Subodh Verma, MD - Medical Co-Director
MD, PhD, FRCSC, FAHA
Cardiac Surgeon, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto
Associate Professor of Surgery and Pharmacology, University of Toronto
Director, Traineeship in Atherosclerosis
Canada Research Chair in Atherosclerosis
Dr. Subodh Verma is a Canadian expert on vascular biology, endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis and has published extensively on all of these subjects. As the undergraduate pharmacy gold medalist, he went on to obtain a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. in cardiovascular pharmacology at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Dr. John McNeill. Thereafter, Dr. Verma pursued an MD degree and a post-doctoral fellowship in Cardiology at the University of Calgary with Dr. Todd Anderson. Following completion of his residency training in cardiac surgery at the University of Toronto, he was appointed Associate Professor of Surgery and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto and Director of the Traineeship in Atherosclerosis program at St. Michael’s Hospital. In 2007, Dr. Verma was named the Canada Research Chair in Atherosclerosis.
Dr. Verma is the recipient of numerous accolades. On the national level, he has held fellowships from the Medical Research Council, the Heart & Stroke Foundation, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and the Canadian Diabetes Association. He has received awards and won research prizes from the Physicians Services Inc., the PMAC, Pfizer, Burroughs Wellcome-Medical Research Council and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He was recently honoured with the Young Clinician Scientist Award (1st prize) from the Canadian Association of Physicians of Indian Heritage and has been the recipient of Young Investigator Awards from the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (1st place) and the Paul Cartier Cardiac Surgery Committee. At the international level, Dr. Verma has been honoured with an American Heart Association Young Investigator award (1st Prize in Basic Cardiovascular Sciences), the Irvine Page Award in Atherosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology (finalist), a Society of Vascular Biology and Medicine Young Investigator award (finalist), an ISHR Young Investigator award (1st place), two American Association for Thoracic Surgery Young Investigator awards (finalist), a Paul Sampson Western Thoracic Society Young Investigator award (finalist), an Interamerican Society of Cardiology Young Investigator Award and the James T. Willerson Vulnerable Plaque Young Investigator award (1st place). He is to date the sole clinician-scientist in the world to have won the American College of Cardiology Young Investigator Award in all three available categories over a period of four years.
Dr. Verma oversees an active basic research program which focuses on the role of risk factors on endothelial function and vascular homeostasis. Currently, his research laboratory employs innovative basic and translational approaches to study mechanisms through which inflammatory cytokines, such as C-reactive protein, adiponectin, and other agents such as angiotensin I converting enzyme 2, visfatin and neuregulin, are linked to vascular diseases. His laboratory is also actively studying the role of inflammation on stem cell responses to vascular repair and regeneration and has recently identified a novel target through which the bone marrow response to vascular injury can be attenuated. Dr. Verma is additionally actively involved in several ongoing provincial, national and international clinical trials. His research endeavors are supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Research Funds in addition to grants from the Canadian pharmaceutical industry. He has published approximately 180 peer-reviewed papers and over 360 abstracts, with several papers appearing in Circulation, Circulation Research, NEJM and Nature.
Dr. Verma is the section editor of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology and sits on several journal editorial boards. He is a constant reviewer of more than twenty high-impact journals and he has been a Visiting Professor at thirteen international universities.
