A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
| Rheumatology |
 EWA CAIRNS, PhD, Professor, Department of Medicine, Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology Dr. Cairns received her PhD degree in 1987 from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. Subsequently, she did 3 years of postdoctoral training at Toronto Western Hospital where she worked with Dr. Katherine Siminovitch. In 1990, Dr. Cairns came back to London Ontario to begin her appointment as a faculty member in the Departments of Medicine (Division of Rheumatology) and Microbiology & Immunology. Currently she is a Full Professor in these departments. She is also an Associate Scientist of the Lawson Research Institute, a Member of the Program of Experimental Medicine, a Member of the Joint Motion Program and a Member of the Centre for Human Immunology. Dr. Cairns is an immunologist who studies mechanisms responsible for the development of chronic rheumatic diseases. She currently focuses specifically on Rheumatoid Arthritis. Her research emphasis is on determining “why” some but not other people develop this disease, “when” the disease develops and “how” to stop its progression or development. Dr. Cairns’ major scientific contributions to this topic include demonstration that: 1) certain proteins (citrullinated proteins) can trigger an immune response leading to arthritis in some but not all subjects; 2) development of arthritis is linked to the presence of a specific gene; and 3) arthritis can be prevented or its progression stopped by blocking immune responses to the citrullinated proteins. These cutting edge research findings were published in high impact journals such as the Journal of Immunology, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of Rheumatology and Arthritis & Rheumatism. Dr. Cairns served as a grant review member on the Immunology and Transplantation Committee of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and receives continuous research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Arthritis Society of Canada and the Calder Foundation. Dr. Cairns’ research program attracts many undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral fellows. Her contributions to research supervision and teaching have been recognized by the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry from which she received the Dean’s Award of Excellence in Graduate and Postgraduate Education in 2008. Keywords: Autoimmunity Immunology Rheumatoid Arthritis Rheumatoid Arthritis, Genetics and Immune Responses to Citrullinated Antigens |
| Cardiology |
 MARK CHANDY, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Assistant ProfessorDr. Chandy completed his MD/Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University. His doctoral thesis was chromatin dynamics under the supervision of Dr. Jerry Workman. After completing medical school, Dr. Chandy trained in Internal Medicine at the University of British Columbia, followed by a Cardiology and Echocardiography fellowship at the University of Toronto. Dr. Chandy entered the Clinician-Scientist Training Program at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Mansoor Husain and investigated vascular biology using small animal models. With a desire to learn more about stem cell biology, Dr. Chandy trained in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph Wu, a world-renowned expert in stem cell biology and the Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute. Here, Dr. Chandy learned how to reprogram human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). Human iPSCs provide a limitless tissue supply with an individual's unique genetic code for personalized disease modeling, drug discovery, and regenerative medicine. Dr. Chandy also learned how to design experiments to leverage iPSC disease modeling and understand the mechanisms of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Chandy's current research focuses on understanding the pathophysiology of environmental exposures such as air pollution, e-cigarettes, and marijuana on cardiovascular disease using human iPSC-derived tissue. Dr. Chandy's laboratory employs next-generation sequencing (NGS), proteomics, and gene editing to decipher the mechanisms of cardiovascular disease. Publications Lab Website Keywords: Cardiovascular disease Environmental cardiology Induced pluripotent stem cells Precision medicine Stem cell biology |
| Nephrology |
 MICHAEL CHIU, MD, FRCPC, Assistant ProfessorDr. Michael Chiu is a Nephrologist and an Assistant Professor with the Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, at the University of Western Ontario. He completed his nephrology training in 2019 at the University of Western Ontario along with subspecialty training in home dialysis in 2020. Over this time, Dr. Chiu also completed a Masters of Science in Healthcare Quality through Queens University in 2020. Dr. Chiu’s research interests are in Chronic Kidney Disease, Home Dialysis, and Quality Improvement. Keywords: Chronic Kidney Disease Home Dialysis Quality Improvement |
| Endocrinology and Metabolism |
