News – Cardiovascular Research

Recent News

Dr. Tami Martino, calls the beginnings of a brand-new research field. Rest Your body to benefit your heart.
Dr. Phillp Millar and Dr. James Burr; U of G Study Probes Effect of Cannabis on the Heart
Dr. Tami Martino; Shift work and Circadian rhythms
Dr. Tami Martino & Cristine Reitz at CTV NEWS.
Dr. Tami Martino spoke at Solve for X – TEDxGuelphU’s 10-year anniversary event on January 19, 2019.
Congratulations to Priya Mistry (Martino Lab) for winning the Biomed Best MSc Seminar Award.
Elizabeth Johnston (Gillis lab) won the Scholander Award for Best Presentation by a Trainee, entitled “The influence of cellular stretch on extracellular matrix remodeling in cultured trout ventricular fibroblasts”, at the 2018 American Physiological Society meeting in New Orleans, LA.
Dr. John Dawson had a successful Heart and Stroke application entitled: “Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: How Cardiac Actin Mutations Change Contractility”
Burr lab published 15 conference abstracts for presentations given at national and international conferences.
From Burr lab, Kyle Thompson and Christian Cheung won NSERC.
From Burr lab, Heather Petrick and Chris Pignanelli won OGS.
Dr. Jamie Burr won Early Researcher Award (OMRIS) – $150,000, CBS Graduate Mentorship Award (honor) and Granted “Fellow” status with the American College of Sports Medicine.
Dr. Tami Martino was honoured to be a featured invited speaker at the inaugural Women in STEM conference at the University of Guelph on Saturday Nov. 24th.
The Circadian-Cardiovascular group had the opportunity to invite Oxford’s Dr. Russell Foster to UofG and attend his talk as a distinguished speaker for NACS and NEUR*6100, titled “Light and Sleep Regulation of the Molecular Clockwork: Biology to Possible Therapeutics”.
The Centre for Cardiovascular Investigations (CCVI) & the Southern Ontario Cardiovascular Research Association (SOCRA) hosted Cardiovascular Research Day on Thursday, October 11 2018. Visit our Education page for highlights and photos of the event.
Martino lab research on “Women, circadian rhythms and heart disease” featured by Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada .
Martino lab research on body clock medicine featured by CBC Health news .
CCVI members attended the Heart and Stroke Ride for Heart on June 3rd and raised $3850.00 for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Participants got to ride, walk, or run on the Gardiner Expressway, Lakeshore and Don Valley Parkway in Toronto, to raise funds and awareness for heart research.
Cristine Reitz (Martino lab) was an Invited graduate student to the Sleep 2018 meeting in Baltimore Maryland and participated in the “2018 International Biomarkers Workshop on Wearables in Sleep and Circadian Medicine”.
Dr. Tami Martino was invited to the inaugural University of Florida Circadian Symposium (May 11, 2018) , alongside keynote speaker Dr. Michael Young (winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of circadian rhythms) and alongside 5 special guest speakers who are leaders in circadian biology worldwide.
Dr. Tami Martino was a recipient of the 2018 Women of Distinction Award .
Samantha Steinberg , MBS student (Pyle lab) presented her Pet Trust funded research on the identification of novel biomarkers in Doberman Pinschers with dilated cardiomyopathy at the International Ottawa Heart Conference hosted by the Ottawa Heart Institute.
Rosephine Del Fernandes (Del) , MSc candidate (Pyle lab), presented her research at the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Summit in Ottawa.
Vishali Balasubramaniam , 4th year student (Pyle lab), received a travel award to attend the Inspiring Young Women in STEM Conference, hosted by Western University. She was given the opportunity to present a poster on her undergraduate research done in the Pyle lab by herself, MSc candidate Del Fernandes, and postdoc Dr. Ilka Lorenzen-Schmidt.
Dr. Martino was invited to give a public lecture at the Arboretum to an audience of over 200 people for Third Age Learning Guelph, highlighting recent research at the University of Guelph.
Dr. Tami Martino received CIHR Awards for Innovative Health Research.
Research from the Martino lab looks at sex and gender impacts on heart health.
Welcome to Dr. Tarak Khatua and Dr. Mina Rasouli , who started as post-doctoral fellows in the Martino lab.
