Division Description
Clinical Programs and their Locations
Education
Research
Faculty
Dr. Catherine Kells
Division Head
Dr. Kells received her MD from Dalhousie University
in 1984. She completed residency training in Medicine
and Cardiology at Dalhousie University in 1989. She
completed fellowships in Interventional Cardiology
at Dalhousie University and Heart Transplantation
at Stanford University. She is the Director of the Adult
Congenital Heart Clinic. Her interests include interventional
cardiac catheterization and medical education.
Dr.
Magdy Basta
Dr. Basta received his MBBCh(Hons) from Assiut University
in Egypt in 1981 and his MSc(Med) in 1987. He completed
residency training in Medicine and Cardiology at the
Westmead and John Hunter Hospital in Australia, and
was awarded Fellowship with the Royal Australian College
of Physicians FRACP in 1994. He completed Cardiac
Electrophysiology Fellowship at University Hospital,
University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario.
He joined the Department of Medicine (Cardiology Division)
at Dalhousie University in 1997. His clinical and
research interests are in the area of cardiac arrhythmia
management.
Dr.
Iqbal Bata
Dr. Bata completed medical school training at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
University in 1982. Following his mixed internship
year he did further training in medicine and its sub-specialties.
He obtained is Royal College of Physicians, UK, membership
qualification in 1985. Following his move to Canada
in 1987, he completed Internal Medicine and then Cardiology
training at Dalhousie University. He was appointed
to the Department of Medicine (Cardiology Division)
at Dalhousie University in 1992. His clinical interests include
acute cardiac care and echocardiography.
Dr. Hussein Beydoun
Dr. Beydoun obtained his MD degree from the University
of Padova, Italy in 1988 and completed his residency
in Internal Medicine at New York Medical College,
New York in 1995. He then completed his Residency
Training in Cardiology and a Fellowship in Interventional
Cardiology at Dalhousie University and joined the
Division of Cardiology in 1999. His is Associate Director
of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. He is also
Director of the Interventional Fellowship Program
for the Division of Cardiology. His clinical interest
is Interventional Cardiology, including transradial
access. His research interests include clinical trials
in Interventional Cardiology.
Dr. Jafna Cox
After completing a BA in History (1983), Dr. Cox
obtained his MD (1988) and trained in internal medicine
(1988-1991), all at the University of Toronto. Following
a fellowship in cardiology at Dalhousie University
(1991-1993), Dr. Cox did post-doctoral training in
health services research at the Institute for Clinical
Evaluative Sciences in Ontario (1993-1995). He returned
to Halifax in 1995 and is currently a Professor in
the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology,
and holds a cross appointment in the Department of
Community Health and Epidemiology. Dr. Cox is the
Director of Research in the Division of Cardiology,
Dalhousie University. He holds salary support from
both a Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Regional
Partnership Program Investigator Award and a Clinical
Research Scholarship from the Faculty of Medicine,
Dalhousie University. Since coming to Nova Scotia, Dr. Cox has been active
in research relating to health services, outcomes
and disease management. He was the Project Officer
for the Improving Cardiovascular Outcomes in Nova
Scotia (ICONS) Study (1997-2002), which has since
been transitioned into a provincial cardiac program
by the Nova Scotia Department of Health. Currently,
he is a senior co-investigator in the Canadian Cardiovascular
Outcomes Research Team (CCORT) initiative, a multi-provincial
collaboration funded by the Canadian Institutes for
Health Research and the Heart and Stroke Foundation
of Canada to examine cardiovascular report cards in
Canada. He was a senior co-investigator in the first
national study to examine the rate of adverse events
in Canadian hospitals and was recently awarded funding
from the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation
to project human resource needs for cardiovascular
care delivery in Canada. Dr. Cox serves as the Scientific
Advisor to the Government of Nova Scotia's cardiac
care program and is a consultant to the New Brunswick
Government regarding tertiary cardiovascular services
in that Province. As past Chair of the Scientific
Program Committee of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society,
he was responsible for organizing the largest annual
scientific meeting of cardiovascular health care providers
in Canada.
Dr.
Richard Crowell
Dr. Richard Crowell completed undergraduate medical
training at Dalhousie University in 1980 and postgraduate
training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology in 1988.
