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Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute

The Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Centre for Health Care Education

Leadership Team

 

Dr. Arthur S. Slutsky
Vice President of Research

Dr. Slutsky is a pulmonary critical care physician whose research interests include acute respiratory failure, non-conventional ventilation, classic respiratory mechanics, asthma pathophysiology, lung transplantation, and mechanical ventilation. He received his B.A.Sc. (cum laude) (1970) in engineering science, M.A.Sc. (1972) in industrial engineering at the University of Toronto and MD (1976) from McMaster University. Following a medical residency, Dr. Slutsky completed a pulmonary fellowship at Harvard Medical School and stayed on as an assistant professor of medicine. He returned to the University of Toronto in 1984 and was promoted to professor of medicine, surgery, and biomedical engineering in 1988. From 1989-2000 he was division director, respiratory medicine at the University of Toronto.

He is currently vice president of research at St. Michael's Hospital, and director of the interdepartmental division of critical care medicine, University of Toronto. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed papers, reviews and editorials. Honours include election to the American Society of Clinical Investigation, William Goldie Prize for Research, the Sandoz Senior Investigator Award, election to the Fleischner Society for Thoracic Imaging and Diagnosis, and Recognition for Scientific Accomplishments Award, American Thoracic Society. His work focuses on translational research in the context of the intensive care unit with a focus on mechanical ventilation. He is one of the most cited authors in the field of mechanical ventilation. His work on ventilator-induced lung injury, and in particular in performing the foundational work in relation to biotrauma has opened up a whole new field of investigation with important implications in the care of ventilated patients. He is, or has been, a member of the editorial board of the journals: Critical Care Medicine, Sepsis, and Respiratory Care; and associate editor of the Canadian Respiratory Journal. He has been on the editorial boards of the Journal of Applied Physiology, American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and New Horizons. He is an advisor to the Food and Drug Administration on Biomedical Research, and recently completed two terms as chair of a FDA Advisory Panel (Respiratory and Anesthesiology devices).

Dr. Robert Howard
Executive Vice President of Programs and Education & Chief Medical Officer, St. Michael's Hospital

Dr. Howard has been executive vice president of programs, education and chief medical officer at St. Michael's Hospital since 1998. His vice presidential responsibilities include the diabetes comprehensive care program, the specialized complex care program, inner city health program and perioperative services and Hospital-wide theme development. As chief medical officer he is responsible for credentialing and standards of medical practice for dentists, midwives and physicians in the Hospital.

In his role as vice president education, he is responsible for developing education at all levels in the Hospital and the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute and for strengthening the link with the University of Toronto and our other academic partners.

Bob has an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering from the University of Toronto and graduated from McMaster University medical school in 1975. In 1982 he joined St. Michael's Hospital as a staff cardiologist with a special interest in echocardiography. Bob was heavily involved in teaching and the division of cardiology's heart failure research program. In 1989 Bob became director of the University of Toronto training program in cardiology. He took on increasing administrative responsibilities and in 1993 became acting chief for the division of cardiology. In 1994 he became medical director of the heart program. Bob is associate professor, faculty of medicine, University of Toronto and continues to practice clinical cardiology one day per week. He graduated in 2003 from the Richard Ivey School of Business executive MBA program.

Dr. Andreas Laupacis
Executive Director, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute

Dr. Laupacis is a general internist and health services researcher. He received his medical degree from Queen's University (1979), and his Masters in Design, Measurement and Evaluation from McMaster University (1986). He undertook his post graduate medical training at Dalhousie University and the University of Western Ontario. He has held faculty positions at the University of Western Ontario (1986-1991), the University of Ottawa (where he was the first Director of the clinical epidemiology unit at the Ottawa Hospital from 1991-2000) and the University of Toronto (Professor, 2000-present). From 2000-2006, he was the President and CEO of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, one of Canada's largest health services research organizations where he is currently an adjunct scientist.

Dr. Laupacis's research interests over the last 20 years have been varied, including clinical trials, economic evaluations, the development and evaluation of decision aids, and drug policy. Recently, he has become increasingly interested in knowledge translation – determining how best to increase the likelihood that high quality evidence is used in health care. As part of this, he is exploring different ways to more fully involve the public in important health care and health policy decisions. Dr. Laupacis has over 240 peer reviewed publications.

In addition to his academic activities, Dr. Laupacis has been a member of a number of committees that attempt to facilitate the use of scientific evidence in health policy making. These include the Drug Quality and Therapeutics Committee of Ontario (1999-2004), the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee (Chair 2003-6), Health Canada's Expert Advisory Panel on the Safety of Cox-2 Selective Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (2005), the Health Advisory Committee of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (1999-pesent), the Advisory Committee of the Canadian Cochrane Centre and Network (Chair 2003-present), and the Assessments Committee of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2007-present). He has served on many peer review committees and clinical trial Data Safety Monitoring Committees.

Dr. Thomas Parker
Associate Director of Research

Dr. Parker is presently Head, Division of Cardiology, the inaugural recipient of the Brazilian Ball Research Chair in Cardiology Research, and Associate Director of Research at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital, and Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto. He received his MD degree from the University of Western Ontario and undertook postgraduate clinical training at the University of Toronto and a Research Fellowship in Molecular Cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. On his return to Toronto, he established a research laboratory at the Toronto General Hospital with an interest in the molecular control of cardiac muscle growth and hypertrophy. He was recruited to St. Michael's Hospital in July, 2003, where he has established a research program funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research focusing on molecular genetic approaches to cardiac dysfunction post-infarction and and their clinical applications. His specific current interests include the role of S100 calcium-binding proteins and the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) in myocyte apoptosis and gene expression, as well as their implications for cell therapy, post-infarction and in diabetic cardiomyopathy.