Dr. Ruth McPherson is the Director of the Ruddy Canadian Cardiovascular Genetics Centre, Atherogenomics Laboratory and the Lipid Clinic. She is also the Director of Research for the Division of Cardiology at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and a Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. McPherson’s area of expertise is clinical lipidology and cardiovascular risk reduction. She has been a strong advocate of strategies that could be used for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. She has also played a leadership role in cholesterol and genetics research. It was Dr. McPherson’s efforts that led to the discovery of the 9p21 genetic risk factor for heart disease in 2007.
Dr. McPherson has published over 100 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. She is also the lead author of the recent Canadian Cardiovascular Society Position Statement on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dyslipidemia and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. She holds the Merck Frosst Canada Chair in Atherosclerosis and is the Associate Editor of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.
Dr. McPherson’s research efforts are geared towards developing a comprehensive and integrated understanding of the genetic and molecular aetiology of complex phenotypes, with a focus on obesity and coronary artery disease. She is currently involved in studies that are focused on determining the functional relationship of SNPs within the 9p21 region and other significant loci to atherosclerosis. In addition, she is also working on investigating the relationship of obesity associated genetic variants to gene expression in whole blood, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue.
Dr. McPherson received her PhD from the University of London, in England, and her MD from the University of Toronto. She completed subspecialty training in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Toronto. She joined the University of Ottawa Heart Institute in 1992. Prior to that, she held academic positions at the University of Toronto and McGill University in Montreal. Her research efforts are funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.
Source: Ottawaheart.ca
Image Credit: Ottawaheart.ca
