesity Pharmacotherapy: Need for Guidance, Access, and Equity.” Emerging from this meeting, CVC faculty member and recent DCRI fellow Dr. Pishoy Gouda, along with his co-authors, published a report in JACC:Advances identifying actionable steps to advance the field of obesity medications. To translate […]
In patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the lung’s vascular network is often severely thinned or damaged. This structural loss makes it unclear whether selective pulmonary vasodilators—treatments designed to expand these vessels—provide any real clinical benefit. In a recently published study, researchers—including CVC faculty members Drs. Sean van Diepen and Jason Weatherald—investigated whether inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) […]
While clinical medicine continues to evaluate the necessity of various interventions, the routine use and significance of serum magnesium testing and intravenous (IV) magnesium treatments for heart failure (HF) remain uncertain. To bridge this knowledge gap, CVC researchers analyzed 78,957 acute HF episodes recorded in Alberta between 2012 and 2020. This retrospective study investigates whether these common […]
The field of gene-editing therapy is a rapidly evolving frontier with the potential to transform the treatment of both rare and common diseases. By modifying genetic material to silence or reactivate specific genes, these therapies offer the promise of durable, lifelong health benefits. However, transitioning from laboratory discovery to clinical practice requires navigating a complex […]
The CVC is pleased to announce that Cindy Westerhout, PhD, has been appointed as Adjunct Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at the University of Alberta. Dr. Westerhout currently serves as the Associate Director (Research & Strategy), Clinical Trial Statistics at the CVC and is a co-founder of the Biomedical AnaLytics Studio And Methods Unit (BALSAM). This […]
A myocardial infarction (MI), or heart attack, occurs when heart muscle cells die from oxygen deprivation. Type 1 (T1MI) is typically caused by a blood clot within a coronary artery, whereas Type 2 (T2MI) results from an imbalance between oxygen supply and demand in the cardiac tissue. Distinguishing between the two is challenging in practice […]
New research from the STREAM-1 and -2 clinical trials underscores a critical window for treating ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI)—a severe heart attack caused by a completely blocked artery. Although the benefits of reperfusion (restoring blood flow) are known to be time-dependent, this study focused on the specific clinical outcomes of performing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI)—an emergency […]
We are pleased to share the 2025 Canadian VIGOUR Centre (CVC) Annual Report, “The Arteries of Innovation.” Much like an arterial system, innovation thrives on the convergence of diverse ideas, circulating insights from a multitude of sources to maintain a vital, continuous flow. At the CVC, we are dedicated to translating complex, high-quality data into […]
Dr. Arnav Agarwal is an academic general internal medicine physician and Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta and University of Alberta Hospital. He completed his medical training and internal medicine residency at the University of Toronto, followed by a clinical fellowship in general internal medicine at McMaster University. He is currently completing a PhD […]
