Program of Experimental Medicine - POEM
Department of Medicine

Program of Experimental Medicine
POEM


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Cardiology
TIANQING PENG, MD, MSc, Professor

Dr. Peng is a professor in the Departments of Medicine and Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Western University. He is also a basic scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute of London Health Sciences Centre. He was medically qualified at Shanghai Medical University in 1991 and undertook research fellow training in molecular virology at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, Germany, in molecular pathology at Imperial College School of Medicine in London, UK and in Medicine at Western University, Canada.

Dr. Peng is the recipient of a number of awards, including Rick Gallop Award for Research Excellence from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (2006), a New Investigator Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (2006-2011) and a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2011-2016).

Dr. Peng’s research involves the understanding of the mechanisms and therapeutic targets for myocardial injury and dysfunction. He utilizes a wide range of approaches ranging from cellular, molecular biology to in vivo physiology. Cultured primary cardiomyocytes and isolated whole hearts are used to study the molecular mechanisms of myocardial injury and dysfunction and the role of key genes/proteins in this process. To assess the physiological significance of each molecule, related knockout or transgenic and wild-type animals are employed.

The research in Dr. Peng’s lab has been focusing on (1) anthracycline cardiotoxicity; (2) ischemic heart disease; (3) diabetic cardiovascular complications including cardiomyopathy and vascular dysfunction; and (4) multiple organs dysfunction in sepsis.

Keywords:
Anthracycline cardiotoxicity
Autophagy
Cardiomyocytes
Inflammation
Microvascular endothelial cells
Mitochondrion
Necroptosis
Oxidative stress
Protein modifications
Sepsis


Cardiology
J. GEOFFREY PICKERING, MD, PhD, FRCPC, FCAHS, FACC, FAHA, Professor

Dr. Pickering is a professor in the Departments of Medicine, Biochemistry, and Medical Biophysics at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University in London, Ontario. He is also a cardiologist and Board-certified echocardiographer at the London Health Sciences Centre and scientist and Director of the Molecular Medicine Research Laboratories at the Robarts Research Institute. He obtained his MD in 1983 at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and received fellowship certification in internal medicine and cardiology in 1987 and 1989, respectively, from the Royal College of Physicians of Canada. He obtained a PhD in medical biophysics at Western University in 1990. Dr. Pickering subsequently undertook post-doctoral training in vascular biology at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts and assumed a faculty position at that institution.

Dr. Pickering is the recipient of a number of awards and honours, including the Young Investigator Award from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, a Research Scholarship from the Medical Research Council of Canada, a Career Investigator Award from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, a Premier’s Research Award of Excellence from the Government of Ontario, a Dean’s Award of Excellence for Research, the Hypertension Canada Senior Investigator Award, the Ken Bowman Research Achievement Award from the University of Manitoba, and a Western Alumni of Distinction Award. He holds the Heart & Stroke Foundation Barnett-Ivey Chair. He is currently¬ the Chair of the Cardiovascular Sciences panel at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and has been Chair of the Cellular Biochemistry Panel at the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Chair of the Clinical Advisory Committee of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, Chair of the Research Committee of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Hypertension Society, and President of the Canadian Society for Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario from 2009-2017. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2018.

Dr. Pickering’s research is internationally recognized in the field of vascular cell biology and blood vessel restructuring. His research group has discovered novel genes and pathways that regulate vascular cell function in health and disease, with implications for vascular aging, vascular regeneration and the prevention of heart attacks and stroke.

Keywords:
Cardiovascular disease
Translational research
Vascular Biology


Rheumatology
JANET POPE, MD, MPH, FRCPC

Dr. Janet Pope is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Western Ontario (UWO), Schulich School of Medicine, London, Ontario, Canada. She is the Division Head in Rheumatology. She completed her M.D. and Fellowship in Internal Medicine at the University of Western Ontario and a Fellowship in Rheumatology and Masters of Public Health at Boston University.

Dr. Pope is recognized as an international expert in scleroderma (systemic sclerosis) research. Her research is focused on improving the lives of patients especially with RA, Scleroderma and SLE. Her most significant contributions are in research collaborations in disease cohorts, designing trials, mentorship and leadership. One of her most important research collaborations was the development of systemic sclerosis subset classification criteria. This research was conducted with the input from a number of multi-national experts. She has also designed and conducted as the PI many trials in scleroderma, Raynaud’s, and RA and has done meta-analyses on many drug treatments for Raynaud’s and scleroderma.

She is the member of CaNIOS (Canadian Network for Improved Outcomes in SLE) and is a founding member of the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group (CSRG), is on the executive of the Canadian Rheumatology Research Consortium (CRRC), contributes to Advisory Boards (in scleroderma, RA and lupus), and is a member of the Scleroderma Clinical Trials Consortium (SCTC). She has published over 500 peer-reviewed articles, 15 chapters, 700 abstracts and mentored more than 125 trainees.

Keywords:
Cohorts
Meta-analysis
Pragmatic
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Scleroderma
SLE
Trials