SAVE THE DATE: The 2025 Heart Health Gala will be taking place on Saturday, April 19, 2025.
Event Information
The CCHHE 2025 Heart Health Gala will be held on Saturday, April 19, 2024 at the Canad Inns Polo Park.
Time: 6pm reception, 7pm dinner, 8pm keynote address
Where: Canad Inns Polo Park, 1405 St Matthews Ave, Winnipeg
Keynote Speaker
Gavin Y Oudit, MD, PhD, FRCPC, FCAHS
Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta
Clinician-Scientist, Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute
Director, Heart Function Clinic
Director, Cardiomyopathy Clinic
Director, Human Explanted Heart Program (HELP)
Canada Research Chair in Heart Failure
Dr. Oudit holds the Canada Research Chair in Heart Failure. He spends 65 per cent of his time investigating the molecular and cellular aspects of heart failure and arrythmias with the goal of identifying new drug and therapy targets. His research spans many aspects of heart failure, including the role of gender in iron-overload cardiomyopathy, investigating cardiotoxicity from breast cancer chemotherapy, identifying diagnoses and treatment of Fabry disease, discovering biomarkers for heart failure, as well as research into kidney and vascular diseases. A discovery by Dr. Oudit of a molecule called ACE2 that protects against heart failure, coupled with his use of a new genetic mapping technology to more clearly observe sub-cellular processes involved in heart failure, led to the development of a biologic to treat the disease. The new heart failure drug has been successfully tested in clinical trials and is expected to be available within five years. Dr. Oudit’s work with ACE2 shows that it also plays major roles in diabetes and lung diseases and he is developing potential therapies.
Dr. Oudit’s research is funded by the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute, University Hospital Foundation, Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He completed research grants with the Canadian Diabetes Association and Alberta Innovates. He has partnerships with GlaxoSmith Kline and Apeiron Biologics.
Dr. Oudit is an active review committee for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and has more than 300 scientific papers and abstracts in publication.