ROBERT ROSE, PHD Robert Rose, PhD, joined the Libin Institute in January 2017 as an associate professor in the departments of cardiac sciences and physiology and pharmacology at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. The basic/translational researcher was recruited from Dalhousie University, where he directed a research lab and was a faculty member in the department of physiology for almost a decade. Rose completed his PhD in cardiac electrophysiology at the University of Calgary in 2005 before pursuing postdoctoral training at the University of Toronto in 2008. Rose’s research interests are in the study of cardiac arrhythmias that occur either due to underlying genetic mutations or in the setting of common forms of heart disease, such as high blood pressure, heart failure or diabetes. More specifically, Rose’s lab studies dysfunction and disease of the sinus node, the heart’s natural pacemaker, and arrhythmias in the atria. Rose has two major Canadian Institutes of Health Research grants for studying the role of natriuretic peptides in heart disease and for researching cardiac arrhythmias in diabetics. He has published approximately 40 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters.
VAIBHAV PATEL, PHD
DR. MICHELLE KEIR
NEW
Vaibhav Patel, PhD, joined the Libin Institute in January 2017, as a basic scientist and assistant professor in the department of physiology and pharmacology at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. Patel earned his PhD in pharmacology at M.S. University of Baroda, India in 2011 before completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Alberta’s department of medicine. Patel’s research interest is in the role of intercellular communications in cardiac and vascular disease. Currently, he is studying the role of exosomes in intercellular communications and modulation of the renin-angiotensin system’s impact on vascular disease. He has a special interest in diabetic cardiovascular complications.
Dr. Michelle Keir joined the division of cardiology as an adult congenital heart disease cardiologist in March 2017. Keir obtained her medical degree from the University of Ottawa in 2008 and completed her internal medicine residency and a fellowship in adult cardiology at the University of Saskatchewan. Keir completed an adult congenital heart disease fellowship at the University of Toronto in 2016. Her focus is on complex congenital heart disease and aortopathy. Her research interests include transition, congenital coronary anomalies, aortopathies, heart failure in complex adult congenital heart disease and mixed-methods research. Prior to medical school, Keir was a traffic reporter for CBC in Ottawa.
AARON PHILLIPS, PhD Aaron Phillips, PhD, a translational researcher with a focus on developing solutions for autonomic and cardiovascular dysfunction in spinal cord injury and other neurological conditions, arrived at the Libin Institute in the fall of 2017. Phillips completed his PhD and a postdoctoral fellowship in the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of British Columbia. He has received numerous awards, including a Killam Postdoctoral Fellow Research Prize. Phillips said autonomic and cardiovascular disease is the primary health priority in those living with spinal cord injury. In fact, it is the primary cause of death in these individuals, which is why Phillips wants to develop new therapies and interventions for this group. Phillips is “ecstatic” to be at the Libin. “I am excited to be joining forces with the world-class team of scientists and clinicians at the Libin,” he said, noting the infrastructure and support he receives from leadership also influenced his decision to join the institute.
24 LIBIN LIFE