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Fact
box
Institution: Alberta Heart Institute Director:
To be announced University affiliation: University
of Alberta
Funding: $125 million from the Alberta
government and $25 million from community support
Website: www.alberta
heartinstitute.ca
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Home is where the Heart is --
if you live in Alberta. With the advent of the Alberta
Heart Institute in Edmonton, Ottawa will no longer hold
pride of place as Canada's only complete cardiac centre.
The $150 million Edmonton institute will offer the full
spectrum of cardiac patient care services, research and
education.
Construction on the institute began
last October. The 21,367-square-metre, five-storey building
is being added onto the top portion of the University
of Alberta (U of A) Hospital and Stollery Children's
Hospital emergency departments. The entire bottom floor
designed to house the Alberta Cardiovascular and Stroke
Research Centre should be ready for occupancy in early
2005. The rest of the complex will be completed by 2006.
The institute marks another achievement
that's in keeping with U of A's long tradition as an
innovator in Canadian cardiac care. In 1956, the U of
A had the first open-heart surgery in Canada and in
1976 the first heart catheter biopsy was performed here.
Just four years ago, the first radio-frequency catheter
in Canada was used to open a blocked heart valve in
an infant.
CVD
and lipids
The Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Molecular
Biology of Membranes Protein Group comprises six scientists
under the direction of Dr Bernard Lemire. It investigates
membrane transporters and their role in cardiovascular
disease. Dr Dennis Vance's CIHR Group on Molecular and
Cell Biology of Lipids studies lipids and their role
in inherited disorders, blood clotting and atherosclerosis.
Ischemia
Two groups of researchers, under the direction of Dr
Gary Lopaschuk, are studying ways of preventing and
reducing the effects of myocardial ischemia. The CIHR
Program Group on Cardioprotection During and Following
Ischemia has 10 scientists working on identifying pathologic
events that contribute to myocardial-ischemic injury.
These busy bees are also developing new strategies to
protect the heart from ischemic injury. The 16-member
Cardio-vascular Research Group focuses on cardioprotection
during and following ischemia as well as regulation
of vascular tone and electrophysiology of the ischemic
heart.
Cardioprotection
The Congenital Heart Research Group works on protecting
the heart during surgery through increasing ischemic
tolerance and advancing post-operative myocardial function.
The Cardiac Rehabilitation Group studies the acute and
chronic effects of exercise training on skeletal muscle
and cardiovascular function, and fitness in older individuals
-- both healthy and with underlying cardiovascular disease.
Transplants
The U of A Hospital has the largest clinical heart,
lung and combined heart-lung transplant program in Canada
and marked its 500th heart and heart-lung transplant
in 2001. The hospital's Cardiovascular Surgery Research
Group is currently evaluating newer immunosuppressive
agents used in both induction and maintenance therapy.
The team also evaluates ventricular assist devices and
xenograft transplantation.
Clinical
trials
Two teams at the Heart Institute are involved in single-
and multi-centre trials in cardiovascular disease. Eight
researchers led by Dr Ross Tsuyuki at the Epidemiology
Coordinating and Research Centre contribute to clinical
trials and health outcomes research. The Virtual Coordinating
Centre for Global Collaborative Cardiovascular Research
(VIGOUR) is a global collaboration of coordinating centres
and investigators who are experienced in constructing
large cardiovascular clinical trials. The Canadian VIGOUR
Centre under the direction of Dr Paul Armstrong is currently
working on the Which Early ST-elevation myocardial infarction
Therapy (WEST) study which is looking into the benefits
of paramedics administering the clot-buster tenecteplase
before transporting their patients to the emergency
room.
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