Investigator Bios

 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Jacqueline Saw, MD, FRCPC, FACC, FSCAI

Interventional Cardiology at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH)
Clinical Professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC)

Dr. Jacqueline Saw is an Interventional Cardiologist at VGH, with joint appointment at St Paul’s Hospital. She is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at UBC, and Program Director of the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program at VGH. She also served as the Head of VGH Cardiology Clinical Trials Research.

She was awarded Canada Scholar and the Dean’s Entrance Scholarship for Natural Sciences at Simon Fraser University, where she did her undergraduate degree. She then obtained her medical doctorate at the University of Ottawa, where she graduated summa cum laude. She did her residency training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the UBC, and served as Chief Cardiology Fellow. She then proceeded to Interventional Cardiology fellowship training at the Cleveland Clinic, which encompassed carotid, peripheral and structural interventional training. She has been an active staff with the Division of Cardiology at VGH and joint appointment at St Paul’s Hospital since 2004. She is also a physician proctor/preceptor for left atrial appendage (LAA) closure with the Amplatzer Cardiac Plug/Amulet and WATCHMAN devices.

Dr. Saw’s research interests include spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), antiplatelet therapy, percutaneous coronary intervention, carotid artery stenting, peripheral intervention, LAA closure, and non-atherosclerotic coronary artery disease [including SCAD and coronary fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) in women]. She is the principal investigator of the Canadian SCAD Study, PRYME, NACAD, SAFER-SCAD, Canadian WATCHMAN Registry, TAP-CABG, and ELAPSE studies. She has authored or co-authored over 100 publications, including scientific research studies, review articles and book chapters. She is also the editor of two textbooks on carotid artery stenting, and a textbook on LAA closure.

VANCOUVER GENERAL HOSPITAL
2775 LAUREL STREET, 9TH FLOOR
VANCOUVER, BC V5Z 1M9
CANADA

 

CO-INVESTIGATOR: Karin H. Humphries, MBA, DSc

Associate Professor in Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC)
Scientific Director BC Centre for Improved Cardiovascular Health
UBC – Heart and Stroke Foundation Professor in Women’s Cardiovascular Health

 

Dr. Karin Humphries is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC and holds the UBC Heart and Stroke Foundation Professorship in Women’s Cardiovascular Health. She is the inaugural Scientific Director for the BC Centre for Improved Cardiovascular Health. In this role, Dr. Humphries is committed to improving health outcomes for British Columbians at risk for, or living with, cardiovascular disease by generating and applying new evidence to improve the delivery of cardiovascular care in BC.

Dr. Humphries has a doctoral degree in epidemiology and a background in biochemistry, kinesiology and experimental pathology. Her primary research focus is on sex differences in the diagnosis, treatment and outcomes of patients with coronary heart disease. She is currently conducting studies on the sex differences in health-related quality of life in young adults at the BC Centre for Improved Cardiovascular Health.

ST. PAUL’S HOSPITAL
1081 BURRARD STREET
VANCOUVER, BC V6Z 1Y6
CANADA

 

CO-INVESTIGATOR: Dennis T. Ko, MD, MSc

Interventional Cardiology, Sunnybrook Health Services Centre
Associate Professor at the University of Toronto

Dr. Ko received his M.D. from the University of Ottawa and completed his postgraduate training at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Ko is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto in the Department of Medicine and the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, a Senior Scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and the Sunnybrook Research Institute. He works clinically as an interventional cardiologist at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

Dr. Ko’s research focuses on determining optimal clinical strategies and identifying opportunities to improve the outcomes of cardiovascular conditions. These efforts are intended to provide critical information to policy makers to improve the quality of health care and guide decisions about the allocation of scarce health care resources.

Dr. Ko has been supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator Award and a Heart and Stroke of Ontario Clinician Scientist Award. He is the principal investigator on several ongoing grants from CHIR and Heart and Stroke.

SUNNYBROOK HEALTH SCIENCES CENTRE
2075 BAYVIEW AVE., ROOM D3 80
TORONTO, ON M4N 3M5
CANADA

 

CO-INVESTIGATOR: G.B. John Mancini, MD

Cardiology, Vancouver General Hospital
Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC)
Director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Core Laboratory — CIRCL

Dr. G.B. John Mancini is a tenured Professor of Medicine at UBC and directs an imaging-based research program (Cardiovascular Imaging Research Core Laboratory, CIRCL) that includes facilities for quantitative coronary angiography, ultrasound analysis (coronaries, carotids and brachial artery for atherosclerosis and endothelial function assessments) and cardiac computed tomography analysis. Dr. Mancini remains in active practice as a staff physician in the Vancouver General Hospital Cardiology Outpatient Clinic and the Cardiac Computed Tomography Program as well as the St. Paul’s Hospital Healthy Heart Prevention Program / Lipid Clinic.

Dr. Mancini received his MD degree from the University of Toronto, completed his residency at Toronto General Hospital and was a Cardiology and Research Fellow at the University of California at San Diego. After a year in the rank of Clinical Assistant Professor at U.C. San Diego, he joined the faculty of the University of Michigan, where he became Associate Chief of Cardiology and the Chief of the V.A. Section of Cardiology in 1987. He became Chair of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, 1992-2002. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, Governor of the American College of Cardiology (British Columbia) and a member of the Circulation Council of the American Heart Association; he is also a member of numerous other professional associations in the United States and Canada. Dr. Mancini is the Past President of the Canadian Society for Clinical Investigation and current President of the Medical/Allied Staff of Vancouver Hospital. He has published over two hundred and fifty journal articles, abstracts, books and book chapters. He serves as a reviewer for many journals and is currently a member of the editorial boards of the American Journal of Cardiology, the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, and the International Journal of Cardiac Imaging.

Dr. Mancini has been a dedicated clinician scientist in the field of cardiovascular imaging for three decades. As founder and director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Core Laboratory — CIRCL, Dr. Mancini has overseen CIRCL through numerous multi-centre clinical trials providing quantitative image analysis for thousands of patients. The most notable of these clinical trials being COURAGE and OAT.

Dr. Mancini continues to be at the forefront of the latest medical imaging technologies. He holds Level 3 Certification in cardiac Computed Tomography and is a Diplomate of the Certification Board in Cardiac Computed Tomography. He was one of a small group of practitioners of cardiac computed tomography to have helped to author the first Canadian guidelines for the use of this new technology in clinical practice.

Dr. Mancini is a highly sought-after speaker and is regarded as a leading expert in the use of cardiovascular imaging and novel diagnostic tools to assess vascular health.

VANCOUVER GENERAL HOSPITAL
2775 LAUREL STREET, 9TH FLOOR
VANCOUVER, BC V5Z 1M9
CANADA