WE ARE DEDICATED TO HELPING THOSE DIAGNOSED WITH PREMATURE ATHEROSCLEROTIC CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE.

Dr. Richard Vandegriend is a cardiologist and cardiac intensivist at Royal Columbian Hospital, director of heart failure at Royal Columbian Hospital and a clinical assistant professor in the department of medicine at the University of British Columbia. After completing medical school at the University of Alberta, Dr. Vandegriend completed his internal medicine and cardiology residency training at the University of British Columbia followed by a fellowship in cardiac intensive care at the University of Toronto. Dr. Vandegriend's clinical and research interests involve cardiac intensive care, mechanical circulatory support, myocardial infarction and heart failure.
Dr. Vandegriend is passionate about health technology and innovation with over 6 years experience as co-founder at Arya Health, crafting and implementing technologic solutions to address the inefficiencies, administrative workload and burnout that plague the medical system. He was the recipient of a 2022 Top 40-Under 40 award for business leadership in British Columbia and participates with the BC technology association on their c-council for digital health.

Kiera is an LPN who has been practicing since 2017. She started off in private care where she provided 1:1 care to a variety of patients. This experience led her to working in home care eventually becoming a care manager in Vancouver and the lower mainland. After 2.5 years in care management, Kiera decided to pursue her interest in research. In early 2024, she joined Fraser Clinical Trials, where she is currently involved in various trials in cardiology, gastroenterology, and vaccine development.

Dr. Christopher Fordyce is a clinical Assistant Professor within the Division of Cardiology at the University of British Columbia, Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Vancouver General Hospital, and a Scientist in the Cardiovascular Health Program at CHÉOS. He completed a clinical research fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, as well as further subspecialty training in cardiac critical care at Duke University Hospital.

His clinical and research interests lie predominantly in cardiac critical care, including myocardial infarction and cardiac arrest, as well as evaluation and treatment of stable coronary disease and antithrombotic therapy in atrial fibrillation. Following medical school at McGill University, he trained in both internal medicine and cardiology at the University of British Columbia. He also completed the Program in Clinical Effectiveness at the Harvard School of Public Health, and a Master’s of Health Science in Clinical Research through the Duke School of Medicine. He is a recipient of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Health Professional-Investigator Award.

Dr. Gordon Francis is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and the Department of Medicine based at St. Paul’s Hospital, University of British Columbia. Since 2007, he has served as Director of the Healthy Heart Program Prevention (Lipid Disorders) Clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital and was previously the Director of the Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Clinic at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, AB from 2000-2007. From 2013-2018, he was Associate Director of the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation, Providence Health Care Research Institute, also based at St. Paul’s Hospital.

Dr. Francis is an international authority in lipid and lipoprotein metabolism including high density lipoproteins, and made the original observation of impaired cellular lipid efflux to apolipoprotein A-I to form HDL particles in the low HDL syndrome Tangier Disease. More recently, his research has identified, in both human coronary arteries and mouse models, that smooth muscle cells rather than macrophages contribute the majority of cells in the cholesterol overloaded foam cell population in atherosclerosis. This alters our understanding of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, and suggests a new target to reduce residual risk associated with the accumulation of cholesterol in plaques leading to heart attacks and strokes. He is also actively involved in clinical care of patients with inherited dyslipidemias and outcomes studies to reduce premature vascular disease in these patients.

Dr. Krahn is a Professor in the Division of Cardiology at the University of British Columbia. Current research interests include investigation of genetic causes of arrhythmias, causes of loss of consciousness, and implantable arrhythmia devices. He is the Sauder Family Chair and UBC Chief of Cardiology, and the Paul Brunes Chair in Heart Rhythm Disorders.

Dr. Krahn has research funded by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Institute of Health Research. He is President of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and second Vice President of the Heart Rhythm Society. SAVE BC represents an opportunity to be part of a team seeking to better understand the genetic determinants of heart disease and how we can work with or overcome them to protect British Columbians and restore health.