 KRISTIN CLEMENS, MD, MSC, FRCPC, Associate ProfessorDr. Kristin Clemens is a Clinician-Scientist and Endocrinologist at St. Joseph’s Health Care London, Senior Adjunct ICES Scientist, Associate Professor of Medicine (Endocrinology) and Epidemiology & Biostatistics at Western University, Associate Scientist at Lawson Health Research Institute, and Medical Director of the Osteoporosis and Bone Disease Program at St. Joseph’s Health Care London. She also holds the Diabetes Canada Chair in Diabetes Management at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. Dr. Clemens’ research program is dedicated to improving care and outcomes for patients with complex endocrine and metabolic disorders. She has special interest in diabetes, cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome (CKM) and metabolic bone disease. Her work integrates population-based data science, patient-oriented research, innovative randomized controlled trials, qualitative methodologies, and quality improvement initiatives to address critical gaps in clinical care and health system delivery. She currently leads more than 10 research programs and oversees 18 active research projects focused on diabetes and CKM, obesity management in kidney transplantation, osteoporosis and chronic kidney disease cardiovascular screening gaps in women, and medication effectiveness and safety. She has helped to create system-level innovations for people with endocrine diseases with stakeholders including BestCare eConsult and GeriMedRisk. Her research has been supported by major national funding bodies including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Kidney Foundation of Canada, Diabetes Canada, AMOSO, and the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. With over 10 years of experience in research mentorship, Dr. Clemens has supervised and mentored approximately 60 undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate trainees to date. She has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Clemens is the recipient of the Department of Medicine’s Award of Excellence in Quality Improvement and the Department of Medicine Award of Excellence in Research, recognizing her leadership in advancing clinical care and academic innovation. She also received the Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (Early Career) from the Schulich School of Medicine. PubMed: Kristin K Clemens Keywords: Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) Diabetes Drug efficacy Drug safety Endocrinology Health Services Research Metabolic Disorders Quality Improvement Randomized Controlled Trials Women’s Health |
| Nephrology |
 Dr. Dervla Connaughton, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of MedicineDr. Dervla Connaughton is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Nephrology at Western University and currently is the inaugural Eugen Drewlo Chair for Kidney Research and Innovation at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. She received her medical degree and specialist training from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and completed a transplant fellowship at the National Centre for Nephrology and Transplantation at Beaumont Hospital in Ireland. She was awarded her PhD degree from Trinity College Dublin in renal genetics and a Master’s of Science in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She also completed a fellow fellowship at Harvard University and Boston Children's Hospital where she carried out genetic research investigating monogenic causes of chronic kidney disease in both adult and pediatric populations. The main focus of research is on understanding the genetic basis and epidemiology of all forms of chronic kidney disease. Specifically, her focus is to establish and characterize the molecular etiology in genetic kidney disease using high throughput sequencing techniques including gene panel sequencing, whole exome and genome sequencing. Dr. Connaughton joined the nephrology division at LHSC in October 2019. She cares for patients with glomerulonephritis, those that require hemodialysis, patients undergoing kidney transplant as well as patient wishing to donate a kidney through the live donation process. She has set up a specialist clinic for the evaluation of patients and their families who may have a genetic form of kidney disease. Keywords: Familial nephropathy Genetics Glomerulonephritis Home hemodialysis Kidney diseases Monogenic disease Next generation sequencing Transplantation Whole exome sequencing |
| Nephrology |
 ANDREA COWAN, MD, FRCPC, Assistant ProfessorAndrea Cowan is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and an Adjunct Scientist at ICES Western. She completed her medical training and residency at Western University and a Fellowship in Home Dialysis. She has a clinical and research interest in mineral bone disease associated with chronic kidney disease and uses large administrative databases to study the intersection of kidney disease and bone disease. Keywords: Bone Health Chronic kidney disease Drug efficacy Drug safety Health services research |