The OVC Crest recently published an article lab, including results from the publication above and a previous student in the lab’s (Rebecca McDonald) publication. Please refer to page 18-19 to see the article.
Dr. Tami Martino was featured in CIHR celebrates Canada150 for her work on using our body’s internal clock, circadian rhythm, to better treat cardiovascular disease.
The CCVI Cardiovascular Scientist Seminar series featured Dr. Tami Martino and Dr. Glen Pyle on Oct 24, 2017, highlighting current heart research at the University of Guelph.
Dr. Tami Martino was featured in CBC Health News for a recent study investigating how the body clock affects males and females differently in heart disease.
The Martino lab & student Zikra Awosanmi created a Circadian Medicine Blog to feature recent news in Circadian Medicine, including therapeutic applications, and importance for health and disease.
The Martino lab & student Zikra Awosanmi created a Circadian Medicine for Veterinary and Human Applications Blog to feature applications of circadian biology to clinical medicine, including for humans and animals (pets, and industry).
The Martino lab created a Circadian microRNA Database as a repository for micro-RNA array data that cycle in murine heart models, including young and old hearts, and in wildtypes and in CLOCK-mutant mice. The data accompanies our publication in the Journal of Molecular Cardiology (2017)105:24 (PMID: 28223222).
Cristine Reitz (Martino lab) was awarded the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship (PhD).
Priya Mistry (Martino lab) was awarded the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship (MSc).
New study from Dr. Jeremy Simpson’s laboratory investigating shortness of breath in heart failure was published in Science Translational Medicine and featured by the University of Guelph .
Dr. Nina Jones was honoured at the YMCA/YWCA of Guelph 2017 Women of Distinction event for her community contributions and award-winning work in understanding cancer, cardiovascular and kidney disease.
Recent study from Dr. Tami Martino’s laboratory investigating the role of the circadian clock in cardiac aging was published in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology and featured by the University of Guelph .
The CCVI launched its new Cardiovascular Scientist Seminar Series on Feb 27th, 2017. The first seminar of this series featured CCVI Executive Faculty, Dr. Philip Millar and Dr. Tarek Saleh. Visit our CCVI Twitter page for highlights and photos of the event.
Heart and Stroke Foundation blog featured research from Dr. Tami Martino’s laboratory on circadian rhythms and heart attack recovery.
Research from Dr. Tami Martino’s laboratory was featured in the American Heart Association journal, Circulation, discussing how the heart’s circadian rhythms can be applied to benefit heart disease patients, from the timed dosage of medications to limiting rhythm disruption in the ICU.
Inaugural Cardiovascular Research Day features national expertise.
The CCVI’s inaugural Cardiovascular Research Day kicked off on Sept 29th, 2016. Visit our CCVI Twitter page for highlights and photos of the event.
The Cardiovascular Research Day Conference is taking place Thursday September 29, 2016. Featuring high-profile invited speakers from across Canada and showcasing cardiovascular research at the University of Guelph.