Dr. G.B. John Mancini received his MD from the University of Toronto, completed his residency at Toronto General Hospital, and his Cardiology and Research Fellowship at the University of California. After a year as Clinical Assistant Professor at U.C. San Diego, he joined the University of Michigan faculty, where he later became Associate Chief of Cardiology and Chief of the V.A. Section of Cardiology. He later became Chair of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Mancini is a tenured Professor of Medicine at UBC, Director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Research Core Laboratory (CIRCL: an imaging-based research program that includes facilities for quantitative coronary angiography, ultrasound analysis and cardiac computed tomography analysis) and Director of the CardioRisk Clinic (comprehensive primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention) at the Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre. He also practices in the Healthy Heart Prevention Clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital. His research interests focus on integration of multi-modality cardiac imaging in multi-center clinical trials for assessment of coronary atherosclerosis and cardiovascular risk reduction.

Dr. Bruce McManus is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia. He serves as CEO for the Centre of Excellence for Prevention of Organ Failure (PROOF Centre) and as a Scientist in the Centre for Heart Lung Innovation.

Dr. McManus has received BA and MD degrees (University of Saskatchewan), an MSc (Pennsylvania State University), and PhD (University of Toledo). After residency at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, and fellowship at the NHLBI in Bethesda, Dr. McManus joined the University of British Columbia in 1993.

Dr. McManus’ investigative passion relates to mechanisms, consequences, detection, and prevention of injury and aberrant repair in inflammatory diseases of the heart and blood vessels. He is deeply engaged in the development of predictive, diagnostic, and prognostic blood tests derived from a multi-omics computational engine in the PROOF Centre. Dr. McManus sees great potential for reduction in personal, social, economic, and medical burdens through the power of cascade screening for ischemic risks in the SAVE BC framework.

Dr. Tara Sedlak received her Doctor of Medicine, Internal Medicine Residency and Cardiology residency from the University of British Columbia. She also completed a fellowship at Cedar Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles, California on women’s heart health, pacticularly focusing on chest pain syndromes in women with no significant coronary artery disease.

Dr. Sedlak practices General Cardiology at Vancouver General Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital and is the director of the Leslie Diamond Women’s Heart Health Clinic. Her research interests include etiologies of myocardial infarction and chest pain in women with normal coronary arteries and therapeutic strategies in microvascular coronary dysfunction and coronary vasospasm. She is currently the chair of the advocacy working group for the Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance.

Dr. Keith Walley is a Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia and principal investigator at the UBC Centre for Heart Lung Innovation (HLI). He is an intensive care physician and as a Principal Investigator at the HLI, he runs a translational laboratory.

Dr. Walley’s research focuses on understanding the basic mechanisms underlying impaired myocardial function and other organ dysfunction during inflammatory disease states, including sepsis. To understand the importance of specific pathways, his work extends to encompass the genomics of critical care. Specifically, he and his collaborators investigate how key inflammatory and innate immunity genes are related to organ dysfunction and outcome of sepsis and septic shock in critically ill patients.

Dr. Walley recently discovered that genes related to cardiovascular risk are also related to sepsis risk. Therefore, he brings knowledge of additional non-cardiac risk to the SAVE BC team.

Dr. Christopher Franco is a senior cardiology fellow in the Adult Cardiology program at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Franco is a graduate of the MD/PhD program at the University of Toronto and completed his internal medicine residency at UBC. His doctoral work focused on the role of collagen receptors in the regulation of inflammation and fibrosis during the development and destabilization of atherosclerotic plaques.
Dr. Franco has a growing interest in the study and prevention of premature coronary artery disease (CAD) in different populations. He is co-investigator on the Coronary atherosclerosis and inflammation in South Asian (CAISA) pilot study at UBC looking at the role of inflammation and premature coronary disease in South Asians. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Franco hopes to connect the clinical care and study of patients with premature CAD to find innovative methods to detect and treat this important health challenge. He is truly excited to be a part of the SAVE BC initiative.

Dr. Thomas Roston is a cardiologist in the UBC Division of Cardiology and a Clinician-Scientist at the Centre for Cardiovascular Innovation in Vancouver. He completed medical school, residency and cardiology fellowship at the UBC, and a PhD from the University of Alberta in Translational Medicine. His post-doctoral studies included a fellowship in Cardiovascular Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and a fellowship in cardiac critical care at the University of Alberta. His research is dedicated to the lives of young patients and their families who have suffered or will suffer the tragedy of sudden death due to premature cardiovascular disease.