He joined the Halifax Cardiology group in 1990. His
principal interests are Echocardiology, cardiac transplantation
and risk factor modification. Research interests have
been in acute coronary syndrome and peripheral vascular
disease.
Dr.
Martin Gardner
Dr. Martin Gardner obtained his medical degree from
Dalhousie University in 1976 and went on to complete
his medicine and Cardiology training at Dalhousie
from 1976 to 1980. He was a research fellow of the
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada from 1980 to
1981 in Electrophysiology with Dr. Mark Josephson
at the University of Philadelphia. He returned to the Division of Cardiology, Dalhousie
University in 1981 as an Assistant Professor of Medicine
with a cross appointment to the Department of Physiology
and Biophysics. His research interests include cardiac
arrhythmias and prediction of sudden cardiac death.
He established the Atlantic Canada Cardiovascular
Conference in 1995 and has been the program director
since its inception. In July 2004 he was appointed the associate Dean
for Post-Graduate Education in the Faculty of Medicine,
Dalhousie University.
Dr. Nicholas Giacomantonio
Dr. Giacomantonio received his MD degree from Memorial
University of Newfoundland in 1992. He completed residency
training in Medicine at Memorial University and Cardiology
at Dalhousie University. He joined the Department
of Medicine in 1998. He is an Echocardiographer and
active member of the Cardiac Transplant Team. He is
gaining further training in Medical Education. His
interests include chest pain evaluation, medical education
and prevention. He has assumed responsibility as Undergraduate
Director of Education for Cardiology and sits on both
the UMEC and COPS curriculum committees. He is also
a member of the Residency Training Committee for Cardiology.
He is the Medical Director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation
program, he hopes to develop a rotation for Cardiology fellows and the
program in general to encompass both high-risk primary
and secondary cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Chris Gray
Dr. Ronald Gregor
Dr. Gabrielle Horne
Dr. Horne received her MB from St Thomas Hospital
Medical School in 1986 and her Ph.D. from the University
of Calgary. She completed residency training in Medicine
at the University of London (UK) and University of
Calgary, and in Cardiology at Dalhousie University.
She completed a fellowship in Molecular Cardiology
at the Krannert Institute of Cardiology in Indiana.
Her clinical interests include heart failure, echocardiography
and adult congenital heart disease. Her research interests
include ventricular septal mechanics in heart failure
and somatic cell gene therapy.
Dr. Simon Jackson
Dr. Jackson graduated from Dalhousie with an MD
(cum laude) in 1990 followed by a rotating internship
at the University of Western Ontario in 90-91. He
then completed 4 years of general practice/emergency
room work and travel. In 1995 he returned to Dalhousie
and completed training in Internal Medicine (1998)
and Cardiology (2001). He was awarded a Department
on Medicine Fellowship and Novartis Fellow and then
completed a Masters of Medical Education degree at
the University of Dundee, Scotland. A period of clinical
training in Adult Congenital Heart Disease followed
at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, England
under the supervision of Dr. Michael Gatzoulis. Since returning on staff in Jan 2003, he has worked
in the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, echo lab,
Heart Function, Transplant and Congenital Heart Clinics
In addition, he is the Program Director Adult Cardiology.
Dr. Jackson was chosen as the 2007 Lea C. Steeves
Award "Teacher of the Year".
Dr.
Bruce Josephson
Dr. Josephson received his MD from Memorial University
of Newfoundland in 1974. He completed residency training
in Medicine and Cardiology at Dalhousie University
in 1980. He was a faculty member at Memorial University
prior to joining the Department of Medicine in 1997.
He is presently the Director of Ambulatory Cardiac
Care. His interests include clinical cardiology, echocardiography
and clinical trials in ischemic heart disease.
Dr.
Bakhtiar Kidwai
Dr. Kidwai obtained his MB BS degree from the University
of Karachi, Pakistan in 1985. Having obtained his
initial clinical training in Pakistan, he completed
his internal medicine training in the UK and his Cardiology
training in the Republic of Ireland. He obtained his
MRCP qualification from the Royal College of Physicians
of Ireland in 1990 and MSc in diagnostic and Interventional
Cardiology from Trinity College, Dublin in 1997. He
undertook two years of research at the Queen's University
of Belfast in the area of atrial and ventricular defibrillation.