Rosephine Del Fernandes (Pyle Lab) was awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship for September 2016
Dr. Glen Pyle receives CIHR Catalyst Grant to study the role of gender and aging in heart failure
Research by Dr. Glen Pyle and Dr. Lynne O’Sullivan investigates potential causes of inherited dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs and was featured on CTV news
Study by Dr. Todd Gillis examines the hagfish heart to gain insights on cardiovascular health
Dr. John Dawson and Dr. Tami Martino receive funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
View Dr. Gavin Oudit’s talk here
The Distinguished Scientist Lecture Series featured Dr. Gavin Oudit from the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute discussing translational approaches for novel heart failure therapies
Cardiovascular Centre launches distinguished speaker series on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 between 12:30-1:45 PM in Pathobiology room 1810 sponsored by Elanco
The University of Guelph announces the official launch of the Centre for Cardiovascular Investigations (September 2015)
Congratulations to Dr. Tami Martino on her HSFC grant-in-aid (2015)
The Martino Lab: Dr. Tami Martino, Cristine Reitz, Faisal Alibhai, Elena Tsimakouridze are attending the Second Conference for Canadian Society for Chronobiology (Montreal, May 2015)
Congratulations to Dr. John Dawson on his HSFC grant-in-aid (2015)
Cristine Reitz (Martino Lab) reclassified from the MSc to the PhD program (Summer ’15) in Biomedical sciences
Craig Hilborn has joined the Martino Lab as an undergraduate research assistant (Summer ’15)
Elena Tsimakouridze (Martino Lab) published a first-author paper “Therapeutic applications of circadian rhythms for the cardiovascular system” in Front Pharmacol. (Apr. 2015)
Faisal Alibhai (Martino Lab) was awarded the Laforet Research Assistantship, Elanco Graduate Scholarship in Cardiology, Harry G. Downie Travel Scholarship, OVC (Apr. 2015)
Elena Tsimakouridze (Martino Lab) was awarded the Betty Goldhart Biomedical Sciences Scholarship, OVC (Apr. 2015)
Cristine Reitz (Martino Lab) was awarded the Dr. Pari K. Basrur Travel Scholarship, OVC (Apr. 2015)
Faisal Alibhai (Martino Lab) published a first-author paper “Consequences of Circadian and Sleep Disturbances for the Cardiovascular System” in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. (Jan. 2015)
Cristine Reitz (Martino Lab) was awarded the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2015-2016).
Dr. Tami Martino was invited to speak at Sleep Research Rounds (Toronto, 2014), Universite de Montreal (Montreal, 2014), and the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences, St. Boniface Hospital (University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, 2015).
Cristine Reitz (Martino Lab) was awarded the CIHR Master’s Graduate Scholarship (2014-2015)
Congratulations to Peter Podobed (Martino Lab) on successfully defending his PhD in Biomedical Sciences (Aug. 2014).
Dr. Tami Martino and PhD student Peter Podobed on Peter’s first author papers “Circadian regulation of myocardial sarcomeric Titin-cap (Tcap, telethonin): identification of cardiac clock-controlled genes using open access bioinformatics data.” published in PLoS One. (Aug. 2014) and “The day/night proteome in the murine heart.” published in Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. (Jul. 2014).
Dr. Tami Martino and PhD student Faisal Alibhai published a new paper “Short-term disruption of diurnal rhythms after murine myocardial infarction adversely affects long-term myocardial structure and function” in Circulation Research (May 2014) and were featured in the Guelph News Release.
The Martino Lab attended the First Conference for Canadian Society for Chronobiology.
Dr. Tami Martino and PhD student Elena Tsimakouridze published a new paper in Chronobiology Intl and were featured At Guelph
The Martino and Pyle Labs were at the International Society for Heart Research (ISHR) Conference in Banff, Alberta (May 2012). Students Elena Tsimakouridze and Dr. Liz Sinclair presented their work.
Dr. Tami Martino was awarded a new CIHR operating grant for research on Circadian Control of Cardiac Remodeling(2012).
Congratulations to Dr. Glen Pyle and Dr. Jeremy Simpson on their NSERC Operating Grant Awards (2012).
Dr. John Dawson was awarded a Heart and Stroke Foundation Operating Grant for research on actin and cardiac contractility (2012).
Glen Pyle’s Lab published a new paper in J. Mol. Cell. Cardiol. and was featured At Guelph .
Dr. Tami Martino has been invited to speak at The 3rd Annual Muscle Health Awareness Day at the Muscle Health Research Centre at the University of York.
The Cardiovascular Research Group attends The 3rd Annual Muscle Health Awareness Day at York University on May 25, 2012.
Congratulations to Elena Tsimakouridze for reclassifying from an M.Sc to the Ph.D program in Biomedical Sciences.
Congratulations to Feng Hua Yang and W. Glen Pyle for their recent publication in the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology entitled: Reduced cardiac CapZ protein protects hearts against acute ischemia-reperfusion injury and enhances preconditioning.
We have a custom-made Python3 Graphing Script to make plots from data.
John Dawson’s Lab published a new paper in PLoS One and was featured At Guelph .
This year, our Cardiovascular Research Group partakes in a bi-monthly Journal Club with a focus on Cardiovascular Research organized by Dr. E. Sinclair.
