skip to content
change text size
change text size
Profiles of researchThe Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario currently funds more than 450 researchers and research teams at medical institutes, universities and hospitals across Ontario. Their goal: to eliminate heart disease and stroke and improve the quality of life for thousands of Canadians affected by these conditions. Here are some of their stories. High blood pressure rates still very high, particularly in some ethnic groups The study by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Statistics Canada found that in 2006, nearly 1.5 million or 21% of Ontarians are living with hypertension. Of these, more than 500,000 Ontarians were suffering from uncontrolled high blood pressure. Read the full study. Breaking down cholesterol
The major blood lipoproteins – cholesterol and protein compounds – in humans include HDL, the so-called good cholesterol, and LDL, the bad cholesterol. Some individuals also have high blood levels of a lipoprotein known as Lp(a) which has been dubbed the “really bad” cholesterol. As part of her ongoing studies, Dr. Koschinsky’s objective is to understand how apolipoprotein(a), the protein part of Lp(a), can play a role in heart disease. Interestingly, apolipoprotein(a) actually interferes with the ability of the body to break down blood clots, a major cause of heart attacks and stroke. Her research may lead to the development of new drugs that will reduce the risk associated with having high blood levels of Lp(a). The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario has funded Dr. Koschinsky’s research since 1992. In 2001, she became an HSFO Career Investigator. She has also served the Heart and Stroke Foundation in many capacities: as a member of the Scientific Review, Grants Allocation and Research committees, a member of the Board of Directors, and a popular speaker at regional events. To raise funds for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, she has waited tables, played hockey, cycled in Big Bike events, and swung a golf club. She holds a PhD in biochemistry from the University of British Columbia. Hunting down the genes for heart disease and diabetes
His team was the first in the world to identify the gene that causes a severe inherited form of insulin resistance. Affected members of families with this gene also have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and early heart attacks. Studying these families can give us new information about arterial disease. Dr. Hegele is using sophisticated technologies to collect data about these families, a process called phenomics, to learn about the effects of their genes and uncover disease processes never seen before. Dr. Hegele’s research has led to more than 300 publications and identified more than 100 genetic mutations linked to human disease. His research has been funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario since 1990, and he’s been a career investigator for more than 10 years. Awarding excellence in heart care Preventing cardiac arrest in children An open letter to our donors from the research community Here is a detailed list of projects funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation in 2007/2008. Here is a detailed list of projects funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation in 2008/2009. Please read more about our funded research by clicking the links below: Ontario kids still not active enough at school ED drug may prevent heart attack, stroke Belly fat may pump up spare tires Second drink not helpful to heart Heart patients benefit from combined activity Ontario researcher Dr. Robert Gros receives Foundation’s New Investigator award Reviewed October, 2008. |
The Ontario Survey on the Prevalence and Control of Hypertension, is the first Canadian population-based study to measure blood pressures and to determine hypertension rates among some of the most common ethnic groups in Canada (South Asians, East Asians and Blacks). It is also the first study since the Canadian Heart Health Survey in the early 1990s to actually measure blood pressures, rather than relying upon participant’s self-reports. The study involved 2,551 Ontarians aged 20 to 79 years in 16 communities, with the results weighted to reflect the population of Ontario. 
Not many people would understand what hidden clues might lie in plaque, the sticky build-up in artery walls that leads to heart disease, but Dr. Marlys Koschinsky does. As a Heart and Stroke Foundation career investigator, she has been studying certain lipoproteins – cholesterol and protein compounds in the blood – to determine how they contribute to atherosclerosis, a condition in which arteries get so plugged up with plaque that they lose their elasticity and become narrow, slowing or blocking the passage of blood. The plaque can also rupture, causing a blood clot to form. When this happens, blood flow in the artery can become severely reduced, often leading to a heart attack or stroke.
What do the Alberta Hutterites, the Oji-Cree from the Sioux Lookout Zone and the Inuit from the Keewatin region have in common? They all have been study subjects of Dr. Robert A. Hegele, a Heart and Stroke Foundation career investigator, in his hunt to track down unique gene mutations that predispose these populations to heart-disease risk factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. Dr. Hegele studies the link between heart disease and diabetes by determining specific genes for inherited conditions, such as those that change the way the body distributes fat around the waistline. Understanding these unique mutations may yield important clues about how to better control sugar and fat metabolism in individuals predisposed to diabetes and heart disease. 