He completed his fellowship in Interventional Cardiology
at the University of Western Ontario where he was
also involved in research in coronary restenosis.
He joined staff at Dalhousie in 2002. He is
director of the Clinical Associates Program
within the Division of Cardiology. His clinical interest
is in Interventional Cardiology and has research interests
in cardiac defibrillation, clinical trials in Interventional
Cardiology and restenosis.
Dr.
Chris Koilpillai
Dr. Koilpillai obtained his medical degree from
McMaster University in 1977. His Internal Medicine
Residency was also at McMaster. This was followed
by a Cardiology Residency and Echocardiography Fellowship
at the University of Toronto. Upon completion of this
in 1983, Dr. Koilpillai joined the Division of Cardiology
at Dalhousie University. He is the Academic Director
of the echocardiography Laboratory. Primary areas
of interests in the past have been in echocardiography
sub-studies of Heart Failure trials. He played a major
role in the SOLVD Echocardiography sub-study and was
principal investigator for the PROFILE echocardiography
sub-study. Recent interests have been in the quantification
of mitral regurgitation and in stress and contrast
echocardiography. He is a member of the Board of Directors
of the Canadian Society of Echocardiography.
Dr.
Richard Lodge
Dr. Lodge received his MBChB from Edinburgh University
in 1969. He obtained his MRCP(UK) in 1973. Following
residency training in Internal Medicine and Cardiology
at Dalhousie University, he received his FRCPC in
1979. From 1980-1999 he was a member of the Department
of Medicine at the St. John Regional Hospital where
his practice was in clinical cardiology. He joined
the Department of Medicine and Division of Cardiology
at Dalhousie University in 2000. He is the Director
of the Consult Service. His interests are
in clinical cardiology and echocardiography.
Dr.
Michael Love
Dr. Love received his medical undergraduate training
at the University of Aberdeen and graduated MB ChB
with Commendation in 1990. He obtained Membership
of the Royal College of Physicians of the UK in 1993
prior to a research fellowship in Edinburgh and Glasgow
studying the role of endothelin in the pathophysiology
of chronic heart failure. His doctorate thesis on
this subject led to the award of the higher degree
of Doctor of Medicine by the University of Aberdeen
in 2002. He received higher training in Cardiology
and Internal Medicine in Glasgow between 1997 and
2001 and followed this with a one year fellowship
in Interventional Cardiology at Toronto General Hospital.
He joined the Division of Cardiology in
August 2002. His interests include transradial coronary
intervention, acute coronary syndromes and revascularization
outcomes research. His research interests include
percutaneous coronary intervention, the role of vascular
endothelium in the Pathophysiology of chronic heart
failure and coronary artery, and outcomes research.
Dr.
Nancy MacDonald
Dr. MacDonald received her MD from Dalhousie University
in 1977. She did her residency training in Internal
Medicine and Cardiology at Dalhousie University, obtaining
her FRCP(C) in 1981. From 1982 to 1998, she was in
private practice in Dartmouth, NS and joined the Department
of Medicine as a part-time member in 1998. Her interests
are in clinical cardiology.
Dr.
S. Najaf Nadeem
Dr.
Ratika Parkash
Dr. Parkash received her medical degree from Dalhousie
University in 1996. She completed residency training
in Medicine and Cardiology at the University of Ottawa
in 2002. From 2002-4, she did a fellowship in cardiac
electrophysiology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital
in Boston, MA with Dr. William G. Stevenson. While
in Boston, she completed her MSc (Epidemiology) at
the Harvard School of Public Health. She joined the
Department of Medicine and Division of Cardiology
in 2004. She was recently recognized by the Heart
and Stroke Foundation for Most Outstanding Original
Peer Review Grant submission with the Dr. Greg Ferrier Award.
Her research interests focus on outcomes
in atrial fibrillation and sudden cardiac death.