Dr. Tami Martino and colleagues published The primary benefits of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition on cardiac remodeling occur during sleep time in murine pressure overload hypertrophy.” Martino TA, Tata N, Simpson JA, Vanderlaan R, Dawood F, Kabir MG, Khaper N, Cifelli C, Podobed P, Liu PP, Husain M, Heximer S, Backx PH, Sole MJ. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2011 May 17;57(20):2020-8.
Gillis Lab published a paper in PLoS One devoted to cardiac remodelling in fish titled Cardiac Remodeling in Fish: Strategies to Maintain Heart Function during Temperature Change. Klaiman JM, Fenna AJ, Shiels HA, Macri J, Gillis TE. PLoS One. 2011;6(9). The results of this paper provide novel research directions in application to human cardiovascular health.
Dr. Glen Pyle has been invited to edit a special issue of the journal Biochemistry Research International. As lead editor, Dr Pyle selected Drs John Konhilas (University of Arizona) and Jolanda van der Velden (Institute for Cardiovascular Research of the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam) to act as associate editors of the journal. The special issue will focus on the role of cardiac myofilaments in health and disease, and will be published in late 2012.
Dr. Tami Martino was invited as one of four international speakers to present new research at the Experimental Biology symposium “Circadian Clocks: Emerging Roles in the Cardiovascular System” (04/11, Washington, DC)
Dr. Jeremy Simpson was awarded a new CIHR operating grant (2011)
Dr. Tami Martino received mass media attention from a recent study showing that heart medication is more effective if taken at nighttime in a mouse model Globe and Mail Article
Congratulations to Saad Enouri ( Johnson Lab ), who published “Characteristics of myogenic reactivity in isolated rat mesenteric veins.” Enouri S, Monteith G, Johnson R. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2011 Feb;300(2):R470-8.
Congratulations to Elena Tsimakouridze ( Martino Lab ) and Shawn Veitch ( Johnson Lab ) for reclassifying from an M.BS to an M.Sc in Biomedical Sciences
Peter Podobed ( Martino Lab ), Dr. T. Martino and Dr. G. Kirby have written a book chapter “Circadian proteomics and its unique advantage for discovery of biomarkers of heart disease” in Proteomics/Book 1 that was accepted by InTech, an open access publisher (Aug 2011)
Drs Glen Pyle and Elizabeth Sinclair ( Pyle Lab ) received a grant from OVC’s Pet Trust to conduct research into the molecular causes of dilated cardiomyopathy in Doberman Pinschers. Up to 60% of Doberman Pinschers die from a genetic cardiomyopathy, whose cause is unknown. The proposal by Pyle and Sinclair will not only explore the cause of canine heart failure, but will also provide insight into the fundamental mechanisms of heart failure that can be also used in human medicine. (March 2011)
Dr. Glen Pyle was appointed to the editorial board of the Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology (JMCC). JMCC is the official journal of the International Society for Heart Research and one of the top ranked cardiovascular journals in the world. (January 2011)
Faisal Alibhai ( Martino Lab ) won an OGS award for his M.Sc starting in September 2011
Peter Podobed ( Martino Lab ) won Best Poster Award, 1st place–Heart Failure in 2011: Thinking Beyond Traditional Management Strategies: June 8, 2011
Elena Tsimakouridze ( Martino Lab ) presented a poster titled “Diurnal Rhythms in Gene Expression as Critical Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease; A Novel Platform for Biomarker Discovery” at the 6th Annual Canadian Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics Meeting (May 2011)
Peter Podobed ( Martino Lab ) received an OVC PhD graduate scholarship–Ontario Veterinary College, Department of Biomedical Sciences: July, 2010
Heather Chin ( Martino Lab ) received a summer student scholarship to learn some cardiovascular molecular biology techniques and also create this website: Summer, 2011
Dr. Gillis lab published three new papers in The Journal of Experimental Biology. Congratulations to student authors Jordan Klaiman, Silvana Miller, Kelly Kirkpatrick and Andrew Robertson (May 2011)
Congratulations to Michael Bennardo ( Martino Lab ) on graduating M.Sc and his new position in research at McMaster University.
Our Cardiovascular Research Group was recently featured in a news article “To Cure Heart Disease, You Have to Understand It”