Meet our Experts

Toronto Rehab researchers are pushing the frontiers of rehabilitation science. We’re finding practical solutions to prevent and manage cardiac disease and diabetes. We’re also working hard to get our best ideas and innovations into widespread use.

Toronto Rehab’s rehabilitation research program is one of second largest in North America and one of the most diverse. Current cardiovascular disease-related research projects include:

 

Reducing mortality by half

Findings by Toronto Rehab scientists Dr. David Alter and Dr. Paul Oh and others have shown that people who participate in cardiac rehabilitation programs after experiencing a major heart event cut the risk of dying from a subsequent heart event in half. Only 20 per cent of people who require cardiac rehabilitation actually receive it. Toronto Rehab scientists are investigating the reasons for this.

 

Finding the optimal exercise prescription

A key component of cardiac rehabilitation is physical activity. The Toronto Rehab cardiac team has found that the right volume and intensity of exercise is important to maximize gains in function, minimize risk factors and change cardiovascular health. Toronto Rehab adjunct scientists Drs. Scott Thomas and Jack Goodman, and research coordinator Susan Marzolini, are working to identify optimal doses.

 

Understanding the link between heart disease and sleep apnea

Senior investigator Dr. Douglas Bradley has found that heart failure patients with untreated sleep apnea are more likely to die earlier than those without apnea. Dr. Bradley has also shown that fluid movement from the legs to the neck and throat at night plays a role in causing sleep apnea. His work supports that it may be possible to alleviate or prevent sleep apnea by preventing fluid retention in the legs during the day or fluid movement into the neck at night. In addition, he, along with PhD student Hisham Alshaer and Dr. Geoff Fernie, Vice President of Research, are devising an inexpensive portable screening device to detect sleep apnea in more people at an earlier stage than is presently possible.

 

Understanding the link between heart disease and depression

Many people who have a heart event suffer from depression and this doubles the risk of a second event. Dr. Krista Lanctôt, a Toronto Rehab adjunct scientist, is working with Dr. Paul Oh and others to understand why some people develop depressive symptoms while others don’t. As researchers learn more, they can develop new treatments.

 

Optimizing the benefits of exercise

PhD candidate Pearl Yang and Dr. Paul Oh, Medical Director of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program, are examining patients’ physical, metabolic, anthropometric and biochemical responses to different modalities and doses of exercise. Results will help determine the optimal amount and intensity of training in diabetes rehabilitation.

 

Monitoring systems and diabetes

Dr. Paul Oh is collaborating with researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University to understand how blood glucose control relates to activity, food intake, and medications for people living with diabetes using 24-hour glucose monitoring, electrocardigrams (ECGs) and heart rate monitoring, electronic food diaries, and Global Positioning Systems (GPS), connected wirelessly through a BlackBerry. Results will enhance health maintenance, monitoring and alerting systems.