Research - Cardiology
Dr Martin J Gardner, Cardiology Research Director, Professor of Medicine, MD, FRCP(C)
Discovery of Improved ways to diagnose, treat and prevent heart disease drive our collective research efforts.
Message for Our Patients
Improving your health requires working together. The Nova Scotia Personal Health Information Act came into effect on June 1, 2013. The Cardiology Research Team has provided a Personal Health Information Act Consent form. This form is asking your permission to only review your PHI. Your information will be reviewed to see if you might be eligible to participate in a research study.
If you have any questions, please contact the Cardiology Research Manager at 902-473-7226.
Our Research Includes the Following Areas
Acute Coronary Syndrome & Secondary Prevention
This area of research focuses on treatments for acute coronary syndrome and preventions of major cardiac events in patients experiencing cardiovascular problems. Prevention studies look at medications to help lower cholesterol, improve diabetes management and reducing the formation of clots. Research in this area includes improving thereapies in the prehospital setting for those patients having acute heart attacks.
Congestive Heart Failure & Transplantation
Heart failure research looks at thereapies to improve patient quality of life with dietary, imaging and medical management. Heart Transplant research involves pre and post transplant imaging therapies and medications to improve patients outcomes.
Electrophysiology
Research for those patients having Atrial Fibrillation and Ventricular tachycardias are studied extensively by the Electrophsiology Research Team. Studies involving improving medications, implanted electrial devices such as defibrillators, pacemakers and other therapies are all focused on improving patient outcomes.
Heart Rhythm
The focus of this research involves the testing to identify heart conditions in family members of individuals who have experienced a potentially fatal cardiac event. This research team also has a national registry for Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy with the goal to provide data on early diagnosis, risk factors for sudden death and genetic findings across the country.
Intervention
This research team is involved in several areas of non-sugical treatments of coronary artery disease, congential and valvular diseases. Mulitple studies are ongoing to improve treatments for emergency and non-emergency cardiac catherizations whether it is newer stents, blood thinners and imaging equipment. Studies to improve congential and valvular diseases involve data collection, imaging results and medical therapies are ongoing.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation research looks at what patients need to change in their every day lives to improve their heart health using pharmacy, exercise and dietary education and assessments in a community enviroment. The goal of this research team is to continue and improve providing community based provincial programs for those patients with cardiovascular risks in a cost effective way for patients as well as the health care system.