Dr. Ata-ur-Rehman Quraishi
Dr. Quraishi received his medical degree from Dow
Medical College Karachi, Pakistan in 1988. He completed
his residency in internal medicine at the Aga Khan
University Hospital Karachi in 1992. He then joined
Cardiology and completed his training in Cardiology
in 1996. He joined the faculty in Department
of Medicine at the Aga Khan University Hospital. In
April of 1998 Dr Quraishi came to Halifax and completed
his fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at QE
II health Sciences Center. He then went back to Pakistan
in November 1999 and resumed his staff position at
the Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi. There he
served as the director of CCU and then as director
of cardiac catheterization laboratory. In June 2003
Dr. Quraishi joined the Division of Cardiology at
Dalhousie University. He has recently assumed the
role of QA officer for the division. His main interest is clinical
and Interventional Cardiology. His research interests
are ischemic heart disease and acute coronary syndromes.
Dr.
Miroslaw Rajda
Dr. Rajda received his medical degree from Silesian
Medical School in Poland in 1984. He completed his
residency in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Dalhousie
University in 2003. He joined the Department of Medicine
after he completed his Fellowship in Echocardiography
and Transplantology in 2003. His interests focus on
heart failure, heart transplant, and echocardiography.
Dr.
Sarah Ramer
Dr. Sarah Ramer hails originally from the Kingston, Ontario area,
and completed her Bachelor of Science at Queen's University in 1997.
She attended the University of Calgary for medical school, and then
made the journey east for residency in internal medicine and Cardiology
at Dalhousie. After finishing her cardiology, Dr. Ramer completed an
echocardiography fellowship at Mount Sinai hospital in Toronto, where
her focus was exercise stress echocardiography. She returned to work
at the QEII at the beginning of November 2007.
Dr. John L. Sapp
Dr. Sapp completed his undergraduate degree at the
University of Toronto, and received his MD degree
from Dalhousie University in 1994. He completed training
in Internal Medicine and Cardiology at Dalhousie University
in 2000 and completed a fellowship in Cardiac Electrophysiology
at Brigham and Women's Hospital (Harvard University).
He joined the Department of Medicine in 2002 and is
currently Director of Electrophysiology. His clinical
practice is management of cardiac arrhythmias. His
principal research interests include interventional
electrophysiology, arrhythmia management, implantable
defibrillators, and bi-ventricular pacing. In particular,
Body Surface Potential Mapping to aid ablation of
difficult cardiac arrhythmias, novel methods of cardiac
ablation, and electrophysiologic/ functional/ anatomic
studies of bi-ventricular pacing for heart failure.
He holds funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation,
and is a co-investigator of several studies funded
by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and Canadian Institute
of Health Research. Dr. Sapp was recently awarded the
prestigious Faculty Clinical Scholar Award.
Dr.
William Sheridan
Dr. Sheridan received his medical degree from Memorial
University of Newfoundland in 1979. He completed residency
training in Medicine and Cardiology at Dalhousie University
in 1985 and a Fellowship year in 1986, when he joined
the Department of Medicine. He is the Director of
the Pacemaker Clinic and his principal focus is Clinical
Cardiology.
Dr.
Robert Stewart
Dr. Lawrence Title
Dr. Title has been on staff in Halifax since September 1991. His appointment
includes a significant research component and he is
currently Director of Interventional Research. Dr.
Title is a graduate of the University of Toronto,
and trained in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and
Interventional Cardiology in Toronto. He left Toronto
to do a second year of Interventional Cardiology training
at the University of Calgary. Dr. Title's research interests include clinical
trials in vascular biology, Interventional Cardiology,
and secondary prevention trials (ACE inhibitors, lipid-lowering,
and diabetes management). Since the mid 1990's he
has been involved in research involving the measurement
and treatment of endothelial function with novel interventions
and has performed a number of important trials in
this area. Examples include two Heart & Stroke-sponsored
trials which were able to show the importance of folic
acid in reversing endothelial dysfunction in both
patients with coronary heart disease and in patients
with type 2 diabetes. As well, he studied the effect
of selective COX-2 inhibition with rofecoxib on endothelial
dysfunction in coronary artery disease patients. He
has also been a principal investigator in many landmark,
multicenter interventional and secondary prevention
trials including AVERT, TOSCA, C-Sirius, DAIS, COURAGE,
PEACE, and HOPE II. Dr. Title is a regular reviewer
for many high impact journals, and a number of peer-reviewed
granting agencies. He also sits on the end-point committee
for a number of important clinical trials including
the soon to be released PEACE trial.
